u/FewCranberry3216

I’m a self-employed therapist in solo private practice (no other employees or group practice structure) and I’m currently preparing for maternity leave in Sept. I’m already consulting with colleagues and my supervisor on this, but I wanted to post here to get a sense of what others in similar situations have actually done, specifically around the documentation and administrative side, not the clinical planning piece.

I understand the patient-facing plans: some patients will take a break, some I’ll refer out, some I’ll coordinate care with another provider. That part I feel solid on. What I’m less clear on is what’s happening behind the scenes in the chart and EHR.

Specifically:

- Are you formally closing out charts for patients you’re referring or pausing with, or just leaving them open?

- Are you documenting something like “clinician notified patient of upcoming leave” as a progress note or somewhere in the chart?

- How are you thinking about the open chart = ongoing responsibility concern? I’ve heard that an open chart in your EHR means you’re technically still responsible for that patient, but I also know plenty of solo practitioners who have patients they haven’t seen in a year sitting in open charts without a second thought.

Would love to hear from others who are truly solo; no practice manager, no admin, just you! And how you’ve navigated the documentation logistics when going on leave.

My husband and I are taking a new shared last name that neither of us currently has, and the feedback from people around us has been more frustrating than I expected.

For context: my husband has a hyphenated last name from both of his parents, who were never married, think something like "Blenner-Rivadeiniera." I have a single Italian last name; think something like "Caravello" OR "Milazzo." I didn't want to drop my last name and take both of his, and he really struggled with the idea of picking just one of his. So our compromise was for both of us to take a new shared last name. That way our whole family, us and our future kid (I am pregnant and due in the fall) all share one name, and neither of us has to "lose" something the other doesn't.

The process itself has been a lot. I had to ask my parents to dig up my original birth certificate because I didn't even have it. But the harder part has been the feedback. People keep telling us they "don't understand" it, and the constant doubt is exhausting. I genuinely don't get why anyone else cares. it's not their last name, it's not their family. It's me, my husband, and our future kid. A lot of people's argument was that "heritage is lost" when you change your last name. But heritage is almost always lost on the woman's side anyway, because traditionally the man's name is the one that stays. I wasn't okay with that being the default. So instead of me alone giving up my name, we're both starting fresh together, the same experience, same loss, same new beginning, same new family lineage.

For anyone who's done this:

• How did you handle telling family and friends?
• How did you deal with the unsolicited opinions and pushback?
• Anything you wish you'd done differently in the rollout?

And if you disagree with this or think it's a bad idea, please keep it to yourself. I'm looking for advice from people who've been through it, not a debate about whether our choice is valid or smart.