Private Intensive Therapy Retreats Information for Therapists In the interest of making the Fairy Tale Model of trauma-informed treatment more widely available, Trauma Institute & Child Trauma Institute is now offering a Therapy Retreat service, provided by independent therapists who have been trained in and utilize the fairy tale model. Who is eligible to provide a Therapy Retreat? Retreat providers must meet the following requirements: Mental health professional licensed/registered for independent practice in your locality, or under supervision of a licensed practitioner Ability to provide an office space, and carry malpractice insurance, that will apply to the Retreat. This typically means that you are in private practice, though that is not required. Completion of at least one of TI/CTI s multi-day training programs, including: EMDR Basic Training Treating Problem Behaviors Child/Adolescent Trauma Treatment Intensive Progressive Counting Certificate Program Must be using either PC or EMDR as your primary trauma resolution method. If you didn t learn EMDR from us, that s OK. Regular utilization of the fairy tale model s treatment approach, and a commitment to using it as the primary treatment orientation for Retreat clients. This does not mean that (within that framework) you cannot use whatever intervention may be called for in a given situation, in your clinical judgment of course you can. It does mean that clients are coming to you for a particular service, so that should be what you are offering and intending to do. Why would a therapist want to provide therapy in a retreat format? It is rather satisfying to help someone so much, so quickly. It s a very effective and efficient treatment format. No insurance company or billing hassles; just do the work and get paid. What are the benefits for clients to obtaining therapy in a retreat format? Some people cannot access the treatment of their choice in their own location. Making one or two trips to you can attain that access.
Some people prefer the privacy/anonymity of treatment outside of their own community. This is particularly common among therapists, clergy, and prominent people. Doing it all at once gets it done, instead of dragging on and on with the problem. Why lose more months or years before getting better? Getting through treatment quickly reduces the risk of the treatment being sabotaged by client crises. Intensive treatment is more efficient because of time not spent on beginnings and endings. So with the retreat, you get more progress per treatment hour. How is therapy provided within the retreat format? For the most part, treatment is provided as usual as per the fairy tale model. However, because of the retreat format, there are a few modifications. The retreat is typically conducted as follows: You will typically get from Hello through the Treatment Plan by lunch time of the first day, and sometimes sooner. No or minimal Fence and/or Personal Training only as/if needed to tolerate the trauma work and get through the evenings. (For example, a client trying to recover from a breakup might need some work on avoiding face-book-stalking in the evenings of the retreat.) Since the client is with you and not facing the normal day-to-day challenges, you don t usually have to deal with these issues early on in the treatment. Attachment work if needed. Slay all the dragons. Then really dig in with Fence & Personal Training (the anticipated near-future challenges). Plan for follow-up. Any other tips to make it work? Screen out clients who are unstable and likely to require more follow-up support than you can offer from a distance. Unless they already have such support set up (e.g., an existing therapy relationship). Also screen out clients who, for whatever reason, you believe you are not likely to help within the retreat format. For example, if you have reason to believe that a particular individual will require many months to build trust sufficient for trauma work, then this
would not be an appropriate person to accept for a retreat. Another reason to screen someone out is if their presenting problem is outside your areas of competence. When working with parent/child, do the fence work with the parent(s) when the child wants/needs a break. This allows you to respect the child s rhythm and still get a chance to do the work with the parents. Don t forget self-care. It s fine to be flexible, but make sure you get as much lunch/break time as you need. And start and end on time. Prepare an info sheet for travel, lodging, restaurants, shopping, etc. Then the client feels taken care of, and you don t have to answer the same questions each time. What are the potential problems with the Retreat format, and how can these be addressed? The retreat format does not provide the usual week to reflect after a therapy session, before reconnecting with the client. You still can and should do frequent check-ins with your client (at minimum, prior to each break). And you still do have lunch and evenings to reflect on the therapy. The retreat format does not provide the usual client opportunity to experience in-life successes and build their therapy track record that way. That s true. On the other hand, you get a bit of the stranger on a train effect, and clients do tend to engage well with the therapist and do their work. The retreat format does not provide the usual opportunity to give clients something to practice and then to follow up. So follow up! This can be done by phone or video-conferencing. But this is not as good as the weekly in-person meetings typical of locally-based therapy. What is the business arrangement between the therapist and TI/CTI? TI/CTI: hosts the web site therapyretreat.org which describes the retreats, lists the therapists, etc. (note that this retreat service is being launched to coincide with a major web site upgrade as well as increased frequency and visual appeal of our e-newsletters) markets the retreats via the web site, internet advertising, and our e-newsletter. conducts the initial screening
refers the client to the therapist according to the client s needs and stated priorities (e.g., areas of expertise, fees, location, schedule, and perhaps a request for a particular therapist) processes consent, deposit (or credit card authorization), and fee payments provides a hipaa-compliant web space for communication with clients conducts follow-up interviews with potential clients who decide not to pursue a retreat conducts brief pre-treatment, post-treatment and follow-up evaluations The Therapist: includes TI/CTI as a covered party on his/her malpractice insurance policy conducts his/her own screening and decides whether or not to accept the client informs TI/CTI of the outcome of the screening and (if applicable) the dates of scheduled treatment informs TI/CTI when treatment is completed provides the client, upon request, with an invoice that the client may choose to use for insurance, tax, or other purposes Thus the therapist is providing treatment while TI/CTI is conducting the outcome evaluation (which will be used for practice evaluation as well as research purposes) and providing various marketing and administrative services. The therapist is neither an employee nor a consultant/independent contractor for TI/CTI; rather, the therapist is an independent provider who is collaborating with TI/CTI and contracting to purchase services from TI/CTI. What are the fees? The suggested fee structure for providing a Retreat is as follows: TI/CTI-trained therapists who are not yet licensed: $250/day TI/CTI-trained therapists: $500 - $1,000/day Therapists are free to set their own fees; the above is a guideline. Therapists may start lower to gain business and experience, and go higher as they feel more confident and/or are busier. TI/CTI will retain15% (as payment for services) and forward the remainder to the therapist.
What is the payment to TI/CTI payment used for? this program s development, including legal consultation web site design and maintenance internet marketing via our web sites, our mass e-mailings, and pay-per-click ads outsourced hipaa-compliant client portal web services payment (credit card) processing screening, follow-up with non-clients, post-tx and follow-up evals for completers administration How do I fit this into my work schedule and income stream? The therapist must have large blocks of time available, e.g., weekends, long weekends, or consecutive open weekdays. You don t need 4 straight days open that s one way to do it, but some clients prefer 2-day weekend blocks so they don t have to miss work. You do what works for you, and you ll get the clients who that works for. Our system provides for a deposit or credit card authorization, so if you get a no-show or lastminute cancellation, you re still covered for whatever cancellation fee you specify in your profile. You ll have to decide whether to schedule retreat clients during your free days or during regular work days, and whether it works for you financially. People choose to provide retreats because they enjoy the satisfaction of getting so much accomplished in a brief time period, and because they don t have to deal with insurance companies or client billing. The time you spend providing a retreat is all about doing therapy, with virtually no extra demands that would serve to increase your stress and lower your true hourly rate. You ll also have to decide whether to charge a fixed amount for the time you hold for a client, or to only charge for time actually used (in full-day or half-day increments). Only being charged for time used may be more attractive to clients. However, clients understand the concept of paying for the time you reserve for them, and many are willing to do so. OK, I m still interested, what s the next step? The next step is that you tell me you re still interested, and I send you the contract. Once that s done, you ll create your own profile on line. So ask me any questions, make any suggestions, and if you want in, let me know. E-mail to Ricky Greenwald, PsyD at rg@childtrauma.com and please include the subject header: therapist for therapy retreat.