Please read this section carefully before the free initial phone consultation (up to 15 minutes). If interested then call me at (541) 621-8948.
My fees for (private pay) psychotherapy are $110 in person and $95 for video-mental health. When health insurance companies cover the treatment, you will be responsible for the co-pay at the time of the service. Please check if you have met your deductible because otherwise you’ll have to pay out of pocket what the insurance company determines is the ‘patient responsibility’.
My treatments are not typically lengthy — but the positive changes are usually very significant and long lasting.
The value of the investment you make in counseling or consultation depends on the effectiveness. If a few sessions can do the job, and you come out knowing how to help yourself and your family by yourself in the future, it will cost less than a lengthy approach where you learn little. It is important that we give each other feedback during treatment about what can improve the effectiveness for you. After getting to know the situations affecting you and the changes you want to make, I will give you a rough estimate of how long it will take, if you are participating well enough by doing the necessary practices outside sessions also.
I offer potential clients a 15 minute phone consultation free of charge so we can both see if I am the right therapist for you. This is the time to clarify insurance issues, privacy, etc., and for you to raise your concerns and ask preliminary questions. If you request tele-mental health, at this time we can discuss if it can be beneficial for your circumstance or not, and if yes, then how to use the platform.
What questions to ask your health insurance company: Every plan has different coverages. Insurance companies only cover what they define as “medical necessity”. This means that they require a diagnosis, which I can only assign if the client actually meets criteria for the diagnosis. In the case of couple or family therapy, the person covered by that insurance needs to meet the criterion for medical necessity. Please ask your health insurance company the following questions before the start of treatment:
Do I first have to meet my deductible? If so, has it been met?
What is my co-pay or my co-insurance per session?
Is there a limit on the amount of coverage for outpatient mental health services?
Do I need pre-authorization from my insurance company before starting treatment?
CANCELLATONS AND “NO-SHOW” DEPOSIT: Cancellations need to be done 24 hours in advance except in unpredictable circumstances. In that case please call me as soon as you know you won’t be able to come. If there are 2 no shows or late cancellations, I request a $40 deposit to prevent the patterns to continue. The deposit (an un-cashed check) will be returned to you when treatment ends if you attend every session you schedule, or cancellations are infrequent and done in a timely fashion. If a problem arises with frequency of cancellations we’ll talk about this in session to understand and remove obstacles as much as possible.
LAWYERS AND COURT ISSUES: At this point in my career I am not accepting cases where I would be asked to talk to lawyers, write letters for the Court or testify in Court. If these requests nevertheless arise, please be advised that my fees are $600 per hour for any of these activities, and insurance will not be billed for them. If I am subpoenaed to appear in court, the fee will apply whether the Court hears the case that day or it is continued to another day.
PRIVACY: Confidentiality is an essential aspect of the psychotherapy relationship. By law I am a mandated reporter to protect and seek help for my clients (and in some cases for others as well) when I believe there is a danger of suicidality, homicidality, other severe physical danger, or of child or elder abuse or abuse of persons with disabilities, and when my client is incapacitated to take care of his/her basic needs.
In using technology, it is important to consider how secure the methods are. I offer telemedicine through video systems that have good security features. I also use the phone for appointments, and the 15 minute free initial consultation. My clients have never had problems with confidentiality when using the phone system, but please let me know if the phone # you indicate is one where I can call you or leave a message to call me back.
E-mail is less secure, and I use it only to send blank, pre-printed, forms or the link to join a video session. See also the Notice of Privacy Practices in this section. For tele mental-health you need a private space where to communicate from, whether in your home, office, etc.