Archive for July, 2010

Credit Cards & Psychotherapy Fees

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Credit cards for psychotherapy fees? No. I don’t. It says so right on several of my listing pages. If you haven’t seen them you can find them at Help Pro: http://www.helppro.com/HP/Provider/987728297700001/Jay_E_Korman_LCSW-R.aspx

or

Psychology Today’s find a therapist: http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/prof_detail.php?profid=48698&sid=1280217813.3294_15666&state=New+York&lastname=Korman

There’s another couple of them floating around out there, including one where I can be rated by patients (no one’s gotten there yet – be the first on your block!) In any case, no, I don’t take credit cards but….

There was a recent discussion of the “ethics” of accepting payment of fees via credit card on one of the list serves I subscribe to. I mean, why shouldn’t we? Your dentist does. So does your MD, well as every other professional and, in fact, everybody including the butcher & baker. What’s the big deal about “ethics?” It’s just another way of paying for services, right?

Wrongo. Money & psychotherapy (psychoanalysis) have been inextricably linked ever since Uncle Sigmund was writing out his confusion into clarity (and then confusion, but that’s another story.) Credit isn’t a payment by you to me. It’s you asking your bank to pay me. But wait, I hear you ask, isn’t that just like paying you by check? No (unless you’re using overdraft, and we need to talk about that.) When you pay me by check you’re paying me out of your account.  It’s your money. Credit is somebody else’s money (OPM.)

I know, I know. Everybody does it. You pay for everything with credit. It helps you keep track of your spending. You couldn’t pay for it otherwise (again, we need to talk – see the next blog post.) Well, no, they don’t. Not everybody. Besides, it puts somebody in between us (is that what you want?  We really need to talk.)

It’s not that I’m hungry for money or my cash flow needs an infusion of ready money. It removes you from the interaction of us, and that’s just where we need to be.In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m kinda old school about some things and the relationship between us is important to me as a really vital part of the work. Got it? Money is one of the ways that people exchange energy between each other and also one of the ways, one of the really frackin’ big ways people show what’s important to them. Credit changes that. It removes the exchange between us and makes everything equally (un)important.

Yeah, I know. Who wants to be bothered carrying cash or checks around? Good question. Wish I had an easy answer for ya. As for the “ethics,” that’s also part of the next blog.

Catch ya next time.

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ADD & Taxes Pt. II: The Folly of Working Hard: Completeness is the enemy of sense

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

My last post was a bit of a disappointment to me. My “voice” was missing (what, you couldn’t hear me because it’s written, not spoken? Shirley, you jest.) I was missing a simple ingredient. Simple. That’s what I was missing.

See, I was trying to do too much in one shot. There’s only so much stuff I can cram in a 5-pound sack & I was looking at about 2o pounds. Then tried to tie it closed with a string. In the middle. The result? An overflowing, non-flowing pile of stuff that wasn’t satisfying to me, I don’t know about you.

The “simple” answer to the issue of ADD/ADHD and taxes is that there’s no “simple” answer that I can give. I can make suggestions but that’s already me imposing my thoughts. The simplest answer I know is to try things, no matter how logical, illogical, whimsical or insane they may seem until you find the method that works. If it works for you and Uncle Sugar it’s a bingo.

As for the other “simple” answer: I forgot the simple rule: Don’t work hard. Work smart. I was working too hard to try to get all my thoughts into one post. Phaugh! What a headache. It was a bad idea even if I could have done it. It was too much to organize (especially doing it inside that crowded melon between my hat & my neck.) Hard work never helped. Look at John Henry. He “…was a steel-drivin’ man (lord lord”) and, yeah, he beat that steam drill, but he died and his wife had to finish the job for him. He wasn’t even bustin’ up the mountain, he was just drilling pilot holes for the blasters (if you’ve never heard them, you gotta give them a listen. They’ll knock yer socks off) so they could bust up the mountain. The guy with the steam drill? He got to go home & have his soup. John Henry “…laid down his hammer an’ he died (lord lord.”) Where’s the percentage in that? He got a folk song written about him, but so did the guy with the steam drill. Don’t think so? Listen to the song again. It’s all about John Henry vs the Steam Drill.

What’s my point?  Zeit nicht meshugeh! There’s no “right” way to do your taxes (or anything else) as long as your in compliance with the codes, but working harder isn’t necessarily better. Working smarter, thinking about what you’re doing before you do it is often better. If someone accuses you of being lazy, go ahead and agree. Tell him (or her) that sure, you’re being lazy, but not unproductive. Remind him (or her) about John Henry. “He laid down his hammer and he died (lord lord.”) Does that sound good to you? Not me, cousins. I’ll use the steam drill any day rather than swing that sledge and go home, have my soup and, if necessary, come back tomorrow and finish up. The opposite of hard work isn’t “hardly workin.'” It’s workin’ smart.

Next up: Credit cards & psychotherapy fees.

Posted in ADD/ADHD, being thorough, completeness, hard vs smart, money, relaxation, stress | No Comments »