Services
Offering Individual Therapy Services and Clinical Supervision
Individual Therapy
I provide mostly Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety and OCD.
Sessions are 45 to 50 minutes. In the beginning, I meet with clients weekly to get some momentum going. In my experience, meeting weekly is the necessary “dose” for improvement in therapy. Meeting less frequently tends to keep people in a maintenance mode where symptoms don’t improve much. Once we start to reach treatment goals we’ll begin to taper and move to less frequent sessions.
During your first session, we’ll go over paperwork and review my practice policies. Payment is collected at the end of the session. We’ll start our work with an initial data gathering session. This session is a chance for us to get to know each other a bit more and make sure we’re a good fit. If at the end of the session I feel that what you’re describing would be a better fit for a different kind of therapy or a different approach that what I offer, I will share that with you and give you some referrals for experts in that area.
During this session I’ll ask you a lot of different questions to make sure I’m getting the complete picture of what’s bothering you. I’ll be asking specific questions about the kind of intrusive thoughts you might be having. This can be really difficult, and you might worry about sharing these thoughts with someone. I’ve worked with OCD for over 15 years—I’ve heard it all. I promise there are no thoughts that will shock or surprise me. I’ve worked with OCD themes related to contamination, sexual orientation, causing harm to others, pedophilia, sin and morality, violence, and self-control, among others. I provide a safe, non-judgmental space to discuss these thoughts openly.
Following our initial appointment, I will create a treatment plan specifically tailored to what’s bothering you. We’ll discuss it together and make any changes needed. Treatment plans are designed to help you learn new skills and strategies for dealing with OCD and anxiety, with specific goals for each session. Sessions with me are a balance of structure and flexibility. The structure makes sure you learn new skills, we discuss how to apply them, and review practice from the previous week. The flexibility gives us space to address stressors from the week or other concerns you might have.
At the end of each session we discuss together what makes sense for homework for that week and how we’ll keep track of progress. I also use data to track your symptoms over time and to make sure that we’re heading in the right direction.
OCD Therapy
OCD can be miserable. My goal is to help you get your life back. For many of my clients, this starts with learning to let go of the rituals with a ritual prevention plan. We’ll start working on this during our first meeting and build it out over the next few sessions. These are the skills that will help you learn to stop obsessing.
From there you’ll develop strategies to cope with the unknown and move forward in your life, despite its uncertainties. You’ll learn how to connect with the moment and be present in your life so you can spend time with people you love, not distracted by your thoughts and feelings.
You’ll also practice facing your fears with willingness and courage. We’ll start small and when you feel ready. Once you have your confidence built up, we’ll move on to bigger challenges. This is when you’ll be able to do things you’ve been afraid of doing and your world will really start to open up. You’ll be able to stop tiptoeing through your life, afraid something will trigger your OCD, and do the things that matter to you. You’ll know you can handle whatever shows up.
Finally, we’ll work on a recovery plan This plan will help you recognize factors that might make you vulnerable to OCD in the future, early warning signs of a relapse, and action steps to take to prevent another episode.
Clinical Supervision
I offer supervision for therapists working towards licensure. Because fit is important, I offer a free 15 minutes consultation so we can get to know each other. My orientation is cognitive-behavioral, with a focus on anxiety and depression in adults. The cost per session is $150/hr and is provided on an individual basis. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions.
Insurance & Fees
As of January 1st, 2022, I will no longer accept insurance. To few my fees, please visit www.anxietyspecialistsofstl.com.
Many of my clients use out-of-network insurance benefits to get partial reimbursement for their session fees. The amount of reimbursement varies from plan to plan, so you’ll need to find out what your plan offers. To see if you are eligible, check your insurance company’s website. This is often included in the “Summary of Benefits” section. Then call your insurance company to verify that information. The number is usually located on the back of your insurance card. Specifically you will ask about mental health (also called behavioral health) benefits.
Be sure to ask:
• What is my out-of-network deductible for outpatient mental health? Is this separate from my in-network deductible?
• How much of my deductible has been met this year?
• What is my out-of-network coinsurance for outpatient mental health? At what rate will I be reimbursed for out-of-network services?
• Do I need a referral from an in-network provider to see someone out-of-network?
• How do I submit my superbill?
Once you have verified your benefits, I’ll provide you with the form you need to submit to the insurance company. They will then mail you a check for the reimbursement. Some clients have used the app Reimbursify to help with this process.
You will need to pay the full session fee at the time of service. You can use a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account for the fee. Please feel free to ask me questions about this process.
Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills
When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.
What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?
When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.
“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.
“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care—like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in- network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.
You are protected from balance billing for:
Emergency services
If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of- network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in- network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.
Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center
When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.
If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you, unless you give written consent and give up your protections.
You’re never required to give up your protections from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.
When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:
• You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
• Your health plan generally must:
-Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
-Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
– Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
-Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.
If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact 1-800-985-3059 for information and complaints. Visit https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers for more information about your rights under federal law.
Call or email today to set up a