FAQ's
Is it normal for someone to have problems and to seek some help in solving them?
We all have some difficulties in life and it is normal for some of these problems to interfere with personal, social or career functioning. It is a good idea when your own efforts have failed to overcome these problems to seek out the help of someone who may offer you a new perspective or alternatives you may not have considered.
What is psychotherapy?
Therapy is a verbal discovery process between you and the therapist where, depending on the type of problem, effort is made to understand and resolve the emotional, social or personal conflicts that have led to your distress.
How does what you do differ with what a psychiatrist does?
I am a licensed psychologist and offer psychotherapy and testing to my patients. I spend most of my time interacting with my patients and offer ideas and suggestions to them to help them solve their problems. Psychiatrist these days spend less time talking to patients and are more likely to offer medication as the solution to the patients' problems. This can sometimes be help helpful and necessary but not all problems are resolved with medication alone and working with a therapist is helpful even when medication has been prescribed.
Why is it difficult for some people to talk about their problems?
There are many difficulties to overcome when talking with a therapist. If life has hurt you, you may find it difficult to trust a therapist when we first meet. Sometimes shame and embarrassment make things difficult to discuss. Some patients feel that the therapist may not like them or would not be willing to work with them if they share their secrets. I recognize that we are all human and that bad things have happened to many of us or we have done bad things. This does not make us bad, just human.
How long does therapy last?
The length of therapy may vary from a few sessions to many weeks or months in therapy depending on the problem presented and the patient's needs for support and help is resolving the crises in their lives. I use a plan of care to ensure that the work is planned and adjusted as we go along.
What if my insurance is limited or I have no insurance?
Most health insurance offers limited mental health coverage. I will work as best I can within the limits of your policy but sometimes the time offered to us is not sufficient to address your problems. When this happens, patients may be faced with paying for the additional sessions. Once I have billed your insurance, I have to charge you the same amount per session. If you have no insurance, I am able to adjust my usual fee to enable you to receive the care you need. Should your situation change, the fee can be adjusted up or down. When you pay your own fee, there is no billing to outside agencies or insurance companies and the information is more secure and stays in the office.
What happens to my records and who else sees them?
Your records are secure in my office. They are kept in locked files or on my computer that is password protected. Only my secretary and I have access to the records. Your records are protected information and the content of our files can not be shared with anyone without your written permission. I use a form to release protected health information. If we are billing insurance, according to HIPPA regulations, our insurance can access the records to ensure that the care have been given as billed and conforms to regulations regarding mental health care.
How can I reach you if I am having a problem?
I can be reached via my office telephone since I check for messages during the day. On evenings and weekends, I can be reached by calling my cell phone number that I provide to you on my office answering message.
Do you charge for missed appointments?
I only charge when a scheduled appointment has be missed and not cancelled 24 hours ahead of time. If you have an emergency situation and cannot let me know ahead of time, we need to discuss this and the session charge is usual waived.
What approach do you use and how do you determine what will help me?
I generally start with an evaluation of your presenting problem and your history of past treatment including your family history. Once this phase is completed, I make a plan and share it with your to obtain your agreement. We then work on the plan making changes to the plan when new information surfaces that refocuses treatment on something in addition to the presenting problem. If you problems have medical complications, I may need to communicate with your primary care physician or psychiatrist. If you need medication and we determine that that would be helpful to you, I will not hesitate to refer you to your doctor or to a psychiatrist. In some cases I may suggest meeting more or less frequently and you will have to decide if this is something you wish to do.
I see in your education that you have been trained in psychoanalysis. What is that?
In some cases, I may suggest a psychoanalysis which is a more intensive form of psychotherapy. I will discuss this treatment with you if it seems like an appropriate therapy for you. (More information about psychoanalysis can be found at the Website of the American Psychoanalytic Association www.apsa.org).
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