Individual Therapy
Couples Therapy
Family Therapy
Medication Management
Appointments, Charges and Insurance

As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I am an empathic partner in addressing mental health issues, and I offers the full range of available treatments. Depending on the disorder or issue, therapy can be brief and straightforward, or it can require challenging exploration to help you understand your emotions and overcome the negative effects of past experiences. I will help you learn to use self-knowledge to improve your enjoyment of life. Some patients respond best to a combination of therapy and medication, and I can prescribe any needed medications, allowing patients to avoid a separate doctor’s visit to obtain a prescription.

Individual Therapy

Therapy can treat many mental health disorders, and it can also give you strategies to cope with life challenges such as divorce, work transitions, grief, conflict and body-image issues.

Couples Therapy

In couples therapy, the goal is to stabilize and then renew your relationship, and I will work with you to restore lost emotional connections. Whether a couple is experiencing anger, lack of communication, sexual issues, or just boredom, I can guide couples in ways that help relationships heal and flourish. If you decide to end your relationship, I can help you do so in a constructive manner. In either situation, I can help you manage the needs of children who are affected. I also offer premarital counseling for couples who would like to lay the foundations for a successful marriage.

Family Therapy

Family members sometimes need help in resolving conflicts. I guide the delicate process of airing feelings and reframing interactions so that peace and respect are restored to the household.

Medication Management

Other therapists often seek my assistance in managing a patient’s medications. I am an enthusiastic team member in the treatment of patients who develop a need for medication while seeing a practitioner who lacks the training or license to prescribe medications. I can provide a medical evaluation and oversee just the medication portion of the patient’s treatment.

Scheduling Appointments

My services are by appointment only, and are scheduled for 30 or 45 minutes, the former for medication sessions only, the latter for psychotherapy.  Because this time is reserved for you, it is necessary to charge the set fee for appointments that are not canceled 24 hours in advance.  The only exception to this rule is when the absence is due to circumstances that you and I would both define as an emergency.

Charges

Depending on the structure of your treatment plan and the services you receive, my charges will vary.  Fees for telephone sessions are billed at the rate of office visits.  These fees are based on the value of therapy and take into account the usual and customary charges of other clinicians in this area.  I encourage you to discuss fees and any problems with payment at any time.  Payment will be required each session.  Please bring up questions regarding fees at any time during treatment.

Insurance

Clients are personally responsible for the fee for services.  If you choose to seek reimbursement from insurance providers for our sessions, I will be happy to complete the necessary forms and assist you in filing your claim.  Receipts for services will be provided to you after each session.

Certainly, insurance coverage can save you some money.  Before you apply for insurance reimbursement, however, there are some issues you should consider:

• Insurance reimburses medical procedures and requires a medical diagnosis.  I must justify your therapy as medically necessary to the insurance company.  Paying privately allows therapy for normal problems of living.
• Insurance coverage requires the disclosure of private information to the insurance company.  The insurance company decides what happens to the information after that, in accordance with applicable state and federal law.  Paying privately puts you in control of your information; nothing is disclosed to anyone unless you want it disclosed (although the exceptions to confidentiality listed above still apply).
• Insurance companies may decide the frequency and duration of therapy.  This is understandable since they are paying for the service.  When you pay for the service, you decide.