Rates

Andrea Mendez, LCSW-C: $197 per fifty minute individual/couples/family initial or follow up session

All other therapists: $177 per fifty-three minute individual/couples/family initial or follow up session

$75 per fifty-three minute group initial or follow up session

$300 per hour for any court/legal related matters such as: depositions, expert witness testimony, etc.

$50 per fifteen minutes of consultation outside of scheduled sessions
$50 per fifteen minutes of report or letter preparation

Insurance

Each individual therapist may or may not be in network with one or more insurances. Any insurance companies that your therapist may be in network with are listed on their biography page.

If your therapist is in network with your insurance company, you will most likely be financially responsible for your deductible and/or your traditional office visit or specialist copay. Please contact your insurance company ahead of time and ask them about: “CPT codes 90791 and 90837 for outpatient mental health in an office setting.”

If you would like to utilize your out of network benefits, we will be happy to help by providing you with a super bill for you to submit. Please check ahead with your insurance company to determine if you have any out of network benefits, and what the reimbursement percentage will be.

Private Pay

Please be aware that in order to use your insurance company to pay for sessions, we need to submit a diagnosis, dates and frequency of treatment, and any other identifying information as requested. We may also need to participate in “clinical reviews” during which we need to divulge specific information regarding your treatment plan in order to justify the continuation of services. The diagnosis we assign to you may be considered a pre-existing condition in the future and could impact your ability to obtain health insurance, life insurance, or disability insurance. Paying for sessions privately allows your treatment to be an arrangement specifically between you and us, without a third party.

No Surprises Act

All clients who are paying for services out of pocket are entitled to receive a, “Good Faith Estimate” regarding the estimated cost of services. A copy of your Good Faith Estimate can be found in the TherapyNotes portal. For more information regarding your rights to fair billing practices under federal law, you may visit: www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.

Payment

We are equipped to accept payments only via debit or credit card. All payments will be accepted through our electronic records keeping system.

Cancellation Policy

Please be aware that your appointment time is reserved specifically for you, and you alone. When a cancellation is received with less than appropriate notice, we can not give the appointment time to someone else that may be waiting to see us. If we are not reimbursed for our time, we will not be able to stay in business to serve the community. As such, appointment cancellations must be received with a forty-eight hours notice. Cancellations that are not received with forty-eight hours notice will incur the full session fee, which can range from $110-$200. This fee is not billable to your insurance company. We appreciate your understanding regarding this policy.

I have supportive friends and family members. Do I really need a therapist?

We are totally different from supportive friends and family members. Many people believe that the majority of what therapists do is provide a sympathetic ear and give good advice. However, licensed therapists are trained healthcare professionals that have passed state board exams and have completed thousands of hours of clinical training. We have learned research-based clinical techniques to help your brain learn and change the way that it interacts with the world. Through this process, we will help you come to your own conclusions about what is best for you.

How long will it take?

Therapy happens best when it happens once a week, especially as we are beginning to build a relationship with you. When you start feeling better, we may decide that it will be more helpful for you to attend therapy sessions once every other week, or even once per month. While everyone is different, most of our clients attend therapy sessions for at least three to six months. Many of our clients attend therapy sessions for over a year or more. Some clients check in with us every month indefinitely to continue self-exploration and maintain their general mental well being. We will collaborate with you to decide what is best for your specific situation.

What if I need medication?

Whether or not to take psychotropic medication is a decision that involves collaborating with your prescribing physician or nurse practitioner. While we will be happy to coordinate care with your prescribing provider, we do not prescribe medication at our practice.

How do I explain therapy to my child?

While we do not currently have any doctors on staff, we find that a positive way to explain therapy to children is that they will be meeting with a “talking doctor.” These “doctors” are called therapists and they are different from doctors that attend to physical health and they do not give shots, test blood, or look inside your mouth, ears, eyes, etc. These “doctors” help us understand our thoughts and emotions better so that we can be less sad, angry, nervous, or afraid, and so that we can be happier, calmer, and have better relationships at school and at home. Some ways that therapists do this are by talking, playing, and doing art projects.

What if I need marriage or family therapy?

If you and your partner or you and your family would like to have therapy together, we would bring your partner and/or family member into your therapy session to address the dynamics specific to the romantic and/or family relationship. If any member of the couple or family would also like individual therapy, we will assign them a different therapist in addition to your own so that they may also have the opportunity for individual progress. We find that individual therapy can greatly enhance and accelerate the therapeutic process for couples and families.