If there are two things that are a must-have when you’re self-employed, it’s a strong comfort with change and a well-tuned ability to be flexible. I apparently have those in abundance, given I’ve been my own employer for going on 30 years now. 

I live in a beautiful place – I want to see more of it.

And this year, I’m moving forward by returning to some old ways of doing things.

After years of having a self-pay-only practice, the Covid pandemic and related economic downturn in my clients’ situations led to my getting on this country’s Health Insurance Train. The idea, frankly, was to assure that my practice stayed afloat by way of referrals from insurance companies. That, it did, to the point of overwhelm. But the Return On Effort has never been there. 

Therapists Don’t Usually Whine (but therapy consumers should be informed about these details…)

Some of you have, by now, started hearing what it’s like for practitioners (like me and your other medical care professionals) to be hog-tied by the insurance industry. It’s been about five years now of increased administrative burden and time and financial costs. Briefly put, by ‘taking insurance’, I am working almost twice as much but being paid less by sometimes as much as two-thirds. Then there’s the feeling of having a billion-dollar industry breathing down my neck about every clinical move I make. To sum it up: Trained, dedicated professionals who thrive in a self-employment environment do not flourish when entities that do not know better are allowed to direct the course of their work. Just as clients are not all the same, neither are therapists cogs in the healthcare wheel. Therapy, as conducted by people who were trained in the same ways as me, is dependent on a therapeutic relationship, not a programmatic recipe for fixing people.

Rant Over. Adjustments to Benefit Everyone.

The most precious resource to me has always been time; now, as I head farther into my 60’s, that’s even more the case. I have to carefully weigh the return from my effort, in order to stay healthy and capable of being of service to clients. In other words, I can no longer work myself to the bone if I want to work at all.

I have no intention of “retiring” – that’s a concept that has never been part of my life. So I am making adjustments that will enable me to work for as many more years as I can, while maintaining my health.

This is why 2025 will be (as far as I know right now, and unless something drastically changes in the healthcare insurance industry) the last year I am paid by corporations. Again.

And I am so very much looking forward to being free of those shareholder yokes.

What does this mean for you? All of my current clients have been well informed about these details in writing and conversation, but to sum up:

  • You and I can continue our therapeutic relationship. 
  • Over the next few months, we’ll continue talking about whether you wish to 
    • engage in a standard fee for service arrangement (whether full fee or discounted) or 
    • move to another therapist who is being paid by your insurer.

What do I believe this means for me? More time to nurture my own wellness, which will translate into greater ability to be more fully available for you.

Here’s to 2025 bringing us all good things,
Tracy