clinician

therapist

outpatient therapist

paid intern

intern

Arbour Counseling Services

At the time of job elimination my typical day at work was to manage the Reception Area / Front Desk single handedly. 

My respnsibilities each day was to:

* Welcoming new clients and checking in current clients.
* Receiving co-pays
* Making sure that the proper documents were signed for each and every client before their appointment
* manage the three nurse practitioners' schedules.  Confirming and scheduling appointments.
* Answering a multi-line phone system--directing the calls to the proper staff
* Being sure that the document center was filled with up-to-date forms
* Faxing for staff
* Posting payments / notes into clients account
* Collating intake paperwork packets for new clients
* Secretarial duties for prescribers
* Verifying insurances for clients
* Contacting pharmacies regarding prescriptions / Prior Authorization / Decifering prescribers handwriting / verifying scripts
* The 'go-to' person for any problems with any of the office machines,  ie: Xerox photocopier, postage machine etc.
* Implemented team building projects for co-workers and clients

What I learned at Arbour  was to verify insurance benefits for every client that was scheduled for that day.  After four months,  promoted to intake co-ordinator, a new skill learned.   In the three months I held that position, I implimented a Microsoft Works data-base and created a paper-free desk.  

Three months later I was promoted to the receptionist. Here I learned how to manage a 12-line phone system.  Also learned scheduling techniques, medical terminology, and customer service skills.

The on-site management and co-workers were a pleasure to work with.  We worked as a team.  Our site was the 'mother' office for other sites to come and learn our tried-and-proven work method.

The hardest part of my job was dealing with only ONE co-worker that was always so negative on everything that I did.  She was extremely  rude, spoke very demeaning to me and an unprofessional member of our staff.   I overcame her adverse behavior by the confidence-building support received from other co-workers.

The most enjoyable part of my job was the clients.  We dealt with various ages of clients with diverse needs.  A sample of some of the compliments received are: 
"You are the 'lynchpin' of this place."
"The office falls apart when you aren't here."
"You are the only one that take time to listen to me when I call."
Hugs and tears were shared on the day all administrative staff jobs were eliminated.   "You have to go to the other sites to teach them how to do such a professional, caring job as the receptionist you are."

A typical day involves assisting clients with a variety of issues, including depression, trauma histories, struggles with substance abuse, marital and family conflict, and socio-economic issues. A great deal of documentation is required in order to meet insurance company standards, thus providing daily opportunities to learn to be efficient and well organized with time. A typical day may also include dealing with psychiatric emergencies and communication with prescribers about problems clients are experiencing with medications. Additionally there are phone calls to return and sometimes requests to write reports for entitlement programs. 

My role also involves providing and documenting clinical supervision. The provision of the supervision as well as appropriate documentation is essential to maintaining the company's good standing with accrediting bodies. 

This job provides opportunities to learn new things almost every day, from clients and from colleagues. The hardest part of the job by far is the documentation, especially if one is somewhat perfectionistic in writing psycho-social summaries. The most enjoyable aspects include the work with the clients and the support and fun with colleagues and administrative staff. 

The counseling agency is run by a for profit corporation, which provides clinicians opportunities to learn about the business end of running a clinic. On site managers work hard to balance numerous responsibilities, and are typically available when needed.

Working at Arbour will allow a new clinician to see a variety of diagnoses, fine tune his/her diagnostic skills, plan and implement a variety of therapeutic modalities and complete necessary paperwork/insurance coordinations.  These skills will help wherever one's career takes him/her.

But, please be aware that fee-for-service anywhere, even full time, is good supplemental income may you may not be able to make a decent living on it.  If a client does not show up (and the clientele at community health centers such as Arbour VERY often do not keep appointments), you are paid nothing for that hour.  I worked at Arbour Malden for many years and found that 30-40% of  my scheduled appointments were no-shows.  That's a big pay cut and Arbour will hold you accountable for "low productivity" even though it is not your fault.

Additionally, management continually lied to us as the Malden site slowly imploded a couple of years ago...it eventually closed down (and later moved to Medford) but they assured us it would never close and we need not seek employment elsewhere.  Most of us saw the writing on the wall and jumped off the sinking ship, but my point here is not to trust middle and upper management.  

If you choose to work here, just get a couple of years of experience and move on in your career, as there really is no advancement with Arbour.

I love my job, actually, because I love doing therapy and I love my clients. Everything else about this place stinks. I'm a fee-for-service LCSW doing individual and couples therapy.

* $24/hr pay but only paid for time you spend in session. I need food stamps to survive
* No electronic health records
* No email addresses for employees, so we are asked to use personal addresses
* Only two lines on phone system, so we are asked to use personal phones
* Voice mail system is broken and I'm told it can't be fixed
* Receptionist was recently hospitalized for work-related stress
* No printer available to employees, so you have to email stuff to the office manager to print
* Intake form is nine pages long, but intakes are required to be completed within 7 days
* No reimbursement for no-show clients
* Most clinicians share an office with other clinicians
* For telehealth, all clinicians are expected to either share three corporate zoom accounts, or use their personal zoom/other accounts
* Poor communication from management -- usually learn about people quitting/leaving through the grapevine
* No onboarding process
* Open hours were suddenly cut short without warning or explanation, leaving several clinicians scrambling to reschedule (it was because the receptionist quit without notice. Hard to blame her)

1 star just for my coworkers who made work a better place. The only reason why I have stayed for so long is because it was convenient for me as I am also a student. My clinical director and office manager were very flexible and great to work with, however senior management is horrible. The way the senior billing director speaks to staff is extremely rude. When concerns are voiced, they become defensive instead of trying to fix the actual problem. Aside from that, pay is not enough for the amount of work they will expect you to do outside of your actual job description. Ever since covid started in 2020, my coworker and I have been working in office with no option to work from home. The systems in office are outdated and it is just so unorganized. During covid we became short staffed and there was only 2 of us when in total there are supposed to be 4 admin staff. There were no incentives, the only thing we received was more job duties added for the same amount of pay. My boss was not even approved to buy us something as simple as cookies for working in office and supporting the company through it all. 2 years later, it has just gotten worse and this is just the gist of it. 

The staff at Arbour are very friendly and knowledgeable, but management has their focus on the wrong aspect of the job. They care more about your productivity then they do about the quality of care you are giving to clients, and you often do work for free since it will mess with your productivity. And for the work you do happen to put on your timesheet, you don't really make enough to live off of.

You learn a lot about how family therapy operates and get some great experience with case management, care coordination, and navigating the system with each family, but the scheduling sessions can sometimes become an issue, especially if you are in school yourself or have a family of your own to care for. 

Training was not particularly helpful either. You do learn just enough to get by, but it feels like they change the rules every other week which can become confusing and make it difficult for you to understand what exactly you are supposed to be doing.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Benefits are great. There are also many advancement opportunities due to the turnover of staff and the size of the organization

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The high turnover was stressful, as well as the constant focus on the bottom line. We always questioned whether or not we would close due to constantly not making budget goals 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Indifferent and stressful. Starting with the CEO there was never an appreciation for feedback from lower level managers. Although we were told our feedback was valued, no follow through happened and none of the feedback was considered. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Since we were always short staffed, it was always stressful. Staff were in edge, a lot of pressure was put on us to make money and the amount of quality assurance work we had to do was unreasonable tend to n unreasonable. The senior manager put in less time then us but demanded more.

Working for this company was challenging to say the least.  There is little to no actual support from upper management when you need it, and they rely on unpaid interns to carry the brunt of the work. Management has no clue what actually goes on in program on a day to day basis, and there is no consistency between programs and how they are run. Everyone is over booked and overworked because there is more emphasis on making a profit than providing quality care to clients. At this point, it is verging on unethical to offer services to high-risk individuals and the most experienced person in the program isn't even licensed.  There was virtually no training process other than an hour long video and a few word documents you're supposed to look at. The miscommunication between the various services/ departments is awful and supervision is inconsistent.  

I enjoy working at Arbour Counseling Services. My colleagues are supportive of one another and the workplace culture is positive. The pay is the position's only downfall. No-shows can be common sometimes, leading one to not get paid and having to dip into PTO hours. Management is supportive and wants to make employees happy. Turnover among staff can be high due to the pay. The most enjoyable part of the job is helping clients find their path and working with good people. The hardest part of the job is corporate not recognizing the need for technology in the working place. IMO, each clinician should have computer access and an email connected to the company. Other than that, corporate tends to be supportive, but more strides can be made with supportive technology and an electronic health record.

To keep it brief: this job doesn't pay a remotely livable wage, either lies or tells half-truths when faced with questions, doesn't train their workers, and wrings employees for every dime. As an IHT clinician, we were paid $27/hr until we reached enough hours to earn benefits, at which point our hourly rate became $26. Even if you decline health insurance, your pay stays at $26/hr. Work from home was not possible, despite supervisors claiming that the position could be done from home during the interview. Clinicians also were not given individual Zoom accounts, making it necessary to share 3 accounts among all of the team. Any collegiality or common decency found at this company does not come from administration or management. 

Simply, this company is not worth it. I can't stress that enough.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Clinician 30 salaries reported	$33.73 per hour
Therapist 214 salaries reported	$36.18 per hour
Outpatient therapist 170 salaries reported	$34.12 per hour
Paid intern 35 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Intern 18 salaries reported	$18.15 per hour

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