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Getting started, with a boost
from one's peers Collaboration helps NYS Psychological Association's early careerists  November 19, 2003 Setting up an office can leave new psychologists like Karine Suskin at wit's end. After the crunch of undergraduate school, graduate school, internships and supervised jobs, new psychologists find themselves prepared for treating clients. But when it's time to set up their long-awaited practice, it often proves to be a darkling task for those schooled in the mind, not the market. "You're prepared for patients but not the business aspect," said Karine Suskin, a new psychologist in Great Neck, Nassau County. "You kind of feel like you're trudging down a path with no light on." As a member of New York State Psychological Association, an affiliate of New York State United Teachers, Suskin was fortunate to be surrounded by a cadre of psychologists with experience to share. In March, she joined a new NYSPA group called Early Careerists. Once a month, the group meets to discuss their nascent careers. Speakers address, for example, whether to become a managed care provider, or advances in psychopharmacology for depression. Sometimes there are informal gatherings at a home to discuss issues in earnest over entrees. The group is leading NYSPA in a direction it wants to be headed. "Early careerists are the future of NYSPA," said Executive Director Gayle Everitt. "I would love to build the momentum." Everitt wants to make the group a more formal part of NYSPA, such as the student Organization for Future Psychologists, which has a representative on the association's council. Shared discoveries For now, the Early Careerists are starting out strong with their shared discoveries. New psychologists share job information, referral sources, organizations to join, books to read, and ways to get themselves professionally known within their communities. Suskin hails from Ohio, and got her psychology degree from the University of Denver. After doing her internship at Long Island Jewish Hospital and meeting her future husband, she decided to settle in the east. She worked for a company that provided psychological evaluation to car accident victims, and then as a school psychologist for a private school. "Then I started my practice," she said. "I really wanted to do that. I like the interaction you have with a patient; the one-on-one. You're more your own boss." With that comes a lot of paperwork - which Suskin's peers can give her tips for managing. They help each other with defining career paths: Most psychologists have specialties, such as couples therapy, sex therapy, geriatric psychology, health, women's issues and psychological testing. Early careerists have to determine how to get licensed and find places to get supervised hours. "There's a certain social support system" within the group, Suskin said, noting the colleagues help each other find office space and share marketing advice. Open for business since May, Suskin is stepping out on her own, networking with physicians and psychology groups and serving on several managed care panels. What she learns comes back to the circle of her NYSPA peer group. The association, in other efforts to make membership a priority, has reduced membership fees for the first five years after members earn their doctorates. "It's made a tremendous difference in our ability to keep young people as members and bring new people in," said Joanne Lifshin, NYSPA's membership chairwoman. - Liza Frenette |
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