With teenagers or adults sessions are 50 minutes. With children sessions may sometimes be 30-50 minutes due to limitations in a child’s attention span.

With insurance we bill at the insurance companies allowed rate for therapy. For clients who are uninsured we charge $75 per session. For individuals who cannot afford the regular rate, we have a sliding scale that can be applied to reduce the session cost.

The sliding scale fee is income based. A financial questionnaire will need to be completed to show the financial need. If the need is unclear, recent paystubs or previous year’s W-2 or 1099 may be required. 

We aim to keep this very clear since we use donated funds to support the sliding scale. Transparency and honesty about the use of these funds are critical for our donors. 

In the beginning, you may meet with a therapist weekly or biweekly until there is initial stabilization of the issue being dealt with. After that you and your therapist can determine a pattern that is best for you. Length of therapy can range from 6 weeks up to a longer period based on the issues at hand. 3-4 months has been a common length we have seen so far.

The initial session will have some discussion of guidelines and expectations of therapy, you will be able to share what led you to therapy, and the therapist will likely ask questions to gain more understanding of the situation.

The next several sessions will focus on the therapist and client forming a working relationship and getting on “same page” about the client’s situation. Once the therapist has an understanding of the situation, the therapist and client can work on developing a treatment plan that will be the roadmap for what will be worked on in therapy. Then work will begin and continue until the issue has improved or has resolved.

Truthfully, therapy and support groups often work together. The main difference is that most support groups are led by individuals who have lived experience with a particular problem area. Lived experience has it’s value but there are times that professional experience is needed. A therapist can often lead you through difficulties with proven therapeutic approaches that a person helping with just lived experience may not have. 

Many times, a person may start in therapy and gain some understanding about their problem then they may be a great fit for a support group.  Often, people in support groups enter the group and realize they need more help–which is where therapy can come in to play.

Talking with another person has been a way of coping for generations. Therapists are trained on how to listen to a person well, point out certain aspects of thinking or emotion, and help you shift a thought, gain a new point of view, gain a skill, or see a need to turn from a behavior. Therapists do not make clients do things against your will or force their beliefs on you. Talking with someone who is not connected to the situation often helps them give you a different perspective or validate your point of view. Therapy sessions should progress to a point where they are very natural conversations.