I’ve never been to therapy. What is the process like?
Every therapist does things a little differently. When you arrive for your first appointment with me, I typically ask questions about you to get a better idea of who you are and what you are experiencing. I ask questions about what you are seeking services for. The goal for the end of our first session is to give you a diagnostic impression, which means I will give you an idea if any diagnosis is indicated. If there is a potential diagnosis, I will educate you on treatments available for that diagnosis, and discuss if any referrals should be made to other places. The first session is also focused on getting comfortable with the process of opening up and gaining trust. I ask questions about your specific goals for therapy, and then we discuss ways to reach the goals. Typically by the end of the first session or two, we have an idea of what you are experiencing, if there is a diagnosis, what the goals are, and steps we will take to reach those goals. Therapy can be focused, and certain types of therapy can be utilized to help you reach your goals quicker. However, not everyone wants this approach. Some people prefer talk therapy, which means they prefer to go to session and talk about what they wish to discuss. This is fine too! I always give people choices and I always remind everyone that you are in total control of your therapy. The therapy process is about you and your needs at the end of the day, and you can feel free to communicate your needs and wishes along the way!
Would therapy be beneficial to me?
Anytime I get asked this question, I respond that everyone could benefit from therapy! We are human. We all go through difficulties throughout life. You don’t have to have a particular diagnosis to benefit from therapy. There are so many things you can learn and do in therapy that everyone benefits from such as communication skills, coping skills, stress management, parenting skills, relationship tools, personality inventories, conflict resolution, dealing with family conflict, self-esteem and confidence building, etc. Therapy is about discovering who are you and working towards being your best self!
I don’t have insurance or I have an insurance you don’t take. I would still like to still work with you. How does this work?
Since I am currently not accepting insurance and am an out-of-network provider, a superbill can be given. A superbill is a 1 page summary you can submit to your insurance company to see if they will reimburse you for any portion of the service. This is not a guarantee of reimbursement. If the option is available to you, you can also utilize your Health Savings Account as well.
Why don’t you take my insurance plan?
Quality care is one of our top values. The process of dealing with insurance companies can be incredibly difficult and time consuming, taking away precious time from client care. I want to be able to give my clients the absolute best service, and spending countless hours on the phone with insurance companies each week takes time away from providing quality services for my clients. I see it more valuable for my clients if I spend those hours researching and getting more training to meet my client’s needs, instead of fighting with insurance companies. Often times people need to go to therapy, but have no mental health diagnosis. Insurance will not typically cover those individuals/couples . For a lot of people, the cost for therapy out of pocket can seem high at first, but typically if you sit down with your therapist and come up with a good treatment plan, you can get a good idea of what the process will be like and will be more able to budget accordingly. Even with insurance, a lot of people have high deductibles and high co-pays. If you want to pursue therapy but feel the price is too much, feel free to contact us to discuss ways we can help.
How does teletherapy work? How does the ASK.Theraplatform client portal work?
When you become a client, you will receive access to our HIPPA Compliant and secure client portal. You will have a username and password to logon to the platform. From here, you can see appointments, fill out your intake/consents, look at your billing, pay invoices, print receipts, print your own superbills, and join teletherapy sessions. A new window will pop up when you join a session and you can have a secure teletherapy session through this platform. It also includes a whiteboard, screen share, games, videos, and worksheets. On this platform, your therapist can also send you secure messages, links, videos, and worksheets at any time in your inbox.