FAQ
Where is your office located?
What are your hours?
How long are the sessions?
Do you accept insurance as payment?
Ah, insurance companies – the problems they make – so many more than they solve.
Though I have limited insurance availability through billing services Headway and Alma, most of my clients don’t see me through insurance. I’m an out-of-network provider, which means I can provide you a superbill after each session so that you can submit for reimbursement of out-of-network services. Alma can also help you explore your OON benefits, should you have any.
But! Be aware that giving you a superbill also means that I must give you a mental health diagnosis, one reason I don’t like to work with insurance. That diagnostic label will be part of your permanent health record.
Not everyone who can benefit from therapy is “sick.” Plenty of people want to talk over choices and face difficult situations or life transitions, so not everybody meets what insurance likes to call “medical necessity.”
“Medical Necessity” means that you need to meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria to use benefits. It also means that insurance companies can “take over” your treatment by limiting the number of sessions, the frequency of your sessions and determine whether you still qualify for sessions.
So, whether you feel done, if the insurance company decides you’re ready, they send out the letter: “Hi, this is the Insurance Company. Barb should be better by now, and our criteria say most people with this diagnosis should clear up in 8-10 visits, so we’re not paying anymore. Have a great life.”
Before your first appointment, please call your insurance provider to ensure that reimbursement is possible. For confidentiality purposes, I will not communicate with your insurance provider directly.
How do I set up an initial appointment?
Call me. We will talk about what’s going on now and where you want to go. We’ll see if we fit; I will provide you with your very own chart and schedule for your first appointment.
I will email you some forms to fill out through the confidential client portal I use. Please complete all documents before your first visit. Easy-peasy.
What is your cancellation policy?
Let me know ASAP if you can’t keep your appointment. There is a 24-hour minimum notice. Late cancellations and no-shows pay the full session fee unless there’s an emergency or unless they can reschedule in the same week.
I understand life happens. But let me know as soon as you can because I worry when you don’t show up.
What is this telehealth option?
Telehealth rocks! You call me from wherever you want, no sitting in traffic, no dealing with snow, no running home, or flying out of work in a rush. Sometimes people are out and do their sessions in their car – in a handy parking lot, a beautiful park setting while eating their Popeye’s chicken sandwich. Sometimes people are in their jammies in bed, chilling.
Whatever works for you works for me. (Except the bathroom. The bathroom will never work.)
With what age ranges do you work?
Do you work with men?
What do you do in sessions with clients?
I talk, listen, ask questions, challenge, get challenged, find things out, and decide what to do with them. I provide support, enjoy your feistiness, appreciate your efforts, and collaborate on strategies.
I get enthusiastic, wave my arms, find out about new things going on with you, recommend books, and appreciate book recommendations. And I will probably swear and laugh with you.
Do your clients receive homework in between sessions?
What modalities do you use with your clients?
Psychodynamic – We’ll look at patterns in your life and how your emotions, thoughts, early-life experiences, and beliefs provide a framework for what you’re doing now. I will pay attention to how I feel when I’m with you as a way of evaluating how other people in your life experience you. Bring me every bad feeling you’ve got, be feisty, be avoidant, be scared; it’s all grist for the mill. And I’ll like you anyway.
Meditation/Mindfulness – Breathing, meditating, and focusing on how you do things and being in the moment are all ways to get you to notice your feelings and learn to deal with them at the moment. These techniques are great for anxiety and help you figure out why you feel anxious and take it down before you hit a panic attack. I’m all about nipping this stuff in the bud! And once you notice you are getting anxious, you can figure out why.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy – Cognitive means what you think, and behavioral is about how you act. What you think governs how you act = The story you tell yourself is the story you live. We review what you’re telling yourself, sometimes the voice is out loud, and sometimes it’s a little voice you may not even be aware of.
What is that voice telling you? Your voice might say that you are so stupid and clumsy. In response, you will probably avoid activities that may expose you to being thought stupid and clumsy – like not talking in a meeting because your idea can’t possibly be any good. Or you might avoid dancing, even though you’re shaking in your boots. Because what if you fall over or bump into people on the dance floor? Everyone would see you being clumsy right out loud! By paying attention to the story you’re telling yourself, you can correct your false impressions at the moment and move on to a better – and more accurate – story of who you are. It’s work, but it works.
Person-Centered Therapy – I like this one because it talks about MY responsibility in our relationship. No, it’s not all on you; I must do my part in this, too! Person-centered therapy focuses on making my office/telehealth session a place where you explore your feelings, beliefs, behavior, and worldview. This therapy takes as a given that you are doing the best you can with what you have but recognizes that you need some help with what you have and what you’re doing with it.
My part in this is to provide three things: Congruence or Genuineness, Unconditional Positive Regard and Acceptance, and Accurate Empathic Understanding.
Unconditional Positive Regard and Acceptance – It’s not up to me to judge you for your thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. You come to me with a history and a wish to do things differently, whatever that may mean. You’re still mine, whatever you bring.
Accurate Empathic Understanding – I need to understand your unique experience as you know them by focusing on the nuances of what you tell me and how it was for you. We will work it until you feel I get it how you need me to get it. It’s such a great feeling when that clarity clicks, and we are on the same vibe.
Motivational Interviewing – I want to collaborate with you, help you find out where you are in the change process, and how to help you move along. We will work together to clarify what you want and how you’re willing to do to get there. This is an evolving process; you may not be ready for some steps that you “should” take, and that’s fine. My role is to help you figure out what matters to you and help you explore all your options.
What is your professional training and experience?
I came to social work as an adult. I started as a newspaper reporter after dropping out of college. It was fun, but one company bought all the newspapers in the area and closed mine.
I moved on to proofreading/editing and then started working in graphics and as a production artist for books. Before broadband Internet, a print-quality photo required compression to screen resolution before being emailed. With broadband Internet, it was possible to email the whole book overseas and be back in the morning, totally done.
So, I needed to reinvent myself. I always had more chairs in my office and had a regular round of people in my favorite Panera who came to talk to me, so a friend and my therapist pointed me in the direction of a Social Work school, which fit me like a glove!
My MSW is from NYU, and I completed my BA at Montclair. I’ve received training in Hypnotherapy with the Academy for Professional Hypnosis, took training with Windy Dryden in Single-Session Therapy, and participated in Immigration Assessments with Physicians for Human Rights and Georgia King, LCSW.
I have been a regular attendee in therapy for 25 years. I understand what it is like to be the client on the couch. I have had some good therapy – and I recognize how it can be bad.
I’m a firm believer in the idea that until I have my stuff under control, I have no business touching yours.
PS – I don’t expect you to go to therapy for 25 years; I find it helpful, and I think most clinicians benefit from regular therapy or clinical consultation.
What else does a client need to know to make the most out of working with you?
I’m not the expert here; you are. You are the expert in you, and I’m a guide with suggestions, some more helpful than others. Feel free to “fight” with me and correct my misunderstandings. Therapy takes time.
I find many people come in upset and then think it’s over when they feel a little better. That’s the point where the deeper work begins. What we were doing before is “crisis management,” handling what’s messing with your life. You always have the choice of whether you want to follow up with deeper work. Some people are not ready to open particular doors, and they don’t have to open them.