Last year, I decided to update my professional and choose new members for my Emergency Response Team, these are the people who would manage my business affairs if I became seriously ill or in the event of my death. When the coronavirus hit, I wanted my will to be current in case I got sick and could no longer care for my clients. Both people I contacted readily agreed and said they felt honored to be asked.
Creating a professional will is not difficult, the challenging part for me was calling my friends and requesting their help because I know it’s a big responsibility. Before you create your will, think about who you’d like to coordinate care for your clients in your absence. The colleagues I chose both specialize in addiction and trauma as I do.
I suggest you find at least two people. One of their main responsibilities would be calling your clients to inform them of the situation and providing them with referrals if needed. In the event of your death, your team would access to your office and any paper records. I maintain electronic records and my brother is my delegate for my password management software; he’ll be in charge of providing my friends with access to my records and managing any outstanding financial issues. If you use paper files, I recommend creating a list of your active clients and filing it with your professional will.
As therapists we have an ethical responsibility to our clients and our colleagues to keep our business affairs organized. I know it’s not pleasant to think about the possibility of getting seriously ill or our inevitable death, it’s comforting for me to know my affairs are in order during these uncertain times.
You can find professional will templates online and I’ve included the link to CAMFT’s template below https://www.camft.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8V-aZFCfl7s%3d&portalid=0