The Colorado Counseling Association is made up of more than 1,500 members throughout the state of Colorado. We are so grateful to serve each member! 

 

The mission of the CCA is to serve its membership by promoting legislative advocacy efforts, education resources, and professional resources offered to its members.

 

 

What's in this newsletter:

Please find all of this important information below. If you have any questions, or any information to share, please email us at: info@ColoradoCounselingAssociation.org

 

Thank you from all of us here!

Do you have a writing and/or editing background and want to contribute to CCA’s monthly newsletter? If so, we want to talk with you! Not only will you contributing to CCA’s primary information vehicle, but you are also able to count this volunteer position as part of your Professional Development Hours for your license renewal. Please reach out to Jane McGill, MA, LPC, for more information about becoming a contributor to the CCA newsletter. newsletter@coloradocounselingassociation.org

Are you wanting to present at the 2025 CCA Annual Conference? Now is the time to be thinking about your proposal submissions. Generally proposals fall into four broad categories - Youth/Family/Substance Abuse; Trauma/Suicide/Crisis; Prevention/Self-Care; and Ethical and Cultural Issues – though topics are not limited to these categories. The CCA will be sending out the Request for Proposals to all members in early November with submissions due by December 31st, 2024.

The 2025 Annual Conference will be held in Keystone Monday, August 18 – Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Look for early registration announcements in November!

Starting a private practice is a huge step in your career as a mental health professional. It's exciting, empowering, and yes—sometimes a little daunting. While your education has prepared you to be a therapist, launching a business requires an entirely new set of skills and a shift in mindset. So many new private practice owners make the same few mistakes that can lead to roadblocks down the line. To set yourself up for success, let's dive into three of the most common rookie mistakes you should avoid when launching your private practice.

 

One of the biggest mistakes therapists make when launching their practice is thinking too small. It’s easy to focus only on your identity as a therapist, but running a private practice requires that you expand your thinking to embrace your role as a business owner.

Don’t fall into the trap of getting stuck in the mindset of being "just" a therapist and forget that you're also running a business. This means thinking about marketing, finances, operations, and growth—not just client care. To be successful, you'll need to adopt a growth mindset. Instead of thinking, "I’m just a therapist," try saying, “I’m a therapist and an entrepreneur.” Shifting your mindset this way opens up possibilities for expansion, leadership, and innovation that will support the long-term success of your practice.

 

Just like every therapy client needs a treatment plan, your business needs a business plan. You wouldn’t start therapy without an idea of your client’s goals and how to reach them, so why would you start a business without a plan?

 

Many new practice owners jump in without a clear blueprint, hoping they can figure things out as they go. While flexibility is important, going without a strategy can leave you feeling scattered and overwhelmed. A well-thought-out business blueprint is essential. A comprehensive business plan doesn’t have to be overly complicated, but it does need to cover the basics. By setting up a clear plan, you'll not only be more organized but also more confident in making decisions for your practice.

 

Private practice doesn’t mean going solo in every sense. You don’t have to do everything alone. The truth is, trying to tackle everything on your own is a quick path to burnout, overwhelm, and self-doubt. Whether it’s hiring a consultant, seeking peer support, or finding a mentor, building a support system is critical to avoiding isolation and staying motivated.

 

Join professional groups, collaborate with colleagues, and invest in mentorship or supervision. By surrounding yourself with a supportive network, you’ll be able to navigate challenges with greater ease and avoid feeling lost in the day-to-day demands of business ownership.

 

Launching a private practice requires a balance of clinical skills and business acumen. By adopting a business mindset, setting up a solid plan, and building a strong support system, you’ll give yourself the best foundation for long-term success.

 

The September 2024 issue of the CPH Avoiding Liability Bulletin contained an article concerning therapists who include in their disclosures, informed consent forms, policy statement, or another agreement a paragraph concerning the clinician not testifying or getting involved with attorneys during a civil litigation or other legal or legal administration proceedings. Sometimes written documents may contain a clause expressing agreement by the patient not to subpoena or ask the therapist to testify in a legal proceeding brought by or against the patient, either during the therapeutic relationship or thereafter.

 

The author of the article, attorney Richard S. Leslie, says he typically advises clinicians that “such provisions are generally not in the best interests of the patient, unwise, problematic, against public policy, unenforceable, and possibly unethical or unlawful.”

 

To read more about Leslie’s reasoning and the full article, visit the CPH Avoiding Liability Blog here. https://cphins.com/disclosure-to-patients-no-court-for-me-2/

If you do not know the difference between progress notes and psychotherapy notes, you are in good company as this can be confusing to many therapists, even seasoned therapists.

 

According to Barbara Griswold, LMFT, and author of Navigating the Insurance Maze: The Therapist's Complete Guide to Working with Insurance – And Whether You Should, “Progress notes” — as defined by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) — are a required part of the client's medical record and reflect what occurred in each visit. HIPAA states that they may include assessment and diagnosis, treatment modality and frequency, session start/stop times, topics discussed, interventions, medication monitoring, test results, summaries of functioning, symptoms, prognosis, and progress.”

 

Psychotherapy notes, according to Griswold, are: “notes recorded (in any medium) … documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session…that are separated from the rest of the individual's medical record.” Griswold says she thinks of them as “kind of the therapist's diary of the therapy.” While psychotherapy notes are not required, if a clinician is using them, these notes must be kept separate from the client's medical file.

 

Your progress notes are a key aspect of your client's file and should never be taken lightly or written as an afterthought. A quick Google search came up with many links and templates as to how to write a good progress note. Generally, however, your progress note should:

• Be clear, professional, and to the point.

• Use third-person, objective language.

• Use clear evidence to back up any observations.

• Record any assessments (formal and informal) used.

• Contain information such as the clinician's name, the client's name, the date, time (length), and place of the session, and the diagnostic code.

• Include a treatment plan update and review of previous treatment plan.

• Finally, all notes need to be signed and dated by the clinician.

It is helpful to use a template for your notes. Many applications like Simple Practice, contain note templates. You can also use a DAP or SOAP note format.

 

Many thanks to Barbara Griswold. If you'd like to read her complete article on the difference between progress notes and psychotherapy notes, click here. https://theinsurancemaze.com/articles/progress-psychotherapy/

Q. Can a LAC supervise a LPCC?

A. Yes. SB24-115 gave LACs the ability to supervise LPCCs toward licensure. LACs will still need to meet the Colorado LAC supervision requirements in order to do so.

Q. What is happening with the interstate Compact?

A. As of right now, the Compact is moving toward a late spring or early summer 2025 launch. We do not have specifics yet as to how the Compact will work with each state, however joining the Compact doesn't mean that you are automatically able to see clients in all the Compact member states. You will need to meet specific state requirements/fees. For more information and to see a map of the participating states (currently at 36) and those with pending legislation, you can go to the Counseling Compact website. https://counselingcompact.org/map/

If you are not thinking about your Professional Development Plan and your 2025 LPC license renewal, you should be. All LPCs will renew their licenses in August 2025 and must meet the following:

To find more information about your license renewal, click here. https://dpo.colorado.gov/ProfessionalCounselor/CPC

You can access the Profession Development Competency Manual here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKoVwvexVATU0hiN1FaMDRvemc/view?resourcekey=0-JApQlQ353JPQMjYxroe3ZQ

The CCA would like to recognize its members for their contributions receiving state or national acclaim. If you have been recently recognized for your contributions to the profession to include article contributions, speaking engagements, etc., please let us know so we can tout your achievements to all of our membership. You can email your achievement to: newsletter@coloradocounselingassociation.org