Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Why Our Values Matter

by Blake Macurdy

Chosen Path Collective was created by a group of clinicians and administrative staff/leaders, who experienced, firsthand, what happens when a practice lacks transparency, ethical leadership, and basic legal protections. Before founding CPC, many of us worked at a practice where significant ethical, legal, and professional concerns emerged – including undisclosed risks, inadequate insurance coverage for clinicians in leadership roles, and a pattern of leadership behaviors – from the individual at the top – that created instability, fear, and confusion among staff.

When employees attempted to seek clarity or raise concerns, the environment became increasingly coercive and unsafe. Decisions were made without transparency, administrative support was removed without communication, and much of the staff was terminated abruptly and without consultation. As licensed clinicians, we recognized that remaining in that environment placed our licenses, our clients, and one another at unacceptable risk and compromised our own ethical and moral beliefs. These events pushed us to leave and, ultimately, to build something better. In 90 days.

The heart of CPC was born from that moment:

If we were ever going to rebuild, it had to be on a foundation of ethics, honesty, and humanity.
The 17 original members of this collective came together with one shared purpose: to build a practice where clinicians are genuinely safe, supported, and trusted in their work. Our goal was to create a space that offers true, not performative, freedom and autonomy. Not only in scheduling or caseloads, but in identity, voice, and clinical judgment. So that clinicians can provide the highest level of care to their clients. We envisioned a practice where the values of integrity, transparency, and liberation are not only upheld within the organization, but also carried forward by each clinician into their individual work and future professional experiences.

How These Experiences Shaped CPC’s Values

Our values aren’t abstract; they are intentional responses to what we learned was necessary for a safe, ethical, and affirming practice.

Radical Transparency
We communicate openly about decisions, policies, finances, and change. We know secrecy harms trust, and we refuse to recreate that dynamic.

Ethical Leadership & Shared Accountability
Power is shared, not hoarded. Feedback is welcomed, and accountability is built into our structure. No one is expected to be loyal to a person, only to ethical practice.

Legal and Professional Safety
All clinicians are appropriately covered, supported, and informed. You will never be left unaware of risks or without the protections required to practice safely.

Psychological Safety for Clinicians
Healing work requires stability, predictability, and respect. We intentionally avoid environments of fear, retaliation, or coercion.

Anti-Oppressive, Identity-Affirming Care
We honor lived experiences, neurodivergence, queerness, racial identity, disability, class background, and every part of a person’s identity. We actively work against harmful systems rather than replicate them.

Community Over Control
We build relationships through collaboration, communication, and mutual trust — not through intimidation or top-down authority.

Humans First – Always
Clients and clinicians are treated with dignity. Human needs take priority over metrics, convenience, or ego.

What This Means for You
Joining CPC means joining a practice shaped by collective clarity and lived experience. We know how harmful an unethical workplace can be and we are deeply committed to ensuring that CPC is the opposite of that.

Our promise to you is simple:

• We built this practice to be safe – legally, ethically, and emotionally.
• We built it because we saw a clear need for a practice where transparency and equity are non-negotiable.
• We built it so clients receive care grounded in justice, authenticity, and humanity.

We are genuinely glad you are here.

Welcome to the path we chose – and the one we are choosing together.