Stepping out on one's own

[BuckeyeLove]

I just recently formally removed myself from a practice I have been a part of since becoming licensed. This was not an easy decision or quick process, as it took me a period of 6 plus months to strategically slow my role in the practice to get to a place where by me leaving, I was not leaving anyone high and dry. I really did not want to burn any bridges, as the people in the practice very much helped me early on these last few years. However, I could not stay. At the end of the day, I was getting paid essentially 1/3rd of what was billed (if that), and most (if not all) of my work required zero overhead (e.g., second opinion evaluations, not really ever requiring testing, almost always seeing defendants or patients at either hospitals or jails). Overall, I could not ignore the money that I was not getting.

However, even if I had been getting paid more, at the end of the day, I did not enjoy working for these particular individuals. Great teachers, amazing mentors, but not who I would choose to have as bosses. I got to the point where I did not enjoy being told what to do and when to do it, especially as a contractor. I guess what I’m wondering is, has anyone been through something similar career wise, and how have people faired stepping out on their own? Have you felt any guilt? I hope I’m not getting too far into therapy/self-disclosure here, but no joke, I’m feeling a bit guilty and that I have let these mentors down (even though I know I didn’t, as I did not leave them with unfinished work or obligations), but at the end of it all, I was not ever happy working for them, and that has to count for something, right? Guess I’m just looking for some consensual validation lol.

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[WisNeuro]

You're doing the right thing. You're responsible for your future well-being, it certainly sounds like these former bosses were just trying to milk out as much profit as they could for your work since becoming licensed. Now's the time to find what you want to do, and get compensated accordingly.

 

[deleted480308]

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the next venture, life is too short

 

[PsyDr]

It's been my experience that when employers try to employ emotional techniques as some form of negotiating technique, it is time to run. Especially when this pops up when you confront them with pure data. Guilt, trust, anger, etc only works in the context of a relationship. Trust only works when there is a base. If your employer wouldn't take care of you if you got cancer, they are not your friend, and their attempts at using emotion mean NOTHING. If the emotion comes from greed, well... greed can't be satisfied. And you would always let them down.
Several local practices tried to hire me, and thought that my counter offer was unreasonable. Since we're not friends, I felt fine being a competitor instead. Now they get 0% of that work.

I have also had extremely congenial negotiations with colleagues where we discussed numbers, duties, etc. Some have been successful and some have been unsuccessful. But in those, no one has tried to guilt me. I am friends with some of these people still.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Business is business. Don't feel guilty making appropriate career transitions. You should feel the opposite of guilty in situations where you are not being paid your worth or being valued at an appropriate level.

 

[Sanman]

Agreed with the others. There is nothing to feel guilty or angry about. You learned the ropes of a new field and they made money off of you while you did it. If you are no longer learning anything from them (which is where the unhappiness seems to come from), it is time to move on to the next step in your life and career. Do you have a non-compete clause or any issue taking your streams of income with you? If not, then enjoy.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

Thank you all for the encouragement. Yes, there is a non compete (which I know will be enforced). However, there is part of it which hopefully will allow for some flexibility.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Thank you all for the encouragement. Yes, there is a non compete (which I know will be enforced). However, there is part of it which hopefully will allow for some flexibility.

It is my understanding that non-competes are very often overly restrictive (time, scope of practice, or region covered) and end up being non-enforceable because they are more of a 'wish list' by employers rather than a legally binding/verified agreement. Snagging their referral sources may fall within the scope of the protection offered (depending even then), but I cannot imagine that conducting similar but independent work would be viewed the same way.

 

[WisNeuro]

It is my understanding that non-competes are very often overly restrictive (time, scope of practice, or region covered) and end up being non-enforceable because they are more of a 'wish list' by employers rather than a legally binding/verified agreement. Snagging their referral sources may fall within the scope of the protection offered (depending even then), but I cannot imagine that conducting similar but independent work would be viewed the same way.

This gets a little more dicey in the forensic world. A lot of times the non-competes specify that relationships that begun under the auspices of the past practice are off limits.

 

[procrastin8r]

I just left a position after working there for 4 months, with no viable plan B at the moment. It was a soul-sucking job, with egregiously low pay, astoundingly disorganized office, ubiquitous employee burnout, etc. etc. etc. I could write a treatise on all the things that went wrong there, and yet it is still terrifying to be **** without a paddle and to have a 4-month "blip" on my resume. To boot, I'm still ABD, so do not have many viable career alternatives, until I defend and apply for licensure. The guilt is a real bummer, but is also a part of the abuse cycle, or so I am trying to conceptualize it. Good luck and good riddance!

 

[MAClinician]

^was it community mental health position? I can think of several places in MA that sucks the soul out of providers lol

 

[deleted343839]

You are doing the right thing. You've acted in good faith and taken plenty of time to deliberate your choices. I believe there are people who make fine mentors but poor employers. It seems as though you have discerned what these relationships have meant to you, and separated that from your other needs at this stage in your career development. Don't look back. Best of luck on your new path!

 

[AbnormalPsych]

This seems well thought out and like a good decision for you. And once you made that decision, you took your time and handled the transition well. Congratulations. Go enjoy your future work and life.

 

[ClinicalABA]

Thank you all for the encouragement. Yes, there is a non compete (which I know will be enforced). However, there is part of it which hopefully will allow for some flexibility.

Check the regs in your jurisdiction regarding non-competes for psychologists, in many states such clauses are not legally binding. In some places, inclusion of such clauses voids the entire contract. There is one in my current contract, though it is legally unenforceable (but doesn’t void entire contract). Laws against these are based on the public’s right to access clinical services, with such clauses seen as a hindrance to that right. Basically, the right of the public to benefit from my services are given more weight than a companies right to have exclusive use of my services. All that said, non-solicitation agreements may have more weight, but again states don’t like anything getting in the way of the public accessing services.

 

[WisNeuro]

Check the regs in your jurisdiction regarding non-competes for psychologists, in many states such clauses are not legally binding. In some places, inclusion of such clauses voids the entire contract. There is one in my current contract, though it is legally unenforceable (but doesn’t void entire contract). Laws against these are based on the public’s right to access clinical services, with such clauses seen as a hindrance to that right. Basically, the right of the public to benefit from my services are given more weight than a companies right to have exclusive use of my services. All that said, non-solicitation agreements may have more weight, but again states don’t like anything getting in the way of the public accessing services.

Accessing clinical services is different than accessing forensic/legal services. It depends on what type of forensic work Buckeye is doing, but the non-competes operate differently in these situations from what I recall. It's still worth checking with an attorney, but probably a bit more prohibitive than a simple non-compete if you are just doing pure clinical work.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

but probably a bit more prohibitive than a simple non-compete if you are just doing pure clinical work.

Yep. I can almost guarantee that what they will argue is that the services themselves are more akin to providing a tangible legal document/product, and not an actual clinical service to the public. And they wouldn't really be wrong. At the end of the day, this wasn't my primary source of income, so eating the non-compete aspect isn't a deal breaker. I'm just hopeful that the connections I've made will continue to be there in a year's time. Never really thought about how to handle keeping those lines open during the time period where I won't be able to do evals for those people.

 

[PsyDr]

Yep. I can almost guarantee that what they will argue is that the services themselves are more akin to providing a tangible legal document/product, and not an actual clinical service to the public. And they wouldn't really be wrong. At the end of the day, this wasn't my primary source of income, so eating the non-compete aspect isn't a deal breaker. I'm just hopeful that the connections I've made will continue to be there in a year's time. Never really thought about how to handle keeping those lines open during the time period where I won't be able to do evals for those people.

1) "Your honor, I was under the assumption that my work is providing the justice system with information in several formats so that judges such as yourself have sufficient information to ensure the public justice is served as outlined in FRE 702, and case law since 1782 . I didn't even consider that anyone would have the gall to redefine expert witnesses roles as document preparation."

2) "Counselor, I was calling to let you know that I am going out on my own. I have really enjoyed working with you. I might have a 6-9 month period where I can't accept work due to a non-compete, but I would love to continue working with you in the future. I'll drop a business card in the mail for you. "

3) BTW: you should look into the case law about the length of non-competes in your state, because I didn't just pull that 6-9 months thing out of the air.

 

[ClinicalABA]

Accessing clinical services is different than accessing forensic/legal services. It depends on what type of forensic work Buckeye is doing, but the non-competes operate differently in these situations from what I recall. It's still worth checking with an attorney, but probably a bit more prohibitive than a simple non-compete if you are just doing pure clinical work.

I'm not sure about this- the regulations refer to the profession, rather than the specific type of work. Good advice to spend a few bucks to check with an attorney. My state (MA) recently enacted new regs that include, among other VERY employee friendly rules, a "garden clause" which can require the employer to pay the employee 50% of her/his pre-separations salary for the entire term of the the non-compete (which max of 1 year. It's a term with British law roots- basically paying the ex-employees to tend to their gardens for a year. IMHO, this is all good, as non-competes are often misused and are exclusively in the favor of the employer.