|
|
FAQS
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Click on your question
 What
is my approach to psychotherapy?
What is my approach to testing, consultation and forensic services?
How long do therapy sessions last?
How long can I expect therapy to continue?
What if I have to cancel my therapy appointment?
What are the payment options?
What are the fees for psychotherapy (and for missed appointments)?
What are the fees for testing (and for missed appointments)?
What are the fees for forensic services (and for missed appointments)?
What should I know about insurance reimbursement?
How do you contact me?
What is my approach to psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is not easily
described in general statements. It varies depending on the
personalities of the psychologist and client, and the particular
problems you bring forward. There are many different methods I may use
to deal with the problems that you hope to address. Psychotherapy is not
like a visit to a medical doctor. Instead, it calls for a very
active effort on your part. In order for the therapy to be most
successful, you will have to work on things we talk about both during
our sessions and at home.
Psychotherapy can have benefits and
risks. Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of
your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness,
guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other
hand, psychotherapy has also been shown to have benefits for people who
go through it. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to
specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress.
But there are no guarantees of what you will experience.
Our first few sessions will involve
an evaluation of your needs. By the end of the evaluation, I will be
able to give you an overview of what our work will include and a
treatment plan to follow, if you decide to continue with therapy. You
should evaluate this information along with your own opinions of whether
you feel comfortable working with me. Therapy involves a large
commitment of time, money, and energy, so you should be very careful
about the therapist you select. If you have questions about my
procedures, we should discuss them whenever they arise. If your doubts
persist, I will be happy to help you set up a meeting with another
mental health professional for a second opinion.
Back To Top
What is my approach to testing,
consultation and forensic services?
You might have been referred for
an evaluation by a physician, a therapist, a teacher, an attorney, or
employer, or you may have referred yourself. The first step is to get
perfectly clear as to the purpose of the evaluation. Who will read the
report? What will the results be used for? Once that is determined, I
can select the appropriate tests and measures to use to answer the
questions. The report will be written with both the purpose of the
testing and the intended reader(s) clearly in mind. Psychological
testing and forensic assessments are considerably more labor intensive
than the initial evaluation for psychotherapy, and require significant
amounts of time to complete and write up. Accordingly, my fee schedules
for therapy and for other services differ.
Back To Top
How long do therapy sessions last?
I normally conduct a
psychotherapy intake evaluation that will last at least 2 sessions (a
session is 45-50 minutes). If possible, I like our first meeting to last
about 1 ½ hours (a double session). Sometimes, this initial evaluation
will take more time. During this initial time, we can both decide if I
am the best person for you to work with to meet your treatment goals. If
we decide to work together, I will usually schedule one 45-50 minute
session per week at a time we agree on, although some sessions may be
longer or more frequent.
Back To Top
How long can I expect therapy to
continue?
In some sense, treatment
goes on as long as it goes on. More specifically, services will continue
until:
▪ Your treatment goals have been
achieved
▪ You discontinue treatment by by
clearly indicating that you have no interest in continuing services with
me or by repeatedly failing to keep scheduled appointments.
▪ We come to jointly feel that your
needs cannot be adequately met here, in which case you will be referred
to another and more appropriate provider.
Back To Top
What if I have to cancel my therapy
appointment?
Once a therapy appointment
hour is scheduled, you will be expected to pay for it unless you provide
at least 24 hours (1 day) advance notice of cancellation, unless we both
agree that you were unable to attend due to circumstances beyond your
control. Exceptions to this policy are what would generally be
considered emergencies and would not include being very busy at work, or
having a baby sitter “no show”, or just not feeling like coming in. If
it is possible, I will try to find another time to reschedule the
appointment, hopefully during the same week.
▪ If you think you might have
difficulty keeping regular appointments, discuss this with me at the
beginning of our relationship to see what can be worked out
▪ If you cancel or miss appointments
on a regular basis, I reserve the right to refuse to make another
appointment
▪ If I have to cancel an
appointment, for whatever reason, there is, of course, no charge to you.
Back To Top
What are the payment options?
You may pay for therapy,
testing, or forensic services using cash or check. All co pays and
payments are due at the time of the appointment and must be paid in full
each session. If by the next visit you have not paid the amount owed, I
reserve the right to hold off seeing you unless and until you have paid
in full. At present, I do not accept credit or debit cards.
Back To Top
What are the fees for psychotherapy
(and for missed appointments)?
Straight fee-for-service;
$160 per 45-50 minute session (and for missed appointments) The fee is
the same if you are paying by the session, using an insurance in which I
don’t participate (Out of Network) or using your Health Savings Account
or Flexible Spending Account). In some cases, I will agree to see
clients for a discounted fee (sliding scale). We will discuss this
possibility beforehand. If an unusual financial hardship arises during
the course of therapy, I may be willing to negotiate a fee adjustment or
payment installment plan.
I charge this same fee for other
professional services (pro-rated for periods of less than one hour) such
as report writing, telephone conversations lasting longer than 5
minutes, attendance at meetings with other professionals you have
authorized, preparation of records or treatment summaries, and the time
spent performing any other service you may request of me.
If I am a participating provider
with your insurance: which
includes Aetna, many CareFirst plans, CIGNA, Managed Health
Network, ValueOptions, and the Magellan EAP plan. My hourly fee for
therapy is whatever your insurance carrier allows. The “missed
appointment” fee is what your carrier would pay had you kept the
appointment. All other services, as noted above, are at my regular
hourly rate. Most policies require a co-payment. Unless we know your
co-pay beforehand (check your insurance card), I charge a $20 co-pay. If
we learn (from the insurance company’s payment form) that it should be
less, I’ll refund the difference. If it’s more, you will be expected to
pay the difference and then pay the required rate at each session.
Back To Top
What are the fees for testing
(and for missed appointments)?
Fees vary depending on the type of evaluation. Fees range from $1995 for a
basic evaluation to several thousand for complex forensic (legal) cases. Fees will be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the
referral questions. My policy is to collect at least 50% of the fee at the time of initial service and the balance before the report is
delivered. If you have to cancel, please let me know at least 48 hours (2 days) in advance. If you cancel with less notice, or “no show”, you
will be charged a flat fee of $300.
Back To Top
What are the fees for forensic
services (and for missed appointments)?
Because of the
difficulty of legal involvement, I charge $250 per hour for preparation
and attendance at any legal proceeding. If therapy or testing is in
connection with a legal case, I will ask you to sign a separate
contract, specifying the specifics of my involvement.
Insurance carriers do not
consider forensic services to be health-related and usually refuse any
coverage. You will be asked to pay for forensic services
prior to the service, either in full, or in the form of a
to-be-agreed-upon retainer. If you have to cancel, please let me know
at least 72 hours (3 days) in advance. If you cancel with less
notice, or “no show”, you will be charged a flat fee of $450. If you
become involved in legal proceedings that require my participation, you
will be expected to pay for my professional time even if I am called to
testify by another party.
Back To Top
\What should I know about insurance
reimbursement?
If I am a participating
provider with your carrier, I am required to file the insurance claims
myself. If I do not participate with your plan, I will fill out forms
and provide you with whatever assistance I can in helping you receive
the benefits to which you are entitled; however, you (not your insurance
company) are responsible for full payment of my fees.
It is very important that
you find out exactly what mental health services your insurance policy
covers. You should carefully read the section in your insurance coverage
booklet that describes mental health services. If you have questions
about the coverage, call your plan administrator. Of course I will
provide you with whatever information I can based on my experience and
will be happy to help you in understanding the information you receive
from your insurance company. If it is necessary to clear confusion, I
will be willing to call the company on your behalf.
Due to the rising costs
of health care, insurance benefits have increasingly become more
complex. It is sometimes difficult to determine exactly how much mental
health coverage is available. “Managed Health Care” plans such as HMOs
and PPOs often require authorization before they provide reimbursement
for mental health services. These plans are often limited to short-term
treatment approaches designed to work out specific problems that
interfere with a person’s usual level of functioning. It may be
necessary to seek approval for more therapy after a certain number of
sessions. While a lot can be accomplished in short-term therapy, some
patients feel that they need more services after insurance benefits end.
[Some managed-care plans will not allow me to provide services to you
once your benefits end. If this is the case, I will do my best to find
another provider who will help you continue your psychotherapy.]
You should also be aware
that most insurance companies require you to authorize me to provide
them with a clinical diagnosis. Sometimes I have to provide additional
clinical information such as treatment plans or summaries, or copies of
the entire record this is VERY rare in my experience). I will provide
you with a copy of any report I submit, if you request it.
This information will become part of the
insurance company files and will probably be stored in a computer.
Though all insurance companies claim to keep such information
confidential, I have no control over what they do with it once it is in
their hands. In some cases, they may share the information with a
national medical information databank. Note the recent
reports on the number of such databanks that have become compromised by
hackers and others. See for example,
1/11/10-Channel WTVF News Channel 5) in Nashville, has released an article: Major Insurance Company Announces Security Breach." The article
states that "the ** insurance company will be contacting customers this week whose personal information was exposed when hard drives were
stolen. Someone stole 57 hard drives from a storage closet at one of their training centers..." The article is online at:
here.
Once we have all of the information about your insurance coverage, we
will discuss what we can expect to accomplish with the benefits that are
available and what will happen if they run out before you feel ready to
end our sessions. It is important to remember that you always have the
right to pay for my services yourself to avoid the problems described
above [unless prohibited by contract].
Back To Top
How do you contact me?
I’m often not immediately available by telephone, and don’t answer the
phone when I am with a client. My phone is answered by voice mail that I
monitor frequently. I will make every effort to return your call on the
day you make it, with the exception of weekends and holidays. If you are
hard to reach, please let me know some times you’ll be available. I
usually respond to email on the same day. If you can’t reach me and feel
that you can’t wait for me to return your call or email, please contact
your family physician or the nearest emergency room and ask for the
psychologist/mental health specialist on call. If I will be unavailable
for an extended time I’ll provide you with the name of a colleague to
contact, if necessary.
Back To Top
|
