How To Survive And Thrive As A Therapist: Information, Ideas, And Resources For Psychologists In Practice

How to Survive and Thrive as a Therapist (2005) is a guide and resource book written by Kenneth S. Pope and Melba J. T. Vasquez. The goal of the text is to provide information for new therapists that are seeking to open their own private practice. Several of the things that stood out to me while reading this work include the format of the book, the style of how it is written, and the audience that it was meant to be written for. To begin with, the format of the book is outlined in such a way that it can be conveniently glanced at. One is able to jump to different sections that are relevant to their current circumstances and each section can be easily grasped if one chooses to speed read them. That is certainly one of the things that I appreciated about the book. An aspect of the formatting that surprised me was the sheer length of the appendix in comparison to the small portion of the book that included the actual chapters. I don't think that such a resource is unhelpful, but the introduction in the book did not seem to clearly convey that the text was more of a conglomerate of important forms and helpful lists rather than a guide. Had I not flipped through the entirety of the text before opening it to its first page, I believe I would have been confused about where it was heading. The frequent use of listing brings me to my observations of the style that the authors chose to use. The book is written in a very systematic and to linear manner. I am not a systematic or linear thinker, which is probably why this was one of the first things that I noticed. I find that those two patterns of thinking often complement therapist who has cognitive behavioral therapy at their core philosophy. Thus, I think people who regularly practice things like CBT and solution-focused therapy will thrive while reading this book. On the other hand, I fear that those who do not find themselves to fit into such groups will feel discouraged, stressed, and overwhelmed. One example of this that I experienced can be found Chapter 3 which discusses strategies for self-care. To begin with, I believe that the phrase "strategies for self-care" sounds deadened or stressful to many artistic minded and abstract thinkers. For me personally, the word strategizing sounds like yet another task that I have to do rather than an invitation to relaxation and self-care. It is true that this is mainly a language preference or semantics issue, but one that is worth mentioning. On a positive note, I must include that the language the writers employed was refreshingly accessible and, at times, quite amusing. The text has been referred to by some reviewers as one that explains business to those who may not know business. I think that this is true considering both the humor found in the book and it’s readily available collection of lists and bulleted points. I can imagine that a significant number of those in the field of therapy might find business planning and legal guidelines to be dry. In my reading of this, I found the language used to be accessible without being patronizing or watered down; it is written to feel as if you are meeting up with a good friend in business management to discuss opening up a practice at a cafe while swapping stories and light-hearted remarks. If there was anything that I thought was the one of the most attractive aspects of this book, it would be that it is well written enough to cater to those who are passionate about running a business and those are not. Finally, after reading the book it is very clear to me that the audience the two authors were trying to reach was a very specific: new therapists that were seeking to open their own private practice. With that said, I think that the book also caters to practitioners who have been the head of their own practices for years due to the practical and simplified organization of essential business needs that seasoned therapists might have become complacent with. The beauty of this resource is that it truly is made for people opening a business that, as a general rule in their field, tend to avoid business culture. I am sure that that is invaluable to many. However, this book makes the assumption that every practicing psychologist is, will, or desires to have a private practice. Working as a practicing psychologist is not synonymous with owning a practice. I was frustrated in perceiving that the authors were making it look like this was the case. I also came away with the impression that being a private practitioner was somehow seen as more admirable or valuable work simply because of the business success that it could provide. Over all, I understand that the intended audience for this book is a smaller pool and the title of the text leads you to believe. If that is the goal of the writers, then that is fine, but I think it needs to be made clear through the title and the initial content. In closing, I would recommend this book to a very specific population with some reservations. While the writing style is praiseworthy for its accessibility and ease, I believe the formatting and intentions of the book require some prefacing that the authors do not provide. I also feel that the text could have been expanded in a way that would relate appropriately to those who are not linear thinkers or are coming from a different philosophical standpoint. If you are traditional practitioner desiring to open a private practice and you tend to view counseling from a more CBT, solution-focused, or behavioral theoretical framework, then this would be an excellent resource.

Great book with lots of extremely practical information. I will definitely keep and use this book frequently.

wonderful great book!!! wonderful delivery within 2 days. Awsome!!!

I agree with most of the reviewers that this is a very well written book with lots of excellent information. But... Arguably, THE most important factor in being successful in private practice is having enough clients. As has been noted, there are many marketing issues that aren't addressed in any detail. Surprisingly, next to no information and suggestions are made about having a website, other than to have it done for you. To be fair, the book was published in 2005. Marketing has changed in the last several years, as have companies that let you easily create your own site. One thing I did find helpful were a listing of APA Division of Independent Treatment Guides. I also agree with another previous reviewer that the book would have been much better with more meat, rather than 75% of the book being various APA Guidelines, even though the APA is the publisher. Hopefully, this book will be updated and have much more concrete marketing suggestions and less appenices.

I know, we all understand the importance of questions, and theirs are good ones. However, some sections of the book (especially Chapter 7) consist almost entirely of strings of questions, with relatively few recommendations. The practice guides and other information are helpful, but are less practical than the information to be found in the second book I bought (after being disappointed in this one), Holly Hunt's excellent book, "Essentials of Private Practice." Her book has much more on practical matters: billing, collections, and office procedures.

I bought this book as a reference for a seminar and was very underimpressed. Though it's 421 pages, the last 306 pages are appendicies of 15 different APA guidelines for treating people of certain populations. Don't get me wrong, these guidelines are important to good practice, they are simply not what I was looking for in a book about thriving as a therapist.The text of the book, it turns out, is about 112 pages of mildly to moderately useful information. I am returning my copy and looking for something useful as a reference.

This is simply a superb book-- period. This book contains everything you could possibly need to know and then some about starting and maintaining a successful and ethical practice in psychology. Information for which I've had to search far and wide during my 18 years in practice is now right here in the most practical and informative resource imaginable. This amazing resource contains not only all the "must know" information, but also multitudes of tips and tidbits in the "if only I had thought of this earlier" category. Because of the information in this book, I am now able to act pre-emptively to avoid what to me had been unforseen problems and complications down the road. Most, if not all of us in this field have had to learn the hard way. Pope and Vasquez have put an end to that with the publication of this invaluable resource. My only regret is that they didn't write it 18 years earlier! Whether you are a psychology student, intern, practitioner, professor, or mentor to others in the field, this book is simply a "must have" resource.