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Person caught in a mouse trap baited with money

You don’t own your practice. Here’s how to get it back.

Last month, thousands of therapists opened an email and learned their income was being cut. Not because they saw fewer clients. Not because their work changed. A payer and a platform renegotiated a contract, and the result landed in their inbox: effective in a few weeks, a 60-minute session will be reimbursed the same as […]

Person trying to stop a giant stepping on them.

America’s largest mental health EHR just started acting like Big Tech. That should alarm every clinician.

SimplePractice is the most widely used EHR platform among independent behavioral health clinicians in the United States. Last week, it quietly announced a policy change in a support page update that should trouble every therapist, every patient, and everyone who believes the clinical relationship deserves to be protected from commercial interest. Beginning June 16, 2026, […]

Illustration of having the rug pulled from under you.

First they help you. Then they own you. 

How modern practice platforms are extracting value from independent clinicians. You went into private practice to do one thing: help people. But the tools you thought were built to support that purpose do not share your commitment. They undermine it — built by people whose financial interests are served by extracting from your work, not […]

Insurance claim form illustration

Insurance or private pay? Welcome to the conundrum.

Among the many business decisions therapists face when setting up a practice, or evolving it, is whether to accept insurance payments or see only private-pay clients. It’s no slam-dunk decision. At the heart of the conundrum is the idea of accepting insurance to help people who otherwise could not afford it, versus a potentially better-paying […]

Whether it’s EDI or DEI, let’s talk rebrand.

There was no shortage of timely presentations and topics of discussion at APA2025 in Denver. But it was a featured presentation by Anne Stegenga, PsyD, and Jacinta Dickens, PhD, on The Impact of Anti-Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Legislation that sparked a lively conversation at dinner with colleagues. As the subject of EDI reaches deep […]

Illustration of man on computer.

How AI can earn our trust

I was chatting with a psychologist recently who is dead set against the use of artificial intelligence (AI), at least in his practice. Nervousness about what he described as “the Big Brother” aspect of AI keeps him at arm’s length from the technology. When it comes to AI trust, he simply doesn’t have it. He’s […]

illustration of person on a see saw with happy and unhappy faces.

Mental health care parity the fight is on

One of the most significant developments in mental health care access in the 2000s was the enactment of the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Fortified by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, the federal law stipulates that insurers and corporate-backed health plans, extended now to some 175 million Americans, provide […]

Wish List Illustration

How we arrived at Free (and why you can believe it)

By now, you’ve heard me speak of our partner therapists — thousands of you giving us your wish-list items for a better practice management/EHR system. The input is paramount to our design development and go-to-market strategy. On that latter point, one issue led the pack: Costs. Working with thin margins, therapists told us that financial […]

Data Security Illustration

A balancing act: Fixing the security-vs-cost tightrope

Despite a slight decrease in the average cost of data breach recovery (around $9.77 million) in 2024, the healthcare industry remains the costliest sector for cyber-attacks. It’s an infamous ranking that healthcare has held since 2011 and is likely to hold for a while. The finance sector comes in a distant second at $6.1 million […]

Curious people peeking outside

Bracing for change in the new year

In 2025, a new federal administration will take up residence in Washington, DC. The Trump administration will start with a like-minded House and Senate, both with Republican majorities. For the rest of the country, there is a litany of puzzling questions. Answers could bring either transformational change in mental healthcare or perhaps something closer to […]