Do you think fudging on the time you spent with a client is
an innocent mistake? It is not. I am always saddened when I hear of a
licensed counselor being charged with fraud. We, as therapists, are entrusted with helping people when
they are their most vulnerable. It is
our responsibility to know what we are doing, and that includes billing.
If you think a billing system is too
complicated, hire someone to do it and keep an eye on them. Or go to work for a reputable agency and keep
an eye on the billing. Are you getting
the point here? If you have the license it
is YOUR responsibility to understand what you are doing. You can hire other people to do things, but
it is still your responsibility to know what they are doing under your
license.
I have supervised people who are trying to get their license
and they have been depending upon someone else to tell them what they can and
cannot do. They have never read the
licensing laws. Yes, ladies and
gentlemen, what we do as licensed people is governed by law. The board of directors, for our licenses,
enforces, approves, but the law guides what they do.
Those who know me well might say I am impatient, I am rigid,
and that I don’t suffer fools gladly.
They are right about all of the above when it comes to my
profession. If you are going to share my
profession then it is your responsibility to carry it well and not give the
rest of us a bad name. It is your
responsibility to be competent, to practice within your “scope of
practice” (don’t know what that is, then
look it up), to consult with others when in doubt, to get legal advice if you
go into private practice, to always treat clients with dignity and
respect. It is also your responsibility
to know what you are agreeing to when you accept a contract to provide services
and to know very clearly how to bill for and how to get paid for said
services.
I am sickened and saddened when I hear about fraud or
mistreatment of clients. I am further
out-raged when I hear a therapist claim ignorance. You at least have a master’s degree if you
are a licensed therapist; I don’t know what the others learned, but I learned
most of this in school.
