You may start to notice more and more therapists are beginning to not take insurance. While this may limit some of our work together, this is not without reason! Here are a few reasons why I do not work directly with insurance:
1. Lack of Confidentiality: 

• When insurance companies pay for your treatment, they have access to everything! When they read over our sessions and treatment plans, they often search for ways to save themselves money and make claims as though you may not be progressing fast enough, you are overusing coverage, or even deny coverage if they determine this is not medically necessary. I believe that you should be allowed to progress in treatment at a rate thats best for you and your therapy journey while maintaining full confidentiality

2. Diagnoses:

• Insurance companies require at least one diagnosis. Not all individuals in therapy need to have a diagnosis! And if we do determine a diagnosis in treatment, you may not want that attached to your medical record forever. When a diagnosis is attached to your medical record, this may effect your rate and eligibility for future needs, such as life insurance, health insurance, or future employment.
• Additionally, insurance companies assign value to certain diagnoses - such as they will only reimburse for some and do not reimburse for others, meaning what you are seeking therapy for may not be covered at all.

3. Treatment Options:

• Like mentioned above, insurance companies know it all! Because of this, they may put a limit on the amount of sessions you need with your diagnosis. This can be on average 6-8 sessions. Obviously, the person assigning this number of sessions does not know you personally, or understand your individual needs. Therapy is not predictable and working under a time-limit can add stress to the therapeutic process!
• Additionally, most therapy companies are unfortunately doing away with their Telehealth clause. Most insurance agencies originally supported Telehealth due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. However, in the fall of 2022, most agencies as no longer reimbursing for Telehealth. This means that you would not be able to see the right therapist for you, even if they are across the state, or be able to still seek therapy when you are experiencing an illness where you need to stay home. Because I value a modern way of care, I believe individuals should have access to virtual and in person therapy depending on their needs and availability.

4. Cost

• Insurance companies typically do not value clinicians time and reimburse as such. The current average rate for therapy is typically between $120-$250 per session. Most insurance companies pay therapists between $40-70 per session, and this is often not even paid on time. Therapists who take insurance end up getting paid less while jumping through more hoops to support their client’s care. Personally, I have determined these cheaper rates do not support value of my work, my training, and the results clients see when they come to see me.

Paying out of pocket is not always an option. I completely understand if this limits our work together. Using insurance for therapy is better than no therapy at all! If you are looking for a therapist in your network, I recommend finding one