How Can We Help?
Rates & Insurance
Intake session fee is $200 for a 55 minute session.
Therapy session fee is $160 for a 55 minute session.
Intake and therapy sessions with advanced externs are a maximum of $60 for 45 minute sessions.
We offer reduced fee services with our advanced externs and our licensed staff when possible. When our capacity to offer these services is reached, we recommend openpathcollective.org and www.opencounseling.com/illinois/chicago as resources to find affordable mental health services.Please look at each clinician’s page to determine the insurance plans they are able to accept.
If you wish to use insurance, please let us know during our phone consultation. We also encourage you to verify your benefits and make sure you are clear on what out-of-pocket expenses you can expect. For clients who have plans with which we are in-network, we will collect any copay/coinsurance or other amount you owe each time we meet, and then we will submit claims to the insurance company.
For all other plans, we are considered out-of-network providers. This means that you will most likely be responsible for a larger portion of the cost of our work together. We will ask you to pay the entire session fee each time we meet. As a courtesy, we will then either submit claims to to your insurance provider or give you a statement you can provide to the insurance company. Any reimbursement that is due will then be sent directly to you.
We recommend asking these questions to your insurance provider to help determine your benefits:
- Does my health insurance plan include mental health benefits?
- Do I have a deductible? If so, what is it and have I met it yet?
- Does my plan limit how many sessions per calendar year I can have? If so, what is the limit?
- Do I have a copay/coinsurance? If so, how much is it?
We accept cash, check, and all major credit cards as forms of payment.
If you are unable to attend a session, please make sure you cancel at least 24 hours beforehand. Otherwise, you may be charged for the full rate of the session.
General
Not at all. People who ask for help know when they need it and have the ability to reach out. Everyone needs help now and then.You already have some strengths that you’ve used before, and for whatever reason, they aren’t working right now. Perhaps this problem feels overwhelming and is making it difficult to access your past strengths. In our work together, I’ll help you identify what those strengths are and how to implement them again in what is happening now.
When appropriate, Dr. Smith practices Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) which is an empirically supported treatment for trauma and has applications for many other issues. If this is something you are interested in learning more about, feel free to ask during our phone consultation. EMDR can be used as a brief standalone treatment or integrated into more traditional talk therapy.
The difference is between someone who can do something, and someone who has the training and experience to do that same thing professionally. A mental health professional can help you approach your situation in a new way– teach you new skills, gain different perspectives, listen to you without judgment or expectations, and help you listen to yourself. Furthermore, therapy is completely confidential. You won’t have to worry about others “knowing my business.” Lastly, if your situation provokes a great deal of negative emotion, if you’ve been confiding in a friend or family member, there is the risk that once you are feeling better you could start avoiding that person so you aren’t reminded of this difficult time in your life.
Medication alone cannot solve all issues. What medication does is treat the symptoms. Our work together is designed to explore the root of the issue, dig deep into your behavior and teach strategies that can help you accomplish your personal and/or relational goals. Medication can be effective and is sometimes needed in conjunction with therapy.
Because each person has different issues and goals for therapy, therapy will be different depending on the individual. I tailor my therapeutic approach to your specific needs.
Unfortunately, this is not possible to say in a general FAQs page. Everyone’s circumstances are unique to them and the length of time therapy can take to allow you to accomplish your goals depends on your desire for personal development, your commitment, and the factors that are driving you to seek therapy in the first place.
I am so glad you are dedicated to getting the most out of your sessions. Your active participation and dedication is crucial to your success. After all, we will likely only see each other for a session a week. It’s the work you do outside of our sessions that will really help you see your personal growth and development.
If issues in your relationship are part of the reason you are seeking therapy, we can discuss that during your phone consultation. If it seems like relationship work would be appropriate either instead of or in addition to individual work, we can work out the details of how to best meet your needs.