FAQs

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Do you take my insurance?

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I am not "in network" with any insurance companies, but if you have a PPO you may receive reimbursement for some or all of the cost of psychotherapy. If you're not sure what your insurance will cover, you're welcome to contact me and I can help you figure it out. I've also listed some questions that may help clarify your plan's benefits below.

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What should I ask my insurance company to find out how much of your fee I'll be reimbursed for?

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1. What are my plan's benefits for "out of network, outpatient psychotherapy" with a psychologist (i.e., doctoral level therapist)? 

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2. What's the "allowed amount" for psychotherapy in my geographical area?*

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3. Do you require a diagnosis for reimbursement? If so, does it need to be a "parity diagnosis,” or does any diagnosis suffice?

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4. Is there a limit to the number of sessions per week, or per year, that my plan will reimburse? Is there a frequency or duration of treatment that triggers an automatic review of the ongoing necessity of therapy? (e.g., every six months, or if frequency is more than weekly)

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5. Is there a deductible I have to go through before these benefits kick in?

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6. (If applicable) Is there a difference in reimbursement rate for in-person versus remote (phone, Zoom) therapy?

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  *For example, your plan might cover 50% of the “allowed amount”, which is the amount the company think it’s reasonable for therapy to cost, not the actual amount your therapist charges. Usually the allowed amount is lower than the actual cost of therapy. So if the allowed amount is $200 and they cover 50% of that, that would mean they’d pay you back a maximum of $100 per session, even if your therapist actually charges more than $200.

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How do I know if I need psychotherapy? What if I don't have one specific issue I'd like to address?

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Some people have trouble feeling justified in their need and desire for a therapeutic process; in my experience, that often means that troubling, or even traumatic, experiences have been minimized and rationalized away: “It wasn’t that bad when I was growing up, I know other people have it way worse.” To this worry, I offer the famous first line of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”  And most of us adults need at least one pass at reflecting on, and reckoning with, our past, in order to be freed up to head towards our future with relish.

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