1. What is Psychotherapy? Psychotherapy (otherwise known as mental health therapy) is not easily described in general statements. It varies based upon the personalities of the therapist and the client, and the particular issues that you bring forward. Psychotherapy is a process throughout which the client and therapist work together to identify and resolve different issues that may be affecting one’s and/or loved one's life.. It requires courage, trust, and commitment to do such work.
A therapist’s focus is not to work for his or her client, but rather work with his/her client.
Our work together requires your best efforts to build awareness to unconscious thoughts and feelings, and change thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviors. Change will sometimes be easy and quick, but at times it will be slow and frustrating. There are no instant, painless cures, and no “magic pills.” However, you can learn new ways to looking at your situation that will be very helpful for changing how you feel and how you react. Together, we will work together to make change.
2. Do you offer free initial consultations? Yes! If you are interested and/or have questions about psychotherapy with us, please feel free to contact us via one of the available contact options (located through the CONTACT section). We currently offer a free 20 minute phone initial consultation.
3. What should I expect over the course of treatment?: Typically, therapy sessions are 50 minutes in duration, 1 - 2 times per week (Other arrangements can be made, if clinically needed).
The first few sessions are spent gathering information, and further evaluating your needs so that we can determine the best course of treatment for you to meet your identified goals. The therapeutic techniques utilized and length of treatment will be dependent on your needs and/or the needs of your child. We also will focus on harvesting a positive relationship, as trust is the foundation of any positively impactful therapy.
Over the course of treatment, together, we can address your past, present, and future over the course of our work, if you choose. Each session will be tailored to your individual needs and concerns.
Towards the end of treatment, I will discuss with you my clinical recommendations and concerns, and we will have an open discussion to address preparation for termination of services.
4. What are the benefits of not involving your insurance company? There's not a limit to seeing only a specific set list of "in-network" providers No limit of how long you should be in therapy No limit of length of therapy sessions. You can customize how long and/or short our sessions are. No need to verify "medical necessity" for your therapy - per your insurance company's criteria No mandatory diagnoses Quality of the Therapeutic Relationship and Treatment
Learning to trust and get to know someone takes time.. Hence, a benefit of private pay therapy is that the duration and type of therapy is not dictated by the insurance company
Increased Depth of Treatment
Mental Health issues are often complex, hence the duration of of treatment should be based upon your individual needs. so that underlying issues can be addressed so that they are less likely to return after therapy has ended.
Increased Protection and Confidentiality
By not involving your insurance company your private personal information/ therapy records/information stays in my office. (I am the only person who has access to it, except under specific circumstances which are outlined in my informed consent, which is reviewed in our first session
For instance, when you involve your insurance, you must be aware that it carries a certain amount of risk to confidentiality, privacy or to future capacity to obtain health or life insurance or even a job. The risk stems from the fact that mental health information is likely to be entered into big insurance companies' computers and is likely to be reported to the National Medical Data Bank. Accessibility to companies' computers or to the National Medical Data Bank database is always in question as computers are inherently vulnerable to hacking and unauthorized access. Medical data has also been reported to have been legally accessed by law enforcement and other agencies, which also puts you in a vulnerable position.
You are in control of your treatment regarding type, when, where, and how that you and/or your loved ones receive treatment.
5. What is culturally sensitive therapy? Culturally sensitive therapy is an approach which is utilized in-combination with traditional clinical theoretical orientations - aimed to emphasize, embrace, and incorporate a client's race, ethnicity, cultural beliefs, experiences, etc into mental health treatment. Therapists that embrace culturally sensitive therapy often assess, accommodate, respect, and take into consideration how historical and/or current sociocultural aspect's of society, as well as how traditional practices, beliefs, values, and/or opinions of an individual's culture impacts one's own mental health and/or perspective on mental health issues. Together, all of these elements are integrated into developing an individualized mental health treatment plan for the identified client.
6. What is a super-bill? In order to help reduce any financial stress, however, we can provide you with an invoice, commonly known as a super-bill (upon request), for services rendered on a monthly basis and/or at the end of treatment, which you can submit to your insurance company to seek reimbursement of the fees already paid. It will be your responsibility, however, to verify that your insurance company accepts super-bills.
*In all cases, however, payment for services is ultimately the responsibility of the client, not the insurance company. Payment is due at the time of service. **PPO insurances typically reimburse only a portion of fees already paid, full fee reimbursement is extremely rare. ***It is important to inform you that often your insurance companies requires that you be given a clinical diagnosis, and that in some cases your insurance company may also ask for your therapy records -- which may be undesirable since the highest degree of confidentiality is often desired by clients.
7. Do you accept insurance? We do not accept insurance.
8. What payment method(s) do you accept? We accept all major credit cards