Our availability can fluctuate depending on the time of year and needs of our current clients. We typically keep a short waiting list for new clients. Please reach out to us for a clearer picture of what our current availability is.
Yes, we have therapists in-network with several commercial insurance plans. These include: Optum, United Healthcare, GEHA, Cigna, Evernorth, Anthem, BlueCross BlueShield, and Carefirst. Unfortunately we do not accept any Medicaid plans. If we are not in-network with your insurance, you have the option to pay out of pocket and submit your own claims to insurance for possible reimbursement. To better understand how much your fees will be when using insurance, you can call the Member Services number on the back of your insurance card and ask about your benefits for outpatient mental health counseling.
A relationship between a therapist and client is unlike other relationships you probably have in your life because this is a professional relationship all about YOU, the client. As your therapist, our goal is to bring warmth, encouragement, and a space free of judgement or biases. This is YOUR time to discuss what's important to you, so in the first session and throughout the process we will talk about what you're hoping to get out of therapy and work together to come up with a treatment plan for getting you where you want to be. As therapy progresses, we will assess your progress towards these goals and make any changes as needed along the way. We may focus on issues specifically going on in your life right now, processing things that have happened in the past, learning concrete tools to help to cope with emotions and stressors more effectively, or any combination of this.
Therapy typically begins with regular sessions once per week. As the client meets treatment goals, frequency of sessions may be lowered to every other week, and even monthly before terminating. The therapist will work collaboratively with each client to determine the best schedule of sessions for ongoing therapy.
We typically schedule sessions for 45 minutes, whether in-person or virtual. This may change depending on your needs and the goals you are working on with your therapist. For example, some teens may struggle to focus for more than 30 minutes. Alternately, intensive trauma work often requires a 60 minute session.
Sometimes when beginning therapy, a client's symptoms can feel worse before they get better. This is because we are discussing the issues and bringing the client face-to-face with their symptoms. Your therapist will work with you to develop coping strategies to lower the impact of the symptoms. As therapy progresses, symptoms should significantly decrease in frequency and severity. Therapy is not a quick "fix," and often a very intense process that provides space for a client to make long-term changes for the better. Growth takes time. However, if at any point in therapy you have concerns about your treatment, this is important to discuss openly. We may decide to reevaluate your treatment goals, discuss alternate therapeutic strategies, or even recommend another therapist to find the best fit for you.
Measurement-based care (MBC) uses short assessments of your symptoms (for example, PHQ9 for depression or GAD7 for anxiety) completed before some or every session, in order to track and evaluate your progress over time. These assessments give your therapist clues to whether your symptoms are improving, staying the same, or worsening. It helps to quantify what you are working towards together.
We have therapists who are licensed to provide counseling services only in the states of Maryland and Virginia. Although we may be using telehealth and videoconferencing technology, the client must be physically located in a state where their therapist is licensed at the time of the session. Our practice does not work with children under the age of 12 or provide custody evaluations. As part of our ethical code, therapists do not work with populations or issues which we do not have adequate training or experience with. Not all clients or treatment concerns are appropriate to work with via teletherapy. Should a client request services for areas which our therapists are not able to work with, we will provide appropriate referrals as needed.
Yes, part of our job as therapists is keep records of what we cover in sessions in a secure, HIPAA-compliant electronic health records system. Our notes are brief and only identify necessary information pertinent to clients' cases. If you would like to view your record, you may submit this request in writing at any time. We do not keep any recordings of videoconference or teleconference sessions.
In order to participate effectively in a telehealth session, you will need access to:
Telehealth sessions look very much like an in-person session would with your therapist. You will be able to see and hear the therapist, and you should set your camera frame and audio up so they can see and hear you effectively. Here are some guidelines for setting up for a telehealth session. There may be some nonverbal cues that are missed between therapist and client because the camera cannot capture everything (i.e. what is outside the camera frame); however, research has shown telehealth to be of comparable effectiveness to in-person sessions and has many additional benefits for the client and therapist. If for some reason the videoconference technology is not functioning for our session, we can most likely meet via telephone on a case-by-case basis.