This was an interesting media month for mental health. There are a few items I’d like to mention.
1 - The first was an article in the Wall Street Journal July 17. On the first page of the Personal Journal is an article “Letting Your Family In on Your Therapy. Supposedly a ground breaking move, it reports that therapists using the “Maudsley” method help clients when long-term therapy did not. If you’re curious about this approach working with eating disordered clients go to http://www.edsurvivalguide.com/eatingdisorder-maudsley.htm. It suspiciously looks like a simple twist on family therapy, and with the right PR can become a new holy grail of treatment. Consumers are constantly looking for the “Next Thing” that will change their lives. Maybe you’re doing something that you can give a good name and write articles about its efficacy (if its working).
2 - This leads me to the recent edition of the Psychotherapy Networker on Private Practice. I heard it was coming and even placed an ad in it for the new Professional Practice Institute. This Saturday I staked out my claim to the best chair on the deck, grabbed my magazine, some iced tea, and read it cover to cover. Nice articles, yet nothing new. The same well written news is:
♦ Managed care is driving our income down
♦ Private pay clients are elusive
♦ Therapists generally are not good business people.
I was actually pleased that I hadn’t missed a major trend in the field, and saddened that there wasn’t a new major trend in the field.
So what this tells us again is:
♦ Don’t rely on managed care clients to make your practice grow in income unless you create a way to run a lot of volume.
♦ Be VERY clear about what your good at and learn how to describe it to consumers so they will flock to your door and pay out of pocket.
♦ Learn how to be a good businessperson for both of the above.
♦ Make friends with Authentic Marketing and promote your practice EVERY DAY.
I have my own thoughts about why mental health professionals are generally not very good at marketing. I wonder what your thoughts are.
Psychotherapy and the Cinema
There are at least two ways to look at therapy the media. One is the portrayal of therapists in the media. Will we ever forget Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting? It is great fun to watch the old movies during the Freud era to see just how things have changed.
Next is my favorite, diagnosing actors and systems as they are portrayed on the screen. I’m working on a diagnosis of Dolores Umbridge in the new Harry Potter flick. She’s the frumpy lady in the pink suit that tortures Harry by having him carve words into his hand. Let me know what you come up with. I’m definitely walking down Axis II for her.
The two books I find helpful in exploring psychotherapy and the media are:
Psychiatry and the Cinema, G Gabbard and K Gabbard and
Reel Psychiatry – Movie Portrayals of Psychiatric Conditions, D. Robinson
Then I went to see Sicko, yowza, what a film. If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend going. Yes, they only mention mental health care briefly, but it communicates the state of our healthcare system dramatically. After you see it you’ll understand why I’m starting to take French lessons. After you go, I’d love to hear what you think.
Enjoy!
Please be in touch.
Onward
Linda
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