Frequently Asked Questions about Therapy in San Diego, CA

*all terms mean the same

Using online therapy is convenient, effective and quite simple. Therapy through video has been proven to be just as effective as in-person therapy. It eliminates the need to deal with travel time, traffic, or parking. You can simply log-on with a computer, laptop, tablet or a smartphone at the time of your therapy appointment. I use a secure HIPAA-compliant platform to offer video therapy. I will make the technical part easy by giving you clear instructions. Check here for more information on using tele-health in counseling with me.

To use online therapy with me, you must be physically located in the State of California at the time of the appointment.

Yes, I do offer in-person sessions. My office is at 5850 Oberlin Drive, Suite 330, San Diego, CA.

People seek therapy for many different reasons. Therapy can help you if you feel “stuck” or unhappy with the way things are -- whether this is in your relationships, at work or school, with your family, or with regard to your goals in life. Therapy can help if your days are colored by feeling down or depressed, anxious, frustrated, irritable or resentful. Therapy can also help if you want to explore your identity, values, direction in life or reflect on past events. Your reasons for considering therapy may also be different than these, and I would love to hear from you directly about them. Please contact me for a free 15-min phone conversation where we will discuss your therapy goals and how I might be able to help you.

The answer depends on the issue that people ask to address. Some concerns can be addressed in just a few sessions, and others may take 3-6 months, or longer. It is beneficial to have weekly sessions as they make progress faster.

I typically begin with weekly appointments that allow us to get to know each other, stay on task, and keep a close tab on the impact of what we discuss on your life and therapy goals. For your weekly appointments, you will have a set time that fits your schedule. As you get relief from your distress, and feel closer to satisfying your therapy goals, if you’d like, we can discuss moving to less frequent sessions. In either case, I will routinely check with you about your experience in therapy. It is of utmost importance to me that your time in therapy is worth your while.

A typical therapy session for an individual client is 50-min long. A joint session for a couple is 60-min long or 75-min long, according to need.

It’s a bit hard to answer this question without referring directly to your therapy goals. We will discuss your therapy goals as you start counseling and will assess where you stand relative to those goals as we move along. The pace of improvement in therapy will not always be linear. As we dig deeply, sometimes it may feel harder for some time, which would then allow for the release of pain and for making room for positive emotions to take place. I hope that with therapy, you will experience more clarity about who you are, why you are, and where you want to be headed. With therapy you will have an increased sense of choice in your life. With therapy you will experience more self-compassion and self-acceptance.

I can’t understate how important it is for me to know if you feel that therapy is not working for you. Please share if you feel this way. We have a few options then. We can set to explore what gets in the way, and I would be happy to try other approaches that would better fit what you are looking for. If I you or I feel that I cannot be of help, I would be happy to refer you to other therapists or resources that might be a better fit. At the end of the day, my goal is for you to feel better and would do what I can to help with that.

You might feel nervous before your first appointment, wondering what I will ask, or what you should share with me. I will ask you about your reasons for seeking out counseling, what you have already done to try to solve the problem, and what you hope to accomplish in therapy. To better understand you and see you in a context, I will also ask about other areas of your life; for instance, you relationships, work or school, as well your background. I may follow up on some items that you indicated on the intake questionnaires for which I could use more information. Sharing personal information may feel uncomfortable at the beginning, and I will try to make the process as safe and secure as I can.

Psychotherapy is most effective when you can be open and honest. However, you might be wondering about whether I keep what you share with me confidential (i.e., whether you have privacy in therapy). Confidentiality is a highly regarded part of the code of ethics of psychologists, and I take your privacy very seriously. To learn about privacy and confidentiality in therapy, please check this link by the American Psychological Association. Please don’t hesitate to bring up any concerns that you might have about this issue.

I work Monday through Friday, 10:00am-5:00pm. Under unusual circumstances, we can discuss meeting during other times. At this point, I do not have evening of weekend appointments regularly available.

In-person sessions are at 5850 Oberlin Drive, Suite 330, San Diego, CA.

A typical therapy session for an individual client is 50-min long and costs $210. I charge the same fee for the first assessment session and the subsequent sessions.

Couples counseling (joint) session can be either 60-min long, or 75-min long, depending on the needs of the couple.

A 60-min couples session costs $240

A 75-min couples session costs $260.

• I am not contracted directly with any insurance company; however, I am considered an “out-of-network provider” for most PPO insurance companies. This means that the insurance company would not pay me directly for your therapy. Instead, you will pay the full fee at the time of service, and be provided with a monthly “Superbill”, which is a form that has all the information an insurance company would need for reimbursement. Unfortunately, I cannot predict the reimbursement rate as it varies between insurance plans. Please refer to the next question for guidance on how to determine the reimbursement rate with your insurance plan.

• I am contracted with Lyra Health (an Employee Assisted Program or EAP). Please check your sponsoring company’s contract with Lyra for terms of coverage.

• Some clients pay out-of-pocket without involving their insurance or EAP at all.

I recommend asking your insurance provider the following questions about your benefits:

1. Does my health insurance plan include out-of-network mental health benefits?

2. What is my out-of-network deductible?

- This will let you know how much money you need to spend on out-of-network services before your benefits kick in.

3. How much of my out-of-network deductible have I already spent this year?

- This will let you know how much more you need to spend to meet your out-of-network deductible, and for the benefits to kick in.

4. What is my policy period?

- A “policy year” may be different than a calendar year. For instance, it may start on August 1 and end on July 31. It is important to know those dates when considering how much more time you still have to meet your deductible.

5. What is my “coinsurance”?

- This is the percentage amount that your insurance company will reimburse you for each visit (after your deductible is met). For instance, if your therapy visit is $210, and you have a 60% coinsurance, your insurance company will reimburse you for 60% of $210, which is $126. After reimbursement, your out-of-pocket expense would be $84 per visit.

6. Does my plan limit how many sessions I can have per calendar year? If so, what is the limit?

7. Do I need pre-authorization from my primary care physician for therapy to be covered?

8. Do out-of-network benefits cover tele-health services (i.e., video therapy)? Will this coverage continue after the pandemic?

9. How do I submit for reimbursement?

- Typically, you will need to obtain a Superbill from me and submit it to your insurance company. Some clients like to use the app Reimbursify to manage reimbursement for therapy fees.

10. How long after therapy do I have to submit my Superbill?

- There is a time period after the “date of service” to submit the Superbill to your insurance company for reimbursement (e.g., 90 or 180 days). Make sure you find out how much time you have to submit the Superbill after “the date of service” when calling your insurance company.

All insurance plans are different. Have this list of questions in hand when calling your insurance company to determine the specifics of your plan.

If you are uninsured or you do not intend to submit an insurance claim, I will provide you with a “Good Faith Estimate.” This is an estimate of the total expected costs of non-emergency services provided by me over the next several months. The goal is to provide predictability and transparency in how much you will be charged for psychotherapy prior to enrolling. If your needs end up being different from what was expected when the estimate was given, I will update the Good Faith Estimate to address the new information or events. The No Surprises Act that is associated with the Good Faith Estimate stipulates that if the actual amount I end up charging a client is $400 or more above the estimate I provided, the client has the right to initiate a dispute resolution process without this affecting the quality of services they receive. Dispute resolution can be initiated by visiting the No Surprises Act website or by calling their help desk (800-895-3059). Please discuss with me any questions you might have about this issue.

I accept credit card payments. Payment would be processed through an online client portal that is powered by Stripe, a PCI-compliant credit card processing partner. Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance ensures that businesses are doing their due diligence to protect cardholder data and reduce credit card fraud.

It is vital that you attend every session, on time, for therapy to work. Also, your scheduled appointment is a time set aside especially for you, and I cannot offer it to clients on my waitlist without allowing them to see me again when you are back in therapy. I understand that things happen in life, and you might be in a position of needing to cancel a therapy session, or be late. I request that you notify me when cancelling a session at least 48 hours in advance, and that we will engage in a good faith effort to reschedule your cancelled appointment. If your appointment was an in-person appointment, we can meet virtually (on video), if this is helpful. If you cancel your appointment less than 48 hours prior to your appointment time, or you don’t show up to your appointment, you will be charged the full session fee in the same manner that I charge your credit card for regular appointments. Please note that insurance companies typically would not reimburse you for fees for canceled appointments or no-shows.

Please call me at 858-330-0065 for a 15-minute FREE consultation or click here. After a short conversation, I will let you know if I can help. If I am not the right person for you, I can share some other resources. I look forward to talking with you!