LOGISTICS
LOGISTICS
GETTING STARTED
My intake or initial appointment fee, one time consultation fee, and regular session fee is $200 per session. Sessions can be once weekly or more frequently depending on one’s situation. All sessions are 45 min in length. For 60 min sessions, my rate is $225.
No show and missed session policy is detailed in my private practice policies paperwork. This paperwork also reviews issues pertaining to informed consent, online therapy, privacy and confidentiality, record keeping, and HIPAA law.
After the intake, we will continue the evaluation over the next few sessions, which will help formulate a treatment plan. These sessions allows you to gain a sense of what it may feel like to work together as “fit” and “match” are important considerations when choosing a therapist. If you decide not to continue, I am more than happy to help you connect with other treatment providers.
Most therapy is open-ended and concludes when goals are met, but in some cases, we may contract to work on a particular issue on a short-term basis. I also offer family or parenting consultation which can occur for one or several sessions to evaluate family and/or parent-child dynamics and develop a plan for intervention to be carried out by the family on their own.
INSURANCE
I can see patients in network for Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross of CA, Blue Cross Blue Shield National Blue Card plans, Managed Health Network, Optum United Behavioral Health and subsidiaries, and Medicare.
For all other insurance companies, I am considered an out of network provider, and your sessions would be covered by your insurance company according to your out of network benefits. I supply super bills for reimbursement.
Here are some questions that you may ask your insurance company to gain information about your insurance benefits:
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What are my mental health benefits?
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Do I need a referral from my primary care physician?
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Do I have a deductible or a copay? Copays are typically paid at each session.
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If seeking reimbursement for seeing me out of network, you would also want to ask: what percentage of the session fee do they cover? What is my responsibility to pay?
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How do I obtain my reimbursement? What forms do I need to file?
SLIDING SCALE
If you do not have insurance or if these benefits are not sufficient, there is the possibility of a reduced fee, based on a sliding scale, according to your need and circumstance. Please inquire about this option as all attempts will be made to assist you so that financial obstacles do not stand in way of your obtaining treatment.
TELEPSYCHOLOGY
*NOTE: Most insurance companies WILL now reimburse for telepsychology (online therapy) due to the COVID pandemic. At the moment, all my sessions are online using a videoconferencing platform (VSee).
PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Concerns of privacy and of confidentiality are taken seriously. It my belief that psychotherapeutic work is best undertaken in an atmosphere of respect for the value of people, their life stories, their struggles, and their pain as well as of the therapy process itself. For this reason, I am deeply mindful of their privacy and take all efforts to create a clear distinction between the work that goes on in therapy and the world outside. We live and work in small, close-knit communities where everyone seems to know each other, but this in no way makes the walls of the therapy room more permeable. I treat this space as sacred and work diligently to making my patients feel that this is a safe and separate space for themselves, so as to encourage the difficult work that must be done here.
All patients paying out of pocket ("self pay") are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate. Please read this important disclosure here: https://www.apaservices.org/practice/legal/managed/good-faith-estimate-notice.pdf