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News Briefs

Therasoft Online Offers Good Service at Good Prices

Therasoft is a web-based comprehensive practice management software suite designed specifically to meet the needs of mental health practitioners. The basic software package offers clinical documentation, billing, payment and insurance claims filing and scheduling features for an affordable monthly service charge. Optional features include integrated credit card payment processing, dictation, fingerprint login, customized websites, encrypted [...]

My Mentor: Milton H. Erickson, MD

For one to have a mentor in life is fortunate. But to have Milton H. Erickson, MD, as a mentor was the chance in a lifetime. I studied with Erickson from 1973 to 1980, traveling intermittently to Phoenix before I moved there in 1978 to be closer to him. I have had both the privilege [...]

Psychotherapy code changes confuse providers, payers

January brought changes in the business of psychotherapy with a new family of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes that are wreaking havoc, and APA underestimated the con-fusion that would ensue. A Sept. 13 email to members said, “The changes are minimal.” “We have total chaos out there on these codes with both the providers and [...]

APA’s Anderson discusses gun violence during parley with Sebelius, Holder

The American Psychological Association’s CEO was among about 20 mental health experts to meet in early January with top Obama cabinet members to discuss violence prevention in the wake of the school killings in Newtown, Conn. Norman B. Anderson, Ph.D., said that during his meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services [...]

From the Latest Issue...

An Ethical Prohibition that Isn’t — And Never Really Was

A decade after the 2002 APA Ethics Code and the HIPAA Privacy Rule should have settled the matter many psychologists continue to believe fervently that they have some special ethical duty to resist all formal requests for their raw test data, even when these requests are accompanied by releases from the test taker and even by subpoenas or court orders.

When asked for their test data, some psychologists claim paternalistically that nobody could ever understand what these mysterious numbers mean without …

The Carousel of Violence in Society

In December the violence involved semi-automatic weapons and a score of dead elementary school children.

There were also dead teachers, a dead principal and a dead school psychologist. All seven adults were women and my bet is that as we learn more about the psychodynamics of the disturbed young man who was the shooter, we will find out that the gender of the victims was not a coincidence, but part of his thought disturbance.

We all want to know why this …

Psych-Oncology Much Needed in India

The Big C.

In India, this is synonymous with death, at least as far as general perception goes. And this fear is so entrenched in the mind of the common man that getting to the very root of the problem can be an uphill task.

There are many myths in India surrounding cancer. A lot of people believe that it is a form of punishment for bad karma: Bad things only happen to bad people. Some think it is contagious and this …

Track and Market Outcome Results

Private practitioners are continually challenged to come up with new ways of attracting clients. Rather than learning trendy new treatments to lure new customers, imagine being able to measure and market the quality of your services more effectively.

Few clinicians have ventured into this powerful way to position a private practice: focusing on improving and reporting one’s clinical outcomes. This may sound audacious but some agencies and insurance companies are already working on it, and it is likely that within a …

Documenting Client Claims of Sexual Abuse

With the cases from the Penn State football sexual abuse scandal continuing to grow, we will soon see an explosion of unrelated cases from clients who have been too afraid to accuse alleged predators.

I am already observing such reports from my own clients.

One question being raised is, “How will we know which cases/accusations are legitimate?” Put another way, memory degrades over time, and with initial inaccuracies in eye witness testimony (Loftus’ research), we could be falsely accusing innocent people, could …

Classifieds

2012 Appointment Calendar for Mental Health Professionals

For more than 20 years, this 8 1/2 x 11 inch appointment book has been a mainstay for busy psychologists, social workers & other... 

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That psychologists can earn 1 continuing education credit per issue for simply reading The National Psychologist? A great reason to subscribe today!