*We are currently paneled with Cigna, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield (Massachusetts), Quest Behavioral Health, and Carelon Behavioral Health. FAQ’s for insurance are under construction.
Insurance FAQ’s
Q: How do I know if I need therapy?
While there’s no universal rule, some signs that therapy might be helpful include:
Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or overwhelm
Anxiety or worry that interferes with daily life
Difficulty managing stress or emotions
Struggling to form or maintain healthy relationships
Feeling disconnected or unfulfilled in life
Difficulty processing a loss, trauma, or major life change
Q: What do therapy sessions look like?
You will first meet with your therapist for an initial “intake” session. The intake session is where your treatment goals are discussed, informed consent and policies are reviewed, and background history is reviewed. Intake sessions typically last 1 - 1.5 hours long. The following sessions will follow a structure that is set by you and your therapist to meet your unique needs and typically last 50 - 60 minutes.
Q: What if I change my mind and decide that therapy is not for me?
That is your right to change your mind! If you notify us of this decision, we can provide you with resources and/or referrals to other clinicians in the community. Making the decision to start therapy can be scary. Do not be discouraged if you feel that now is not the right time to start your therapeutic journey.
Q: Am I allowed to bring friends/family into therapy?
Typically, we ask that clients attends their sessions individually, unless engaging in couples or family sessions. However, we understand that there are times where you may need a support person to be with you. Our clinicians will work with you to make sure that you are feeling supported while reaching your treatment goals.
Q: How often do my therapy sessions occur?
The frequency of therapy depends on your individual needs. During your initial session, you and your therapist will discuss how often to meet for therapy moving forward (i.e., once a week, biweekly, etc.).
Q: Do you offer emotional support animal, (ESA) letters?
Our clinicians do not offer ESA letters at this time.
Q: Is there a maximum number of sessions I am given?
Some agencies that refer clients cap the number of sessions they will pay for. If you are referred from an agency that does this, you will know in advance how many sessions you have, and you and your therapist will work within that time frame to reach your therapeutic goals. For those that were not referred by those agencies, there is no cap to the number of sessions you can have. During the initial session, we will discuss your goals and the time frames that you would like to achieve those goals.
Q: Can I do therapy online?
Yes! We offer telehealth services through Therapy Notes, which is HIPPA compliant and confidential.
Q: What do I do if I am in crisis?
During business hours, we will do our best to ensure you are seen as soon as possible if you are in crisis and it is outside your scheduled appointment. If it is after hours, please call the crisis hotline at 988 or if it is a life-threatening emergency, please call 911.
Q: What happens once I reach my therapeutic goals?
Once you feel you have met meaningful end goals in therapy, we will discuss how you will maintain your successes without the aid of consistent therapy. This may include, “maintenance sessions” where we meet once every 2-3 months, or we could end therapy and if/when you feel it is necessary to return, you can schedule a therapy session.
Therapy FAQ’s
Q: Do I / does my child need a psychological evaluation?
There are many reasons a child or individual may want or need a psychological evaluation. You may feel stuck or confused about what you / your child is thinking or feeling. You may notice things in yourself / your child like difficulties with attention, hyperactivity, social communication, or problems at work. You may notice things in your child such as developmental delays, changes in behavior, emotional outbursts, depression, anxiety, learning concerns, lack of progress in therapy, or school problems just to name a few. Maybe you are wondering if you / your child might need medications, but you want to make sure you pursue the right ones.
Q: What if I am not sure if we really want an evaluation?
Not a problem! If you have questions about testing or are not sure if you or your child need testing, you can contact the office for any questions not answered on our website. Alternatively, you can get scheduled for your consultation appointment to determine the needs for you or your child. At this appointment, the clinician will gather an in-depth history and help you clarify your goals. You can then discuss potential testing options and associated costs and you can then decide how you would like to move forward. Sometimes, next steps may not include testing and your clinician can help recommend a course of action based on what you have shared and their clinical expertise.
Q: What is the evaluation process?
All clients are scheduled for an initial consultation appointment (described below) and then 1-3 testing sessions one-on-one with your clinician. At the conclusion of all testing, and after all additional information (e.g., questionnaires, records) is received, your clinician will schedule a feedback appointment with you to review the evaluation report and results in detail. This appointment is typically scheduled 2 to 3 weeks after all information is received. At this feedback session, all results, the report, and any recommendations will be discussed in detail. At the feedback session, you will also be provided a copy of the written report.
If you are requesting that the results be sent to anyone, such as your doctor, you will need to sign a release of information at that time.
Q: What happens at the initial consultation appointment?
All evaluations begin with an initial consultation / intake appointment with your clinician. This appointment is scheduled for 90 minutes (1.5 hours). During this appointment, the clinician will complete an in depth interview to obtain a detailed history regarding your concerns for yourself or your child, emotional/behavioral history, developmental history, family history, medical history, learning and academic history, vocational history, and other areas that potentially impact mental health and testing. During this time, you will share your concerns, why you are wanting testing, and questions you are hoping to have answered. You and your clinician will then come up with a plan and will review the plan together including length/days of testing, costs, timelines, etc. Then, the first official testing appointment will be scheduled. You can choose whether to continue services or not at this point as well.
During this appointment, you may also be given questionnaires to take home to fill out or to give to your child’s teacher(s).
Q: How many hours of in-person testing is required?
This depends on the type of evaluation, the person’s needs, and sometimes the age of the client. For younger children, testing sessions may broken down into smaller sessions (e.g., 2 hours) to allow for best focus. Adolescents or adult clients may be able to handle all day testing (e.g., 4 to 6 hours) with breaks. It is dependent on the need of each client and the purpose of the evaluation.
Q: What should I or my child expect during evaluation appointments?
Testing appointments are typically one on one with your clinician. These take place in a quiet office setting. Typically, testing may include self-report measures (depending on age), computer measures, objective tasks where you/your child may work with blocks, puzzles, school type tasks, drawing, clinical questions, and sometimes play observations. Your clinician will give ample opportunity for breaks and you are able to request a break at any point.
Testing appointments may be long and tiring. Things that may be helpful to make your appointment more comfortable are wearing comfortable clothing, eating a filling meal beforehand, bringing something to drink, and bringing snacks if desired.
Q: Do I need to stay on site while my child is being tested?
Yes, we ask that you do stay on site. This aids in your child’s comfort and safety in case of emergencies. Further, there are times that a young child may need breaks in which the parent will need to aid in.
Q: Will I be in the room with my child during testing sessions?
We typically ask that parents are not present in the room during the testing sessions. This may disrupt the child’s focus and attention. However, there are exceptions, such as in the case of young children being tested for autism. This will be discussed with you by the clinician during the initial consultation.
Q: Will my children’s school or other professionals be contacted during the evaluation?
There may be times that we ask for releases to speak with the school or other professionals (such as therapists) working with your child pertaining to the areas of concern. In almost all resting cases, we will ask for teacher responses on questionnaires we provide to you. If there are concerns, this can be brought up and discussed during the initial consultation.
Q: My child is needing accommodations for school or extra time on standardized tests. Is this testing able to meet this need?
Yes, any child (or adult in college) that testing determines qualifies for accommodations in some area will be noted on the recommendations section of the report and written in language commonly requested by schools and testing facilities. If the accommodations you are seeking have specific testing requirements please share this with your clinician prior to starting testing. We can not and do not guarantee the accommodations you are seeking. Accommodations will be noted only if testing results justify the need for the accommodations.
Q: Will you complete an IQ test with me / my child?
Yes, most evaluations include at least an abbreviated IQ measure if not a full IQ measure. Assessing cognitive ability is often important to many presenting concerns.
Q: Will I complete questionnaires of my observations of my child?
Typically, yes. You will either be sent questionnaires prior to your appointment via the client portal and/or the testing publisher online services, or will be given physical copies of questionnaires to complete during your appointment or at home. We often send questionnaires for others as well, such as teachers.
The testing publisher’s online test service are HIPAA compliant and will notify us once they are complete. We ask that all questionnaires be completed in a timely manner to ensure the interpretation and report writing is done in a timely manner as well.
Q: Do I need to give any past records for testing?
Yes. Helpful records may include any past testing reports, relevant medical reports, or speech evaluations. If you are in school or the appointment is for your child, having general school information, report cards, 504 plans, IEPs, etc., are also helpful. When records are provided, this helps to give a complete picture of presenting concerns and needs.
Q: Do you accept insurance for psychological evaluations?
We are unable to accept insurance for psychological evaluations at this time. We are working diligently to become credentialed with many major insurance carriers. Currently, we can provide you with a superbill if you need this for tax purposes or to file on your own. Our fees for psychological assessments can be found under the “Rates and Insurance” tab.
Q: What is the earliest age we can do testing?
Typically learning concerns, ADHD testing, etc. can be started in kindergarten or by kindergarten age (5 years old). We are able to provide these testing services from ages 5 to 90. We are working to build our assessment library to be able to provide autism as developmental evaluations as young as 3.