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How We Work

Brief Phone Consultation: Before our work begins, we will find a time to have a brief phone consultation. This conversation typically lasts 15-20 minutes, it is free of charge and it allows you to convey what it is that you would like to work on as well as allowing us time to answer any basic questions you have about our approach.

Pre-therapy Consultation: We consider our first in-person or online meeting will be a pre-therapy consultation. It is designed to allow us more time to discuss the issues you are hoping to address, to allow us ask each other questions, and for us both to assess if our clinical approach is a good fit with your needs. This session typically lasts 50 minutes and has the reduced rate of $80. If you are hoping to have us work with a child, we will use this session to meet with one or both of the child's primary caregivers before starting a relationship with the child.

Beginning regular sessions: Should we determine that we are a good match for your needs, we will then begin regular sessions. These sessions usually involve us asking you some questions and engaging in dialogue in order to better understand how your thoughts, emotions and physical experience come together. Often people find the dialogue itself useful as it allows them to begin to better understand patterns and think about change. Additionally it allows the therapist the opportunity to introduce new strategies or support you in finding alternative ways to approach your challenges.

Length of treatment: Length of treatment is based on the issues you came in with and your personal needs and goals. We all have experience doing both brief and longer term therapeutic work, so typically we recommend that we work together (50 minute sessions on a weekly basis) for between six to ten weeks. This is usually enough time to create some types of change and if we have addressed your needs w e may wrap up at this point. In some instances continued work can be beneficial. If it seems that this might be the case, we will discuss both our impressions and your thoughts about how the treatment is going. Our goal is to work with you to address concerns that need immediate attention in the short term and then, if this does not seem sufficient, we will work with you establish longer term goals and discuss how we might best organize your treatment to meet these goals. We believe that transparency in treatment is important, so if you ever have questions about our work with you, we encourage you to ask!

Fees: The fee for individual 50-60 minute sessions is $150~$180. If we have determined that we are a good match, but you wish to work as a couple, sessions typically last 60-90 minutes and the fee is $180~$200. Sometimes it is most useful to work together as a family to resolve group issues. Family sessions usually last 90 minutes and the fee is $200. However, depending on each client's situation, we have discount fees. Payment is due at the time of the service and we are currently accepting cash, check, credit cards. 

Insurance: ILC is not currently an “in network” provider on any insurance plan. However, we are happy to provide you with documentation of the services you have received so that you can submit should you wish to obtain reimbursement for your sessions directly from your insurance company. The amount of reimbursement you will be able to get from your insurance carrier will vary. Some insurance providers do not offer mental health benefits but many do. When it is covered, the amount of reimbursement will be specific to your insurance plan.

Missed and cancelled sessions present a special problem in psychotherapy for two reasons. First, working to make change can be very difficult. Sometimes when therapy hits a tough period, people are tempted to avoid coming in. It is therapist’s job to support you to face these things, and therefore important that the therapist does not enable you to miss needed sessions. The second reason is that your appointment time is set aside specifically for you. Typically your time cannot be given to someone else on short notice. As a result, cancellations should be arranged as far in advance as possible. If you cancel or miss an appointment with less than 24 hours notice , you will be charged for the visit. For visits cancelled more than 24 hours in advance , we will work to reschedule at another mutually convenient time.