Have you thought that maybe you should go to therapy, or get a counselor, but you are not sure how it works? Here are the easy steps to seeking the care you desire.
1. Decide if you want to use insurance. This will steer your search for a therapist. If wanting to use insurance, then you want to seek providers who are “contracted” with your insurance. You can call your insurance, or search on the insurance provider website, for contracted therapists. From there, call the therapists who seem interesting to you, and call again if you don’t hear back right away. We are experiencing a mental health crisis as a country right now, but that does not mean you cannot get the services you want.
2. You can also search websites that advertise therapists. These are sites such as psychologytoday.com and therapyden.com. You can set the search filters to your type of insurance, your zip code, and even the type of help you are seeking. These advertising sites also let you contact the therapist directly through the site versus having to call separately. Please note, however, that not all therapists update their profiles regularly so a therapist’s listing may say they take your insurance but they don’t take that insurance anymore. Always ask directly.
3. Search therapy or counseling and your zip code in Google. This will also lead you to a list of therapist’s websites. Most personal therapist websites list what insurances they accept.
4. Many therapists are no longer accepting insurance, and why that is will be explained in another post. If you are open to seeing a therapist who accepts cash for services your options open up dramatically. All therapists accept cash for services. This is especially true of “specialists.”
5. Be sure to check out the therapists you are interested in for “fit.” The bests indicator of successful therapy is a “fit” with the therapist. You can assess fit over a phone call or during an initial appointment. Please remember, there are plenty of therapists out there so you are not required to pick the first one that returns your call.
A final important note- some therapists advertise that they don’t take insurance but “provide superbills.” This means they accept cash from you for the appointments and provide receipts to you to be reimbursed by your insurance under your “out of network benefits.” Not everyone has this benefit. Only PPO plans have “out of network” benefits. HMO plans require that you be seen by a “contracted provider” for them to cover any of your services.
If you are interested in learning more about the therapy services offered at Conscious Living Counseling please email consciouslivingcounselingla@gmail.com. We are now offering services in CA and NJ.
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