Private practice therapy by a licensed practitioner can be costly, anywhere from $120-350/session. This investment in one’s mental health can seem out of reach for many people already struggling to make ends meet.

While many insurance plans do cover some behavioral or mental health services, they may limit the number of sessions allowed in a given year, restrict the conditions under which someone can seek therapy and require that clients are given a mental health diagnosis to bill against. This approach often disadvantages both clients and therapists, who are reimbursed at very low rates, but certainly keeps the insurance companies’ pockets lined.

I believe that everyone should be able to access mental healthcare, not only the affluent and insured. And therefore, it’s important to me that clients can find therapy services that fit their budgets. My private pay, sliding fee scale is based on annual household income as follows:

I offer extended sessions for couples and families who are paying out of pocket. These 75-minute sessions are 1.5x the standard fee you qualify for.

Additionally, I am an in-network provider with Aetna, Cigna and United Healthcare/OPTUM. Once you have shared your insurance card with me and I verify that you have mental health benefits, I can bill your sessions to your insurance plan. In order to bill your insurance, however, I must assign a mental health diagnosis and confirm that the sessions are ‘medically necessary’. I am happy to be in collaborative dialogue with you about the diagnosis.  For all other insurance plans, I provide you with a super bill as an out-of-network provider so that you can file an insurance claim for reimbursement yourself. I also accept flexible Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

If these payment options still feel out of reach, please consider working with one of the MFT Associates whom I supervise. Their fees are $80/45-minute session and $120/75-minute session.

You may also contact NISD Counseling, the non-profit counseling center in Hillcrest where I serve as Co-Director. At NISD Counseling, we train and supervise marriage and family therapists who can offer discounted therapy sessions (starting as low as $40/session) while they gain clinical experience. We have hand-picked each therapist-in-training for their relational skills and each one is mentored by a licensed practitioner to ensure that clients are being supported compassionately and responsibly.

Lastly, a wonderful resource is the Open Path Collective, which is a directory of therapists who have committed to keeping therapy affordable by offering sessions for $30-60/session for individuals or up to $80/session for couples and families. Their site is geared for clients who are uninsured or low income who would not be able to afford standard therapy rates.

Please contact me if I can answer any questions about accessing affordable therapy.