The "Business Therapist" Behaving Badly

I've been stewing in my recent experience with my T's former office, or business, therapist. It's the second one for this particular therapy group-- owned by one therapist, who employs an ever-evolving group of 20+ psychotherapists part time. It went like this:

Tuesday phone call from office staff:

"Something has come up, and we have to cancel your Wednesday appointment. We will call you when we are able to reschedule it."

It sounded very much like the mysterious phone call I received when my son's therapist at this same group quit. By talking to my own T, I was able to learn that he'd moved to another therapy group. I called and made an appointment there. I never received a follow up phone call from the office staff.

This week, I spent about an hour wondering if it would be okay for me to contact my T and ask if he'd quit. I texted him and told him I'd received a phone call from the office that made me think he'd quit.

He called me back about a minute later and explained that he had quit, but given the office 5 weeks notice. He wanted to make sure that his clients were covered during the holidays. The business therapist's response was to fire him the same day and threatened to sue him if he contacted any of his clients.

I can begin seeing him at his new office after the first of the year, and he assured me that he could find some way to see me if I needed to and I could call him anytime. I'm not unopposed to a five week break and I'll be out of town for two of those weeks anyway, but I really can't believe how badly his old office handled this. The whole "something came up" sounds like something horrible could have happened to him, and they should have allowed him to quit without retaliating. Most of all, they should have cared enough about the well being of their clients to consider what is in the interests of the clients-- to continue therapy during what is a difficult time for most people. It's bad therapist behavior, it's bad business behavior, and it's bad business therapist behavior.

This therapy group has lost almost all of its experienced therapists, and replaced them with inexperienced ones who can supposedly tolerate their lousy working conditions. I am angry at the way they have treated my therapist and my son's therapist. In our state, the rules about "competition" side with the client-- meaning that businesses cannot stop therapists from quitting and working elsewhere, and clients are supposed to be told how to reach their old therapist, if that therapist wants them to be able to.

Instead, I feel like this business therapist is using this vulnerable time to try to switch me to another therapist in his group. He can just kiss my @ss.

Rant over. I have never seen a therapist that was part of a business group, and I doubt I ever will again. Seems like having a therapist pimp is a bad idea, and I'm glad my T is going into business for himself.

Holy carp. I would anonymously send the business a flyer for an anger management seminar!

I think you can do a "failure to care/abandonment" to the state board against the therapy group's owner. It is against the law to do what they did.

Holy cow that's ridiculous!! Makes me glad my t is in private practice.

I agree with dancinglady!

My therapist had a "weird quit" from his T group too. He told me weeks in advance he was quitting and wanted to know if I wanted to follow. I didn't care if he opened up his office in front of a mine field at that point. I was in a rough spot and did not want to change T's. SOooo a week after he left, his former office manager T calls me all frantic like he just up and left. Like my T went out in a "Deuces B*&^%" kinda way. I laughed so hard(not in her face), because it was interesting to see the human aspect of T's getting fed up like we do.
According to my T, he left in a tactful manner...but by his demeanor you could tell maybe there was other drama that had stewed over there.

Since when did T's become T-Madams and Pimps,smh lol!

Anne I am not surprised to hear this as I have experienced similar from therapists I know. I think the office is maltreatment there clients and abandoning them. It has been my experience that some therapists are *****y and vindictive especially towards each other

Hilarious Hankster. What I did say to T, referring to son's T, who I thought was just less easy going than T, as well as him, "clearly they have management problems." He did laugh hard.

I do agree with you that it's not right and prolly against the T code. However I don't have any interest in filing a complaint.

Sounds like both you & your T are better off being out of that group. My T is in private practice, so when things go wrong there's no doubt who's to blame. Easier that way ... good luck!

Clearly the business owner is putting profit over clients, this shows a lack of understanding that in order to have ANY sort of successful and growing business customer service is the #1 thing.

I have read a few therapist blogs about how to run a business and some really advocate making clients give them a credit card so they can charge clients for cancellations and so on.

My T is adamant that no client should ever just quit, that they must discuss this with their T and manage the ending, so that there is no harm to the client. I can't believe the way clients are treated at your centre, I hope you put in a complaint.

The clinic has tapped into the court ordered market, so some people may not be able to vote with their feet. But I think you can only lose so many employee therapists before your reputation declines.

I think that as the client I can just quit. I do not owe the therapist anything nor would I ever allow one to manage the ending.

I suppose that if clients agree freely, that policy is okay. I don't think I would agree to that, however.

It is truly a bad ending for all his clients. And while I feel comfortable contacting him, not everybody does.

As I stated earlier in this thread, I'm not interested in filing a complaint. Mostly because I am a busy professional who bills by the hour and I don't see any benefit that is worth the time, for me personally. And while I would applaud anyone who wants to take on bad therapists, I am not that person.

Well, it sounds like that group wont be in business for long. First the therapists quit. Then the clients quit. Then referrers stop sending referrals because the group has a bad reputation.

I know I would not agree to it. It was just interesting for me to read about them giving advice to each other about running a business. I have a small speciality area aside from my full time teaching. I have to bill clients too. Some pay better and faster than others. I have had friends ask about what happens when a lawyer leaves a firm.

If I decide to quit her I have no intention of going back for an 'ending', but I like her sentiment, and I guess it means she would never terminate someone with no ending.

As bad as of an experience as that is, be THANKFUL you can still see your therapist. I used to go to a centre where one therapist hired other therapists to also work at the same centre. All the therapists had to sign a contract that if they left, that they could not take their clients with them unless a year had passed and that client had not been using the centres' services during that time.

I'm glad you can still see your therapist.

Not if most of their business is from court orders. It doesn't matter if the therapists are inexperienced and the therapy lousy because most of the people don't want to be there anyway and half the time they won't show up - the actual client is the court, and as far as I know, they pay regardless of whether the person shows or not.

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Update:

The office manager (not a scared assistant like last time) called to tell me that my therapist quit and began working for a new firm without giving them any notice. This is a direct lie, I believe intended to make me believe that my therapist would just abandon me and his other clients. She also said that she couldn't give me a referral to his new company because he. Wasn't approved for my insurance yet. Also not true, they could absolutely give me a referral. But I pretended I knew nothing. She said that she could offer me a free appointment with a therapist who she thought I would be well matched with. She said there were several options.

The first person she recommended? She said she has someone really experienced with couples. I said I was recently widowed.

Nothing from her except tp recommend someone who specialized in addictions. I said that wasn't my problem.

So she recommended a generalist who could help me with "adjustment problems." So I made a fake appointment that I'll cancel later.

I can hardly believe these clowns. The lies just in the service of keeping my business. I have been with my therapist for 4 years and even if they had been straight about things, I'd still be leaving their business. I guess it's gods they made it so easy.

O.m.g.!!! Santa is gonna put her on his naughty list for sure!! i guess its comforting at least to know she obviously isnt looking at your records while shes talking to you! Holy cannoli!

Thanks for seeing the positive side, hankster! I actually found it amusing more than anything, in the sense that I had a running dialog in my head, like, "right, T really just up and left all his clients hanging, right."