FAQ
How do I schedule an appointment?
If you are considering getting started with counseling, you can Contact Me by phone/text, email, or my online form. We will then schedule a 15-minute phone consultation so that you can get to know me a little and we can decide if we want to work together before confirming our first meeting. You might have some logistical questions about scheduling, or some questions about our "fit" together. Some questions to consider are:
Do you have any openings available?
What happens if I need to reschedule an appointment?
Can you tell me about your experience working with ______?
What approaches do you typically take working with ______?
Have you treated other people with similar concerns?
How many sessions do you typically see someone with these concerns?
Can I cancel or reschedule appointments?
Sure thing! Sometimes schedules can change and unfortunately emergencies can happen. If you need to cancel or reschedule please let me know with more than 24-hours notice, and you can read more about attendance in my treatment agreement, please contact me for a copy. If you are registered to receive appointment reminders, they will also include instructions if you need to cancel.
How often do I go to therapy?
Once we start talking about scheduling an appointment, we will also figure out what type of meeting schedule is best for you. I want to make sure we can schedule often enough to meet your goals, while balancing that with your financial situation. The most typical situation would be to meet once per week for about 4-6 weeks and decide from there if we want to spread out sessions more.
What is therapy like?
Counseling is a very individual experience based on what you identify as your needs. When we meet for our first session we will discuss in-depth the concerns you have identified, and from there collaborate on goals to meet. Not everyone has the same needs or daily lives, so your treatment plan is tailored to help you reach your specific goals. As we have time to further explore your story, we will talk through different skills and techniques for you to implement. Once you have met your goals, we can decide together on how to best maintain the changes you make before we end.
Why do people go to therapy?
People often seek counseling for a variety of reasons. For most, they are looking to better understand an issue they face and have guidance for how to work through it. These are some common themes that people often identify in therapy, but anything that you find personally impactful is most important:
Feeling depressed and/or anxious about stressors that affect daily life
Managing relationships and communication
Career decisions
Major life/family decisions
Identity development
Intersections of identities that can be in conflict
Difficult losses and grief
Old patterns and/or memories that are resurfacing
Support and guidance with starting a new chapter in life
How do I find the right therapist for me?
Finding a good "fit" with a therapist is like meeting someone you think you would get along well with. You might not agree exactly on everything, but you can tell that your ideas about life and growth align in some way. Some questions you might consider asking me to know if we are a good fit:
In therapy I want to work on ______, how would you go about treating that?
Some therapists address more immediate problems, others go into deeper issues, how do you do your work?
My cultural background of ______ is really important to me, how will you include this in therapy?
What kind of relationship do you have with your clients?
How do you handle emergency situations?
What is a Good Faith Estimate?
I will provide you with a "Good Faith Estimate" in accordance with the No Surprises Act for medical billing. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.
You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.
If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.
How do I get reimbursed if you are "out-of-network" for my insurance?
Being "out-of-network" means that I am not contracted/authorized by your insurance company to bill them for services. However, you should be able to get some reimbursement by filing a claim yourself (check with your provider to see what percentage of fees are covered). Generally, the process is that you would pay the full fee for services to me, I provide you with an itemized bill/receipt, and you submit that with a claims form (usually on your provider's website) to get money back from your insurance company. I highly recommend calling the number on the back of your insurance card to confirm details about how to do this, what your out-of-network reimbursement rate is, and ask if there are any other requirements such as pre-authorization for services or specific documentation needed.
If you are able to accept my health insurance, how does that work?
When using your health insurance for counseling services, it is important to know information about your co-pay, deductible, and other aspects of your plan such as session limits (if any). After our initial phone consultation, you can provide your health insurance information so we can verify and review it together. Generally what happens is that you pay your co-pay to me when we meet for a session and the insurance company will pay the rest. Keep in mind that insurance plans don't always cover every service and usually don't pay fees for missed appointments.
If I have health insurance, can I opt for paying privately instead and are there any reasons to?
Sometimes people will choose to pay for services privately rather than bill their insurance company. Often the reason is that because when you choose to bill your insurance company, they become a "third party" in your treatment with access to your health records, and generally require me to provide a clinical diagnosis. The downside to this option is having to pay for full rates out-of-pocket. The benefit is that we have more control over your privacy, there is no third-party involvement, we can choose how we conduct our sessions, and we can decide if a diagnostic assessment is necessary. Please feel free to ask me more questions about this during our consultation.