FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
General Questions
I work with female-identifying adults 18+ who are seeking therapy that will help them process and heal from trauma.
I live in Denver, CO and I meet with clients virtually. I am licensed to see clients who are anywhere in the states of Colorado or Georgia (even when therapy is provided online, therapists can only provide services to clients who are physically located in the states where they are licensed).
No, my practice is entirely online with all sessions held on a HIPAA-compliant video platform.
However, I understand that for some people, wanting in-person sessions is a deal breaker. If that’s you, I fully support that! But that does mean you will need to look for a different therapist.
It’s hard to say. Some people may just need help navigating a specific transition or situation, or only need to process a single-incident trauma such as a car accident, and this can usually be accomplished over just a few months.
Most of the clients I work with are working through a variety of concerns and have multiple past experiences that need to be processed and healed. It’s not at all uncommon for me to work with a client for 1-2 years and I have a few that I’ve been seeing for over 5 years.
It’s also very common for clients to have seen satisfactory progress after a certain amount of time but choose to continue coming on a less frequent schedule so as to maintain that progress and address new issues as they arise.
So it really depends on your goals and ultimately it’s up to you - you can continue with therapy for however short or long a time feels right and is of benefit to you.
I only provide individual therapy and do not offer ongoing couples or family sessions. However, the occasional participation of another person in your therapy can be very helpful in gathering additional information or insight, or assisting a key support person in your life to better understand your struggles and what you need from them.
The most common person to participate in your therapy would be a partner or someone else you live with, but could also be a friend, family member, or another healthcare professional.
When someone other than the client (you) participates in your therapy, that person is called a “collateral.” This person would be required to sign a Collateral Participant consent form, acknowledging that they are not a client and they do not have a right to any of your records, including records from collateral sessions.
It’s natural to experience some discomfort when trying something new, and sometimes people do feel a little worse after starting therapy before they start to feel better.
I invite you to be open with me about how you are experiencing and responding to our work together, and my goal is to collaborate with you to identify an approach that feels right and works for you. If something isn’t working, let’s talk about it and see what we can do instead.
If at any point it becomes clear to you that the kind of therapy I offer actually isn’t right for you or that I am not the right person to help you reach your goals, then I would love to help connect you with someone who is a better fit.
So while you have the right to stop therapy for any reason and without any explanation, I do encourage my clients to commit to attending at least one additional session if at any point you wish to stop therapy, so that we can discuss any referrals or resources I can provide for you, review the progress you have already made, and help you to feel confident about your next steps in working towards your goals.
Appointment Questions
Questions About the Therapeutic Process
Questions About Fees and Billing
The fee for a 50-minute individual diagnostic session (aka your initial, or first session) is $225.
For all sessions after the initial session, the fee depends on the amount of time we are meeting for. For a standard 50-minute session, the fee is $175. For longer sessions (highly recommended when actively engaged in trauma processing), we can meet for anywhere from 1.5x as long (75 minutes = $260) or twice as long (100 minutes = $340) up to a half-day “intensive” (3.5 hours - 200 minutes with a 10 minute break = $825).
No, I am not “in-network” (INN) with any insurance companies. This means that I will not bill your insurance for your sessions, and you are responsible for paying the full session fee at the beginning of each session.
I am also not a contracted “out-of-network” (OON) provider with any insurance company. I can still provide you with a “Superbill” (a special kind of receipt) for the payments you’ve made for your sessions if you wish to submit this to your insurance to request to be reimbursed based on your OON benefits, but I cannot guarantee reimbursement.
Therefore, if a client elects to request Superbills for their sessions, the client agrees that it is their responsibility to contact their insurance to check their mental health coverage and find out what they need to do in order to request reimbursement. The client further agrees that even if they verify their OON benefits, their insurance company could still reject the claims they have submitted for reimbursement. If the client’s insurance rejects their claims for any reason, no refunds will be issued by the therapist, and the client will need to reach out to their insurance if they wish to appeal the decision. The therapist does not engage with insurance in any way and therefore cannot assist with the appeal process beyond providing a corrected Superbill if there was an error, or providing the client with any records they request.
Yes, if you’re good at math (or used a calculator) you may have spotted that the cost per minute goes down a little for the 75 and 100 minute sessions, but is higher for the intensive. I promise I’m not trying to be sneaky, so here is a fully transparent explanation of why I intentionally priced my sessions the way I did.
Slightly longer sessions have the benefit of being more efficient for you in making progress more quickly but without requiring more from me in preparation or stamina. On the other hand, an intensive does require a significant increase in preparation beforehand as well as being demanding enough that I intentionally do not schedule any other sessions on the days I book an intensive. But the advantage and ultimate savings for you is significant - in the same amount of time as four 50-minute sessions and slightly less than the cost of five sessions, clients tend to make as much progress in a half-day intensive as it might take for them to make in 2 months or more of weekly therapy.
Sort of. While the full fee is due at the time of your intensive, the cost is split into two payments: a 50% non-refundable (but transferable) deposit is due in order to schedule your half-day session, and the remaining 50% is due on the day of your intensive.
The full session fee is due at the start of each session. If your card is declined, we can still meet but I will not be able to schedule you for any future sessions until the balance is paid.
Yes! Psychotherapy services are considered an eligible medical expense according to the IRS - however, different employers or card issuers may be more limited in the services that are considered eligible expenses for a particular HSA or FSA account.
Therefore, if a client wishes to pay for their therapy with a card linked to a HSA/FSA account, it is the client’s responsibility to carefully check the terms of their specific account to determine if psychotherapy would be considered an eligible expense, and/or if the receipt for services needs to contain specific information to be considered eligible. The therapist is not liable if the client knowingly or unknowingly pays for ineligible expenses with their HSA/FSA account.
Yes, since I only meet with clients virtually, I do not accept payment via cash or check. Integrated within my electronic health record system, SimplePractice, I use an established PCI-compliant payment processor called Stripe that accepts all major credit cards, debit cards, HSA cards, and FSA cards.
Yes, all clients are required to keep a current payment card on file so that I can charge your payment method at the start of your session. After I accept you as a client, I will send you the link to fill out a credit card authorization form through your secure SimplePractice client portal. SimplePractice is fully HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST certified. If you wish to pay for your session with a different card than the one you have on file, please notify me prior to your session.
If you choose to have a HSA or FSA card as your default method of payment, and it is declined at any time for insufficient funds, you will be required to keep a back-up card on file going forward (even if more funds are added to your account).
Yes. I know that life happens, and so I offer two ways to waive the fee.
First, if you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice but are able to reschedule your appointment within the same week (i.e. to sometime before your next scheduled appointment and without canceling that appointment), then I will charge your card for the missed session and apply the payment to your rescheduled session. Note that even if you are committed to re-scheduling, I cannot guarantee that I will have availability and will not be able to waive the fee if I do not have any spots available to reschedule.
Second, I give clients one “freebie” every 12 months. If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice (and are not able to reschedule) or do not show for your appointment, and this is your first late-cancellation or no-show, then I will offer you the choice to use your freebie now or to save it for the future. I will charge your card for the missed session, and if you elected to use your freebie, then I will waive the fee and apply the payment to your next scheduled session. Once you have used your freebie, any future late cancellations that cannot be rescheduled or no-shows will be charged the full session fee with very limited exceptions.
Due to the flexibility that telehealth offers and In order to not allow any of my conscious or unconscious biases to favor waving the fee for certain clients or circumstances and not others, I will only waive the fee beyond the initial freebie under the following circumstances: 1) you are in the emergency room for yourself or a family member/member of your household, 2) you are in a serious automobile accident, 3) you are in a situation that involves law enforcement or incarceration, or 4) you or a family member/member of your household has died.
You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.
• You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
• Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.
• If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
• Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises
No, unfortunately pre-payment goes against my code of ethics as a therapist. My standard is to only charge your card at the start of each session, or in accordance with my late-cancellation/no-show policy. If you wish to pay in advance, you can only pre-pay for one scheduled session at a time.
Yes, if someone has agreed to cover or partially cover the costs of your therapy, my recommendation is to pay for your services yourself and then have the person pay you.
However, if you or the person/entity paying for your services wants to pay me directly, then you will need to fill out an authorization for disclosure and release of information that is specific to third party payors. The person or entity paying for your services will need to complete a third party payor agreement and provide a valid photo ID. The financially responsible party will need to keep a valid, current card on file, no exceptions. If this is your situation, please let me know and I will provide you with the necessary forms.
Communication Questions
If you need to contact me between sessions, you can (in the order in which I will see your message soonest): send me an email, send me a text, send a secure message through your SimplePractice client portal, or you may call and leave a message on my voicemail. If you leave a voicemail, I will email or text you in reply.
Email, text messaging, and voicemails are not always completely secure methods of communication and therefore I cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication except for SimplePractice’s secure messaging system.
Therefore, whenever possible I ask that we communicate via email/text only for scheduling, logistics, or other brief communications (i.e. asking for or sending resources or referrals).
I also request that you do not use any method of communication to discuss therapeutic content at length. A pro-rated hourly charge may apply if you choose to send messages requiring extended review outside of your scheduled session time.
If you are a current client, feel free to email, text, or call at any hour, any day of the week. I keep my notifications set on silent, so you don't have to worry about waking me or interrupting me. However, do not expect a response outside of business hours (see below).
I generally check and reply to messages between ~8am-5pm Monday-Friday.
For current clients, I am committed to responding to any messages by the end of the next business day. If you have not heard from me by then, it’s safe to assume that I did not see your message - please try again, and try emailing me if you had used a different form of communication.
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