Policies
Initial Intake and Fit
Our first appointment together will be your intake session, typically lasting for 90 minutes. There are many tasks involved at this session as we balance development of a treatment plan for your current issues with exploration of a comprehensive background assessment including your psychiatric history, medical history, family background, substance abuse history, and personal history (relationship status, employment history, education, upbringing, etc). On rare occasion this intake may need to extend into multiple sessions such as when diagnosis is less certain and more history is needed or when the treatment plan is exceptionally complex.
At the conclusion of the intake if it is mutually agreeable we will collaborate together on a treatment plan, and schedule follow up appointments, initiate medications, etc. If either party feels there is not a good fit between us, we will part ways at that point with no further therapeutic relationship.
Given the sensitive nature of the kind of therapy I practice fit is very important. In my experience, poor fit within the therapy relationship is almost certain to end in treatment failure as it becomes difficult to share and explore deep spaces without a healthy and trusting patient-therapist connection. Fit is a two way street, and requires both you and I to share this connection. To that end, patients may terminate treatment at any time for any reason, ending our relationship immediately. Similarly, I may terminate treatment with you at any time for any reason; in these instances I will offer you 30 days of additional coverage as well as assist you with referrals while you establish alternative care with a different provider.
Ongoing Treatment
If we decided to pursue treatment together I will meet with you regularly. Most commonly we will meet once a week for 45 minutes, though frequency and length of treatment can and does vary. For example, some patients may meet for 60 minute sessions or twice weekly if seeking psychodynamic therapy or psychoanalysis. We will collaborate on this timing together at the intake and revise accordingly over the course of treatment.
It is a requirement of my clinic that, at a maximum, we do not exceed a period longer than 3 months between appointments. Every patient in my clinic must have an active future appointment scheduled. The size of my clinic is intentionally quite small for this reason. There are less than 50 active patients at any given time in my practice. I want to actually get to know you and cultivate a long term relationship. I can’t do that if I have a clinic that is hundreds of patients large, a fact which is commonplace these days in many other mental health clinics.
There are other important policies as well; I will email them to you for your review and our discussion prior to our initial appointment. This will allow us plenty of time to process any questions you might have.
Billing & Insurance
My practice, like many in DC, does not accept insurance and is fee for service only. This means every payment is due at the start of every session. I accept cash, check, HSA, Venmo, and all major credit cards. There is an additional fee when using a credit/debit/HSA card (to directly offset the fee charged by the credit card merchants). Additional information regarding billing and fees will be provided to you in writing before our initial intake appointment.
I do not participate in Medicare.
I will provide you with an invoice for each session that you may submit to your insurance company for reimbursement, typically within 24 hours of our appointment. I cannot directly assist you with the reimbursement process, though I will be happy to give you the information regarding the procedure codes and other billing information your insurance company might need ahead of time if you wish to get an idea from them about what your out-of-pocket reimbursement for a typical session would be.
Regarding the No Surprises Act of 2022: I provide, in writing, each prospective patient at the time of initial evaluation for mutual fit with documentation that includes a specific breakdown of my rates/fees by type and length of appointment. All questions will be answered to the best of my estimation before treatment begins, and can be most fully answered at the completion of the intake process when the treatment plan is developed.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be made at least 21 days in advance of your next appointment. If you are unable to provide this advanced notice, or do not show for a scheduled appointment, you will be responsible for the cost of the session in full (or, in the case of an initial intake appointment, you will be charged a cancellation fee). Please be mindful that insurance companies generally do not offer reimbursement of any kind for missed sessions, nor late fees.
SUITE 308
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
SUITE 308
WASHINGTON, DC 20036