cyan_blue

So today I went to holiday parties for two of the local psychological associations.

The San Francisco Psychological association runs a phone-based referral hotline service... people call up looking for a psychologist in X neighborhood who is experienced with Y concerns, and they are given information about which psychologists would fit those criteria.

I recently talked to the referral coordinator about the idea of putting all of that information online into a directory. I mean, many people surf the web these days to find a psychologist... and I think that we'd be a more user-friendly surface were we online. And the more user-friendly we are, the more business we get.

The referral coordinator was very, very interested in the idea, and spoke about it to both the incoming president and the outgoing SFPA website maintainer. They were enthused too. Not one to miss an opportunity, I volunteered myself and Emmett to coordinate this project. I know some HTML, and Emmett is very good at websites, databases, and graphics - we just finished working together on a different directory, actually. So this is something that we can do. We got approval for the project, and today the treasurer even agreed that there will be some pay for Emmett in this as well.

So we talked more about the project today at the party. At one point the incoming SFPA president said, "I'm so glad that you'll be the new chairperson of public information and that we'll be seeing you at the board meetings!" Ok, what? I volunteered to create a web directory, not to take a board position! Still, board spots aren't something to turn away lightly. I went and found the outgoing website person and asked her exactly what *else* I had apparently just signed up for. In addition to website expansion and maintenance, this position involves being the media liaison for the organization! As in, when the media wants a psychologist from the organization to comment on something psychological in the news, I'd be the person contacted!

Wow, daunting. I am so *not* a polished media type. On the other hand, it's exposure, so maybe I could become one. I would also always have the option of referring the caller to one of our other psychologists in turn.

Okay, I'm in. My other major concern is that the board meets once a month, on Friday nights. Guess which weeknight is my heaviest client night? I've all ready agreed to go to once-a-month meetings for a different psych association on Saturday mornings, which is my next heaviest client timeblock. But I asked the incoming president how much flexibility there is, and she seemed cool with my coming to, say, every other meeting instead. Well, that can work.

So, wow, I'm a member of the board.

This has all gotten me to thinking about when to do my second decrease in hours at my part-time job. I did my first in September, giving away my Monday night group to another counselor so that I could add Mondays as a private practice night. The next night to look at is Tuesday night (I have 2 Tues night groups at my part time job, on alternating weeks). I can rent the private practice office space that I all ready rent on Tuesday nights if need be, and I know of another colleague's whose office is available on that night as well.

It is a scary move to consider. Those two Tuesday night groups represent $412 of my monthly income, and that's not an amount I can afford to toss away just yet. On the other hand, 4 full Tuesday nights per month of private practice could generate $700-1400. The kicker is, the groups are guaranteed work. I am not guaranteed to have a few private practice clients on every Tuesday night. But, my practice nights are filling, and it's time to begin considering that. Especially with these new board meetings 2x/month.

I've been asking for a new weekly Thursday daytime group at my part time job, and if that comes through, that may be the sign that it's time to make Tuesday a private practice night. It's always hard to know what the balance should be between lower-paying steady work and higher-paying non-steady work. But I need time for other things as well - writing projects, exercise, my partner, my friends. So it is time to start thinking about where to take that time.

One more bit of excitement from tonight: I met a psychologist at the SFPA party who is the son of my favorite psych theorist/writer. The father is one of the greatest psych theorists alive, whose name is up there with the likes of Freud and Jung and Adler - and even better, his writing style is far more interesting and accessible.

I forced myself not to ask the man anything about his famous father; I'm sure he must get tired of people being interested in him for his association rather than for himself. I didn't realize who he was until we happened to come face to face in the course of mingling at the party and we introduced ourselves. Once he said his name, I knew, but I played like I didn't, and I asked him about his own work, which is pretty interesting in its own right. I don't know if he suspected I knew of his connection or not. I'd have to be pretty naive not to know; at the last party, his brother (another psychologist) was there, and the whole damn room knew, and broke out in not-suppressed-enough whispers about the father as the brother introduced himself. But I didn't say anything about it. I'm young enough not to be expected to know. You never know if someone dislikes or expects that sort of family recognition. You never know if they appreciate your not mentioning it, or if they see right through it.

We had a nice conversation, and then I got pulled away to talk about the website some more. I enjoyed talking with him. He is not from NYC, but he has a NYC manner, probably without realizing it; and out here I gravitate to people who remind me of home.

A fun night.
Geri