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.