Breaking Free of Managed Care: A Step-by-Step Guide to Regaining Control of Your Practice

Dr. Ackley addresses basic issues facing the realities of being a psychologist in today's world: Managed care lowering income, managed care dictating service limits, and the largely ineffective response of the field. He first addresses what managed care's actions have been and how this has changed the field of psychology. He then relates what the field's response has been and why the interaction between the two has left psychologists on the losing side. In explaining this, he does a great job of identifying the thoughts and behaviors of practitioners that keep them trapped under managed care's control. The most important and useful aspects of the text are his chapters on the proof that psychology is valuable, how it can control it's own destiny, and how a psychologist can go about doing it. His suggestions are realistic and practical. Overall, I found this book energizing and useful.