FAQ

In order to bill insurance for reimbursement of services, you will receive a mental health diagnosis based on your presenting symptoms during the Intake Appointment. As a former special ed kid, I am very aware of the impact of labels. I only use a diagnosis in collaboration with you to aid in treatment planning purposes.

I do not evaluate or diagnose ASD or ADHD. I'm happy to help you identify options for accessing an evaluation.

My private pay rate is $150 for 55 minutes of psychotherapy.

I accept the following insurances: Aetna, Cigna, First Choice Health, Kaiser Foundation of the NW, Medicaid (Molina/CHPW), Moda, Premera Blue Cross, Providence, and Regence/BCBS.

Uncle Ben once said "with great power comes great responsibility" and I just don't see myself as someone who wants to wield either one.

It comes down to a matter of ethics. Because I am a Master's-level clinician, I can't conduct evaluations with insurance reimbursement, meaning an evaluation could only be paid for out-of-pocket. The amount of work involved in the assessments and report-writing are worth thousands of dollars in labor, and I can't justify charging someone that amount when there is a possibility they may not meet the threshold for a diagnosis. Imagine going to the doctor, explaining your symptoms, and undergoing tests, only to learn there's nothing wrong with you, but now you owe a small fortune. However, I also can't work for free. There needs to be a balance.

Additionally, there are so many assessment tools, many of which were developed to pathologize conditions like ASD/ADHD. I have previous experience administering the ADOS-2 (widely considered a "gold standard" tool) and I want to burn it with fire.

The short version is that I don't want to spend countless hours on the phone with insurance companies, so I pay someone else to do it.

Real Life Counseling is an entity I contract for its admin services. I value my working relationship with them as another small business in southwest Washington. I chose not to contract with a venture capital or startup firm. I find them icky.

Real Life Counseling provides invaluable support to my caseload around EHR, scheduling, billing, and more.