Practice and Management Response

1. Choose a setting:

I have chosen to choose the setting of a private practice. I would begin my own practice I would hire several different therapists so that there are a wide variety of people that we could serve. I would ensure that the therapists are able to work with their specialty and with the population that they prefer. It would be important to ensure that when working in an integrated practice clinicians are familiar with specific interventions such as motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques (Kinman, et al., 2015). 

Develop a backstory:

My facility would be focused on working with families, individuals and couples. I think that offering several options would be beneficial for many clients. 

Skills needed to support staff:

-Recordkeeping- I would ensure that their is a sufficient electronic medical records system that the facility uses. It is important that it secure to keep client's info confidential. It is also important that it is able to contain all of the information that the therapists would need to store for their clients. I would also ensure that staff are taking SOAP or DAP notes and go into the importance of this with them. For a SOAP note having it be subjective, objective, assessment and plan is vital and DAP to have data, assessment and plan in it (Turner, n.d.). 

-Reimbursement- I would ensure that I had a billing team at the facility so that they could specialize in making sure that the therapists are able to get payment for services as well as the company. I would work to make sure that I was well informed of the process as well to help the billing team when they needed assistance. I would also discuss with my supervisees and employees that insurance does not give reimbursement rates up front due to factors such as location, licensure, specialization and consumer demand (Denny, 2024). 

-The last thing that I have chosen as a skill needed to help with an issue in practice and management is ample training opportunities: I would make sure that therapists and staff have enough trainings to get CEU's or to remain competent while working in the field. I would work so that each staff member felt educated and that they were supported in trainings and were informed about topics in the field. I feel it is important for everyone in this field to continue to learn and grow their toolboxes. This will help with several issues in management and practice and can cover a wide variety of topics such as crisis management, domestic violence and even how to handle burnout. 

2.  I have seen and read about many agencies. There are still things that I could learn that would make an agency a great place. For right now, if I had to create my perfect design for my agency, these are the qualities that I would choose.

Choose a setting 

I would choose a nonprofit company if I could choose any setting. I would choose this setting because it would give me a counseling agency that is explicitly founded to expand access to therapy. This could give communities affordable nonprofit programs that provide therapy to people who may not qualify for public mental health. I want to help people who do not usually have access to mental health services. I have also worked for a nonprofit mental company, and I have worked for a private practice. The nonprofit fits how I want to be able to help people and the values that I have, which allow me to meet them.

Develop a backstory

 For my story, I want to have a nonprofit therapy company offering counseling services. The therapy company would be able to accommodate all ages and specialize in anxiety, depression, life changes, and trauma.

Assess the skills needed to support staff

 -Record keeping- The skills needed to support staff in keeping clear and accurate legible records. Also, to support the staff, it would be to ensure that the expectations of what these qualities look like, explain the standards, and supply the education.  It is also a must to keep records well protected to keep confidentiality and client records safe from others.  Precise record keeping can help other therapists and others understand what is going on if needed to be read by others.

 Reimbursement—Skills to have for reimbursement are the required specifiers for certain diagnoses. To support staff, it would be necessary to ensure that the staff is taught how to ensure that these required specifiers are given and that everything is documented.

Treatment planning -  one other issue in practice and management

Review diagnostic information and address the concerns with the client to ensure that they agree with the treatment plan goals. Reviewing strengths, needs, abilities, preferences, symptoms, and respective functional impairments is essential.