Two Chairs

"Best mental health therapy ever!"

"I am extremely annoyed, frustrated, and disappointed at the lack of transparency during the interview process and the lack of flexibility in scheduling clients. I have never come across such unprofessionalism in my career. I worked in community mental health for a long-time and this company definitely has that feel. There's lots of welcome meetings with smily faces welcoming you but beyond that it comes off as cold and inflexible . And that's really odd and a difficult feat for a remote position. I went through about 5 rounds of interviews during their interview process and during each phase I confirmed the same information to make sure it would be a fit for me. I asked about what the caseload would be and I was repeatedly told that productivity was 25 hours and that 28 client hours would be scheduled to compensate for potential no shows or cancellations. I specifically asked how many meetings there were on average and was told that it was usually 3-4 hours. With that information in mind I specifically asked if it was safe to assume that 32 hours would be devoted to meeting times (both clients and two chairs) and was told yes. I was informed that this was a full time 40 hour job. I asked if the 40 hours included face to face meetings, documentation time, client preparation time, researching of case, etc and was told yes. Anyone who has worked in the field recently would agree that seeing 25-30 clients is a full time 40 hour position with all those responsibilities in mind . I specifically asked if the client hours could be scheduled at my preferred times (outside of the peak hour requirements) and was told yes. I specifically shared that I am in a PhD program with a class on Thursday, asked if that was ok, and asked if I could work longer days on other days to account for the shortened day on Thursday (4 client hours) and was told yes. I also asked if I would be able to bring Kaiser clients with me and was told yes. It wasn't until I met with my first manager shortly before my start date that I was informed that I couldn't bring my Kaiser clients with me and that I had to be available 45 hours during the work week including during the administrative hour. I believed that information to be incongruent with all the information I received during each phase of the interview process with each specific question that I asked. So then I met with a new manager Nicole, who is an awesome person/manager/clinician, and offered up various ways to make this position work based on my schedule and their expectations for availability despite the numerous incongruencies throughout the interview process. I offered to take on a higher case load than asked (more than 30) if my client schedule could be reasonably consistent, I offered to work through administrative hours because I've been in the habit the last few years of completing my documentation while in session, I offered to see clients at 7 pm, I offered to see clients on weekends, and I offered to change my school schedule if they could be reasonably flexible for 2 weeks while I finished the current class. I was shot down with every attempt I made to meet their 45 hour availability requirement despite the position really being a bait and switch type of situation in my eyes. Their policies are not reflective of the emphasis that they place on the website and during the interview process on balance and wellness. I even would have taken a part time option that they offered as an option because I really was impressed with the matching system and thought this population would help me grow professionally, personally, and spiritually. But to add insult to injury they required that I interview for that position after 5 rounds of interviews despite it being exactly the same position with less hours and no benefits. I find that request to be completely insulting and demeaning, and a bullying tactic and did not engage that. They wasted my time so I hope that experienced clinicians take a hard pass. They have some potential if they could be more flexible and ditch the clinical labels."