Although there are often financial advantages to using insurance, let me explain why I have decided not to take insurance in my practice.

First and foremost, if I took insurance, I would have to diagnose you with a mental disorder in order for you to receive insurance coverage. Although I sometimes will use diagnoses when I believe it is clinically relevant and applicable, I do not feel it would be ethical for me to diagnose everyone who wants to see me using insurance.  Furthermore, if I were to diagnose someone I was working with because it seemed clinically appropriate, it would only be after I had spent quite a bit of time getting to know this person.  If I were billing insurance, I would have to give you a diagnosis within the first couple of sessions, before we’ve even gotten to know each other!

After giving you a diagnosis, I may be required to write a report every five or ten sessions to “prove” that you are still “sick.” My report would need to show that you are still “sick,” and improving, but not yet “cured.” I am extremely serious about client-therapist confidentiality, and I do not want to have to write a report to anyone about the details of our therapy, and I especially don’t want to do so to prove that you are still “sick” with a disorder.

A stranger (or a number of strangers!) would then have to read this report and evaluate whether or not they will continue to pay for therapy.  Someone neither of us have ever met will essentially be judging whether or not we can keep working together. This whole process can end up feeling quite invasive and disrupting the therapeutic process, which, fundamentally, is about the relationship you and I have together–not you, me, and the insurance company.

Lastly, and also importantly, any diagnosis I would give you would become a part of your medical record.  Unfortunately, there is still often a stigma against mental illness and mental health concerns in general.  This diagnosis would follow you for the rest of your life, and could have unforeseen consequences down the road.

If you have any questions about any of the above or about fees/payment in general, feel free to give me a call and we can chat!