Frequently Asked Questions

Some Info About My Practice

Your Privacy

The discussions you have with me in psychotherapy are confidential and privileged. This means that, except in extraordinary circumstances, I may not divulge anything about our meetings without your explicit permission.

If you indicate that you are in imminent danger of hurting yourself or someone else, I may need to report this information to protect you or that other person. In addition I am required to report certain instances of child or elder abuse and/or neglect to the appropriate authorities.

In a family or couple's treatment, your communications are similarly protected, but please note that privacy protections cover individuals and not groups. Your privilege only extends to what you say, not to what your family member says.

Any written records that I maintain are similarly protected. I may not divulge them to anyone without your permission.

Length of Treatment

This is impossible to predict. Generally you and I will both sense together when a treatment needs to wrap up.

Scheduling

I am open for business Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM.

My sessions are 50 minutes in length. I try to provide my patients with a regular time, (or times,) each week when we will meet. Please understand that if you are late for your session, I am not able to make up the time at the other end of the session. To do so would be unfair to others who are waiting to meet with me.

Cancellation Policy

I will charge you your full fee if you do not attend a scheduled appointment, and do not notify me of the cancellation. I will charge you half your fee if you cancel a session and give me less than 24 hours notice. I will make exceptions if you are too ill to come in for the session or if driving conditions in your opinion are unsafe. I am also likely to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis in the event of an extraordinary life-event.

Using Health Insurance to Pay for Psychotherapy

While occasionally health insurance will pay for some portion of the cost of my services, many insurance plans will not. This is because I have not been able to figure out how, in the current climate of behavioral-health managed care, to provide the best therapy that I can provide and to collaborate with insurance companies without feeling a conflict of interest. I want to do best by my patients; the insurance companies want me to do cheap by my patients. The two are most often not compatible.

Sliding Scale of Fees

Given that many health insurance companies will not pay for my services, I have a sliding scale of fees for my services that, up to a point, tries to take into account your particular circumstances, to arrive at a fee that we both can thrive with.

Payment

If you have health insurance that might pay for part of your treatment, I am happy to forward a bill to your insurance company, but I ask that you pay me regularly and in full. You may pay me each time we meet or you may pay me once a month.

What to Do When the Weather is Uncertain

If you do not feel safe traveling, do not come to the session. As I mentioned above, I will not charge you if you cancel for this reason. If I am unable to be in my office due to bad weather or for any reason, I will make a good-faith effort to call you to let you know or to leave a message that I am canceling the session.