when i do therapy i'm in a strange state of holding contradictory beliefs; fundamentally
i observe that factors causing our pain and distress often come from sources outside of our
control... and still we can be empowered to take ownership over the choices we make and
don't make in our lives.
my job isn’t to tell you all the things you are doing wrong, but rather to help develop your
internal trust. you are the expert on your own experience and my goal is to listen and provide
feedback, and help you practice relaying that experience to others. in our sessions we will be
looking at how you build connections with peers and family, examine difficult emotions and
circumstances past and present, and explore the way you view your role in the world.
BUT HOW?
i use narrative therapy, a therapy style that prioritizes your strengths and values by revisiting/
retelling/remembering the stories, events, and beliefs that shaped those strengths and values.
this style of therapy can be really helpful for: practicing and non-practicing creative types,
people learning to trust themselves, people who have experienced traumatic events
i’ll ask questions like
-who taught you that?
-who encouraged you to think that way?
-how old were you when you realized x?
-what are the pieces of media that guided you when you were younger? why did they resonate?
a typical session with a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) such as myself may cost
between $150-$300. contributing factors to this expense are: paying to use HIPAA compliant
software, paying to maintain state licensure through Illinois and New York, rent for office space,
and my $200,000 of student loans certainly weighs heavy on my mind when i try to value my work.
if you have access to health insurance, i want to be able to work with that. i will be your advocate
and ally through the insurance process. i work with PPO plans that are directly offered from BCBS
(Blue Cross Blue Shield), United, Aetna, and Cigna. it gets tricky through subsidiaries because
it's a separate process to be paneled (be allowed to bill) insurance at different levels like HMO. each
insurance company sets a different reimbursement rate; so i can tell them "i provided a service
that cost $150" and they can say "that's great, you can have $100!". as i understand it: because
insurance companies classified therapists as "vendors", we are unable to unionize and lobby
for better pay as a class of service providers. ain't that a kick in the teeth!
in order to keep my services affordable to those who need them, i offer a sliding scale rate because
my experience says the people who need these services most often face financial insecurity. i also plan
to apply for grants and engage mutual aid to suppliment and sponsor clients who need sliding scale.
do you have ideas about how to improve this process? please let me know!
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