The Essential Guide to Group Practice in Mental Health: Clinical, Legal, and Financial Fundamentals

Whether you are an experienced clinician or a newly graduated professional, today's changing economic environment can make the business of practice seem especially daunting. This indispensable manual is based on a simple idea: In a consolidating health care world, you cannot (and don't have to!) go it alone. Demonstrating that collaboration is the key to successful, quality-oriented private practice, the book provides the concrete information you need to affiliate with a group practice for the first time, expand an existing group practice, or conceive and build a practice venture from the ground up. With a wealth of hands-on exercises and extensive interviews with leaders in the field, Simon Budman and Brett Steenbarger help you take greater control of your career and make crucial decisions for your professional future.

Simon H. Budman, PhD, a leader in the development of new models for behavioral health care, is the president and founder of Innovative Training Systems (ITS) in Newton, Massachusetts. ITS provides training, consulting and new product development services to managed care companies, group practices, hospitals, community mental health centers and HMOs around the country. A faculty member of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Budman is past Director of Mental Health Training and Mental Health Research at the Harvard Community Health Plan. He is coauthor (with Alan S. Gurman) of the widely acclaimed Theory and Practice of Brief Therapy.

Brett N. Steenbarger, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of Student Counseling at the SUNY Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He has served as founding member and practice manager of PrimeCare of Central New York, Inc., an 80-member multidisciplinary behavioral health network, and has published numerous articles and book chapters on brief therapy and behavioral health care. He currently edits psycOH!, an online continuing education publication for behavioral health practitioners.