Session times are available Tuesday through Friday as well as weekends. Early morning and late evening sessions are available for those with a standard M-F 40 hour work week.
Sessions: In office (60 min); Phone support (see below)
Rates: $90 – $120 (full hour session)
Sliding scale: Based on income
Insurance: Reimbursement paperwork offered
Payment: Cash, check, or credit/debit card
Support
The nature of therapeutic services necessitates the comprehensive availability of support. After our initial meeting, I make myself available to you via phone for check-ins and crisis management. This service is fee-based and is intended to extend therapeutic value and generalization outside the therapy session.
Initial phone consults are at no cost and are intended to determine if my services are appropriate. If a referral is necessary, I will be happy to help you find someone who can help.
Your Right to Privacy
Protecting your privacy and delivering the most effective therapeutic experience is of paramount importance to me. Both of these can be diminished when using a third party payee. Because of these reasons and the below points I do not accept any form of insurance.
Confidentiality
There are laws and guidelines to maintain confidentiality. However, when using insurance, there are many more people (data entry, customer service, review committees, other healthcare personnel, etc.) which may come in contact with your case or information. Using self-pay means one licensed, ethically bound therapist with whom you have decided to share your information.
Diagnoses
Nearly all insurance companies require an official DSM diagnosis before they will approve payment. Later on, this diagnosis may be considered a pre-existing condition resulting in denial of coverage for other care. Further, many diagnoses and psychological distress aren’t covered by insurance. This can result in the use of a secondary covered diagnosis taking the focus off the real issue.
Decisions
The use of third parties also can take from you and the therapist the freedom to decide what approach to therapy should be used. Clinical impressions by the therapist and your feelings about what you are most comfortable with must be justified to someone distanced from your therapy. Third party payees also can determine your length of needed therapy as well.
Resources
Time and effort are required by the therapist to ensure coverage, effect reimbursement, and maintain justification for therapy required by the insurance company. This is time and energy not focused on delivering effective treatment, but rather on a paper trail of proof. This takes away from the therapist’s time (out of session) working on your therapy.