Pros
-Freedom to pick your own schedule and availability. No pressure to offer specific hours/days, -They do not micromanage and trust you as a clinical expert with your case load- although they do check in regularly as far as your metrics are concerned. They do this to see if there are ways they can support or help you. -My particular practice manager was great and incredibly supportive and available when I needed her. She was not the clinical director/manager however, and I heard less from him (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it would be nice to be checked in more from the clinical side of things). -Have opportunities for continuing education through their prepaid platforms and would also have random CEU trainings offered internally. -You are in microsoft teams chats where you can get support/ suggestions/ ideas from clinicians in your district. It's nice way to quickly get advise, problem solve, and brain storm ideas to help your clients. Supportive environment.
Cons
-You have to work an unrealistic case load in order to reach earning potential. You have to do up to 8 sessions daily to earn in the lower 6 figures. 7 Sessions per day would put you at $89k/yr. A more sustainable load of 5-6 sessions per day would put you between $63k/yr-$76k/yr. To me, that is not competitive considering the investment in years, training, education, and money clinicians put in for independant licensure to do this type of work. The pay comp if 54% of what clients are billed. This is the rates for Texas, please note that. -Clients pay and are billed around $100 per session, and you get paid $54 for a 60 min session. - They use AdvanceMD and Zoom. Things are very clunky and the workflow processes are frustrating. Clients have also complained about how hard it is to navigate and use it. -They have rolled out new workflows and processes before fully making sure things are ready to go, making it frustrating and clinicians looking like they are unprepared. -My clients have made complaints with how Lifestance works, their billing policies (and errors) and have stated the only reason they stay is because they like me as a therapist. -They discourage and have policies against emailing, calling, and texting clients and only want us to do it in the portal. This makes it difficult to get in touch with them, and even do things like problem solve when tech issues arise. Also makes it awkward when you want to send them documents. -They make it hard for clinicians to control and edit schedule, and you have to rely on office staff too much to do it. I do not like that lack of control over my caseload. I much prefer systems like Simple practice for comparison. -There is a lot of training expectations and even one-on-ones (which happen on a biweekly basis) that you are not compensated for. -This job is 100% fee per service, and you're only paid for sessions you do. My first week of orientation I was paid a flat rate of $350. -They have a strict non compete clause that I strongly suggest you read over with a fine tooth comb before agreeing. -Do not accept the pay advances -Do not accept the bonus incentive -I have been working since July 21st and today is September 29- I only have a caseload of 9. They once emailed me to discuss getting licensed in another state to increase my caseload. That was over a month ago and I haven't heard anything since. I've had to get a part time job to help supplement my income. -They do not pay for any continuing education or professional development courses (e.g If you want to be EMDR or DBT certified, they will not pay for it or recomp you). The prepaid CEU subscription you get access to has very limited options and is basically just watching a youtube video and answering quiz questions about it after. Not comprehensive and in depth like Pesi, etc.
