Fees & FAQs

Coming to therapy can feel intimidating, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Here are some common questions . . . and answers:

What are your fees — and do you take insurance?

My fee for the initial session is $150 and this longer session provides us time to get to know each other and for me to understand your concerns. Each subsequent 50-minute session is $125. We can schedule longer sessions if desired. I accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

I do not accept insurance. When you use your insurance, you lose confidentiality and the control over how often we meet and for how long. Also, I don’t have to assign you a mental-health diagnosis, and we both avoid the cumbersome claims process. You can still inquire with your health plan to determine whether you have out-of-network benefits; I will provide you with a SuperBill for you to use when filing your own claims. You may notice that more and more accomplished therapists are not taking insurance. This gives both you and I the freedom to make decisions about your treatment and what works best for you.

Our marriage has been troubled for some time. We really feel it's broken. Can we still be helped? Is there hope?

People often don’t seek counseling early enough when problems begin to surface. What’s important is a willingness of both partners to do the “work” involved in therapy. This means you are open to explore the differences that have come between you and to learn to change how you relate to each other. It’s important to commit to stay in the therapy process long enough to heal the past hurts, learn new ways of understanding each other’s needs and to practice the newly acquired skills. Therapy is always as brief as possible. Typically, we start out with weekly visits and then move to less-frequent sessions as the relationship becomes more stable, giving you time to work with the new skills. Can every marriage be saved? The answer depends on many factors. Foremost, both partners must be committed to working toward the changes they desire.

I am willing to come to counseling, but my partner is not. Is there any benefit?

While it’s ideal that both persons in the relationship come to therapy together, anyone can learn from the counseling experience. You can gain insight into your own interactions and expectations from the relationship. Through therapy, you can also learn how you may contribute to some of the conflicts and concerns, and you can learn more effective ways to communicate your needs and wants. You can gain an understanding of your own behavior patterns and have the opportunity to improve how you relate to others, including your partner.

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about my childhood. I know there are issues that affect my behavior today, but I want to move forward.

Actually, I may want to know a little about your past to understand how those issues may be significant for you today. You can choose what you want to discuss and the depth. However, the focus of therapy is on the “here and now.” At times, we may briefly explore how your past influences your current beliefs and behaviors, but we use this to help you learn to make better choices now and into the future. My training and my practice focus on short-term, brief therapy that help you quickly move toward making better choices, handling life’s ups and downs more effectively and improving the daily quality of your relationships with those who are important to you.

I (we) don't want to be in therapy for years!

I don’t want you to be in therapy for a long time, either! My objective is to help you reduce stress and conflict as quickly as possible, to give you relief from the problems that are troubling you. Years ago, with different therapy methods, people were in treatment for what are now considered excessive periods of time. Using proven methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Brief Therapy and Solution-Focused Therapy, we work together to help you work through challenging issues and struggles as quickly as possible. I love watching my clients grow and learn, and I do take great joy in saying “Goodbye” as they move forward to applying their new knowledge independently.

My (our) problems are so unusual, how could anyone understand?

I work to honor each person’s unique and special qualities. I bring to my work years of experience helping people tackle difficult challenges and then to move forward in positive ways. We spend time getting to know each other and allowing you to feel comfortable and knowing that you have my support and acceptance. We then explore your concerns and work toward helping you resolve current, troubling issues.

Our teenager has become distant from us. His anger is more frequent and intense. We're worried he's hanging with the wrong crowd. Each time we try to talk with him, the conversation quickly turns into a shouting match.

Behaviors are typically symptoms – something is missing or trust has been compromised. When expectations (spoken or unspoken) of parents and teens are not met, conflict typically ensues. Family counseling helps bring to the surface the unmet needs that may be creating further disconnection. All involved learn helathy ways to regain closeness, trust and mutual respect. I often emphasize that it is truly harmful to the teen when he or she becomes further disconnected from family bonds. Teens become more vulnerable to peer pressure and poor choices, as they seek to find trust and closeness elsewhere.

For People Who Work

I seem to be more short-tempered at work. I've been spoken to about this. I agree; it's a problem, but it seems my anger has become harder to control lately.

In counseling, we can explore the triggers for your anger and frustration so you can learn to easily identify causes of your anger. We will review coping skills to help you avoid becoming angry too quickly, to slow your reaction and to think through your response to difficult situations. Work-related stress has become a greater problem with the tight economy because companies are having to get more work done with fewer staff and to make more frequent business-strategy changes that impact all employees.

For answers to your specific questions about counseling, call Linda at (602) 882-0533.