Hi! I am looking to move to Grand Rapids in the next few months and am looking for an apartment. As of right now, I really like Bayberry Pointe Apartments and Greenridge Apartments. It seems that both apartments have gotten very good reviews, but I was looking through reddit and saw a mention of roaches at Greenridge. Has anyone else experienced this? I'd appreciate some insight! Thanks.
Hi! I am a 25 year old female (I look more like 22-23) who is beginning a job at a group practice. I’m going to be working primarily with children, teens, and some young adults. I have an insecurity and fear of not being able to retain clients because of how young I look, and going along with that, I’m afraid that parents may judge me based on my outfits. I feel like I have a good sense of what’s appropriate or not, and my workplace is very laid back and casual, but I just was wondering if anyone has any tips for dress as a younger woman that’s professional and comfortable, as well as any tips on how to overcome the imposter syndrome/insecurities I’m feeling a little bit? I’m just afraid of not being fully respected or taken seriously because of my age and appearance, and that feels like a scary thing for me.
Hi! I would appreciate some insight and perspective into a job offer I've received. I graduated last weekend with my MSW, and I have what I feel is a great job offer, one that is better than I was ever expecting being straight out of grad school, but there is some anxiety around it.
It is a 1099 contract position at a moderate-sized (approximately 12 therapists at 2 different locations in a moderately-sized city) group private practice that has an excellent culture focused on holistic health, justice-centered approaches, and equity. I interviewed with the owner of the practice and the practice manager, who would be my supervisor, and I cannot say enough how welcome and valued they made me feel. Their pay split is dependent on a 2 week period, beginning at 60%. If you see 41+/2 weeks (20.5) clients, you receive 75%, which I think is wonderful. If you see 15-20 clients per week, you receive a 70% split. My ideal schedule would be 22 clients a week, hopefully 4 days a week with 1 day being solely administrative and individual development. They offer free supervision and a $300 yearly credit for CEUs, and CEUs also count towards client hours for pay periods. I would have to purchase my malpractice insurance and pay for Psychology Today monthly, but these are small costs to me. With how much I would be making, and I'm accounting for cancellations and variability in summer/January with insurance resets, I would be making enough to save up for about 5-6 weeks of PTO yearly.
I am a little anxious about taxes, but I would automatically take 30% out of every paycheck, put it in a HYSA, and complete taxes quarterly. Health insurance also isn't a problem. I have 2 other W2 offers at group practices, one with a 50% split and one with a 55% split with a strict mandate of at least 25 clients a week, which is more than my ideal. With that practice, they also assign you clients and expect you to accept any insurance, and this brings the split down. Apparently Cigna insurance is somewhat common for their clients, and I know the reimbursement rate for them can be quite low. I was told to expect to average $43 per session. I'm in Michigan and have been told reimbursement rates are usually $110-$160, but to play it safe assuming a little lower, let's say $90-$130, with my 1099 offer I would be netting approximately $68-$90. I also would be able to pick and choose which insurances to accept, which I don't plan on turning people away because of their insurance, but if for some reason, I am really needing to make more money, it does feel reassuring for me to know that I have the option. Both W2 offers offer 4 weeks of PTO and health insurance, although you have to pay fully out of pocket, $500 a month, unless you average 28+ clients for week, and there is a 6 month waiting period, which doesn't seem great to me.
They have someone who handles all billing, which I like, as well as furnished offices and plenty of shared materials and a list where therapists can make requests, which is important to me because I will be working with kids. I am anticipating it to take me 6 months to build a full caseload to about 20 clients, although again I'd like to be at 22-23 weekly to get the highest 75% split. I am prepared for this, have about $7k in savings as a safety net, and also have a 15-hour part-time job which makes me around $1.5k a month.
Doing the math after taxes, my first offer definitely wins by about $500-$600 per month, but I do just have anxiety because reading through a lot of these threads, they really warn against taking a contractor position because of the instability. I feel like I know to expect some instability, and I know it's good to over schedule and anticipate a couple weekly anticipations, and to budget for less sessions in the summer. I also know that some people push back on the administrative work we do outside of sessions and not technically being paid for that, but to me, that's work that is included in the work we do, and I don't think of it as unpaid. Am I missing something with this? I've never heard of a private practice paying clinicians for administrative responsibilities. I guess I'm just afraid my offer is almost too good to be true. Maybe it isn't as good as I think, but I wasn't expecting to find a practice offering me 75% split as an LL fresh out of grad school.
I would be making about $85k pre tax and $63k post-tax assuming 30% taken out, and that's definitely better than many of the other offers I've seen in medical social work, schools, or CMH, and more than I thought I would be making post-grad with much more flexibility and control over my schedule, and hopefully a low chance of burnout. I've been managing my own caseload in a group private practice for the past 16 months during grad school, and have really put in a lot of time and energy into my learning and growth asa beginning therapist, and will continue to do so. I'm really trying to be thorough and informed with my decision! Does anybody else have any other factors that I haven't brought up yet, things I haven't thought of, or insight or perspectives that could help? Thanks so much.