Making the choice to reach out and seek mental health therapy is definitely an important and intimate step in your life. It allows you to look into your world with different lenses and come out stronger and better equipped to handle everyday problems. However, not everyone who seeks a therapist has a mental disorder. I contemplated writing about this but I feel I need to clarify the reasons and benefits of why I chose private-pay for therapy services verses using medical insurance. I can jump on board and become a part of an insurance panel for reimbursement of my services at any given time; I am fully licensed by the state and I have the background knowledge and experience to provide effective, evidence-based interventions, with cultural sensitivity. However, I want my future clients to make well-informed decisions about what is best for them and their respective family members. Ultimately, in the end, you have the choice to choose to go through your medical insurance or pay-privately and I respect you regardless of the choice you make. In the meantime, I have compiled a list of benefits for private-pay to help you with your decision:
- Private-pay may be a better choice even if you have insurance.
I have had a large group of clients seek out therapy wanting to improve relationships or just get over a “hump” that has been in their way. I full-heartedly respect and appreciate every single one of them reaching out to get extra assistance. However, to the insurance company review board, these reasons would not be acceptable reasons to provide services. To be approved for therapy sessions by the insurance company, I would have to provide evidence that therapy is “medically necessary” which means that I would have to descriptively state the existing problems of the client and label the client with a mental disorder. This is often required after the first visit and then becomes part of the client’s permanent health record.
- Your confidentiality will not be compromised.
At Clarity Therapy, your privacy is a top priority as a part of your continued care. All information disclosed within sessions and the written records pertaining to those sessions are confidential and may not be revealed to anyone without your written permission. To be reimbursed by an insurance company, I would have to label you with a diagnosis and submit frequent updates on symptoms and what is happening in therapy. These may be scrutinized by the insurance company so in order to ensure continuation of treatment, I have to stress all the things that are not going well rather than focus on your strengths.
- You are making decisions about your treatment.
You choose whatever goals and issues you would like to address to promote your emotional and psychological well-being. Many insurance companies provide payment only for certain approaches of therapy (short-term and problem-focused) and many others won’t pay for family therapy, even when the client is a child and the parents are vital to the therapeutic process. Obviously, it is in the best interest of the insurance company to pay as little as possible for services, work only with the same group of providers rather than a broad range of specialists and to end therapy as quickly as possible. None of their motives address the best interest of the client. In short, you decide what’s important for you to work on, and that is all that is required. You act as the top expert of yourself and the issues you want addressed.
- You can set your priorities for what is most important.
When you pay for something completely yourself with your hard earned money, you are more likely to appreciate it, value it, and take it more seriously. If it seems you can’t afford weekly or bi-weekly therapy sessions for a period of time (therapy does not have to be a long-term commitment), there might be ways of re-prioritizing expenses to address this important service. A few adjustments to your family budget may ensure that you can receive the professional counseling that is needed to help make life-long changes.
Therapy has the potential to create lasting change and to avert more serious problems later on in life. Finding the right provider who is the best match for you or your child is important and a decision only YOU should make. Consider making the choice to adjust your budget to include this important service for your child’s well-being with the assurance that it will remain completely confidential both now and through your child’s future. If you choose to work with me in therapy, remember I take you and your child’s confidentiality as top priority and I do offer a sliding scale for those who cannot afford my full pay. My office is located in Dearborn, MI so you do not have to drive far to get my services.
In summary, here are good reasons to pay privately for therapy:
- You choose the therapist best suited to your needs rather than the insurance company telling you who to see.
- You have flexibility in the type of therapy, who to include in the therapy session and the length of services.
- You will have complete confidentiality. Your records will not be shared with anyone without your permission. In fact, no one else will know you are even in therapy unless you tell them!
- You will be able to stay with your therapist even if your insurance plan coverage changes.
If you are ready to take the next step to enhance your life and set up an appointment, contact my office at 313.427.8388 or email me at [email protected].