David A. Yood, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist
| David A. Yood, Psy.D.
I graduated with my Psy.D. from the University of Denver in 2012. After working as an employee at a group practice for nine years, I branched out with colleagues to co-found Maryland OCD & Anxiety Therapy (MOAT) in 2021. Since then, I have been navigating the multiple hurdles that come with owning a practice, from figuring out a tax structure, limiting liability, and all things in between. What surprised me is that I actually like solving these problems! Prior to opening MOAT, I had thought I’d hate the nuts and bolts, but once I was able to see that running a practice was something I was doing for me and my colleagues and not for someone else, I’ve been able to enthusiastically attack whatever challenge our practice has had to face. Or most of them, at least. Parsing IRS rules sure is annoying, but that’s why we pay a CPA to do it for us.
Prior to starting a practice, I had assumed that only the truly special and unique therapist had any right to start their own practice. The rest of us belonged under the auspices of an established one. Eventually, I came to realize how not only was I selling myself and my clinical skills short, I was in fact participating in a line of thinking that practice ownership was only reserved for an elite few. I now realize that any of us can do this if we’re armed with the right knowledge, which is where we come in at Protecting Your Practice. I want you to know everything that you can know so that you can run a practice that comports with ethics, regulations, and tax rules. It’s not reserved for the gurus, it’s for all of us!
At PYP, I’ll provide a mental health professional’s perspective on the issues to counterbalance Dan’s lawyer perspective. I have no assumptions that I’ll be speaking for all mental health practitioners, but I can give my take on the practical applications of some of the technicalities that we end up discussing.
