Self-pay means you pay for therapy out-of-pocket at the time of the appointment.

If your insurance plan has Out of Network benefits, it may reimburse you for part of the cost of the session. You can learn more about your Out of Network benefits by calling the number on the back of your insurance card. If you want to pursue reimbursement, I can provide a superbill on request to submit to your insurance.

Even if you have Out of Network benefits, it is not a guarantee your therapy will be covered. This is determined solely by your insurance company.

There are lots of benefits to working with a self-pay therapist. Here are a few:

1. Therapy stays between you and your therapist. When you use insurance to pay for sessions, you agree to allow the insurance company to access aspects of your treatment, such as your diagnosis, treatment plans, and any other data your therapists collects. This could result in an insurance company one day deciding to audit your record and/or deny continued services with a provider if they determine them to be unnecessary.

   2. Insurance requires therapists to provide a diagnosis after the first meeting with a new client. This diagnosis becomes a part of your permanent medical record and can later be used to dispute things such as short-term disability or life insurance. Working on a self-pay basis removes the urgency of diagnosis, and the nuances of your experience can be given extra time.

   3. Insurance companies pay therapists a contracted rate that is not always comparable to their training or experience level. A self-pay rate allows a therapist to continue training in their chosen methods while also meeting their other expenses. This allows them to serve you better!

Access to quality therapy services is a big issue in many parts of the United States. To increase mental healthcare access for people experiencing financial hardship, this practice offers a limited number of sliding scale appointments.

Often, people wonder how to know if they would qualify to work with a therapist on a sliding scale. One question to ask yourself is “how would paying the full cost of therapy affect my day-to-day life?” If the answer includes things like being more mindful about your budget or rearranging how your expenses are distributed, but it would not have a significant negative impact overall, chances are you can reasonably afford the full cost of therapy. On the other hand, if the full cost of therapy would impact your ability to meet your basic needs, such as buying groceries or paying rent, a sliding scale rate may be for you.

You can ask about sliding scale availability when booking or during your consultation.

Ideally, I like us to decide this together. I may make a recommendation, but the decision is ultimately up to you. It is not uncommon for people to want more therapy at certain times and less at others. I like to offer as much flexibility as my schedule allows.