Questions about counseling

Healing starts with hope. There are times when coping with life’s challenges feels overwhelming. When you are struggling with trauma, grief, anxiety, depression or substance use, these problems can feel even more insurmountable. Whether you recently experienced a crisis or loss, are attempting to overcome emotional obstacles such as anxiety and depression, or adjusting to transitions in life, the goal is the same: to provide high quality psychotherapy that facilitates growth, renewal and change.

If you have stumbled across this website, you are probably looking for a therapist for yourself or someone you love. If you are new to therapy, you probably want to know what the process entails and how it might help. This page is here to answer common questions many have about therapy.

Do you take my insurance?

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, CHAMPVA, Medicare, TRICARE and United Healthcare is accepted for therapy services.

If we do not take your insurance, we will gladly provide a form you send to your insurance provider for possible reimbursement. That means, at the time of our appointment, you are responsible for the fee and, depending on your plan, a certain percentage of that may be paid to you by your insurance company. To avoid financial surprises, call the number on the back of your insurance card to find out about your "out of network" benefits.

Also, ask them the best address to send a "superbill." We provide all the information you need for that. All you need is the address.

Do you have sliding scale fees?

No. Although we do not have a sliding scale for individuals that are not using insurance for treatment, we offer significantly reduced rates for sessions with students. Training the next generation of mental health providers aligns with our mission. As such we proudly supervise doctoral practicum students. Our current students are studying at the University of Indianapolis and are supervised by Dr. Elster. Training students also allows us to provide therapy to a wider population by offering reduce fees for sessions with them.

What are your office hours?

Monday-Friday by appointment.

What is the most important thing for me to know about therapy?

Confidentiality. You have the right to the confidentiality related to treatment and it is our job to protect your privacy. The session content and all relevant materials to your treatment will be held confidential unless you request in writing to have information released. Additionally, it is important you are aware that limitations of confidentiality exist and are itemized below: danger to self, harm to others, current abuse or neglect of vulnerable persons and subpoena of records. If one of these has to be put into effect, you will be informed. Here is a link to our Notice of Privacy Practices.

What does the first session of therapy entail?

The first session is typically 60-75 minutes. The session will be spent gathering information about why you decided to come to therapy. You’ll be asked questions about your current life situation, and your mental and emotional state as well as questions about your past to get a good idea about who you are and what you want out of therapy.

How frequently will we meet?

A lot of that depends on what you want. Some people prefer to meet weekly, while others want to meet every other week or once monthly. When going through a crisis or particularly difficult or stressful time, some people want to meet as much as twice weekly. We’ll collaborate about the frequency of treatment to decide what will work best for you.

How long does therapy last?

Therapy sessions are usually 50-55 minutes but there’s no hard and fast answer to how many sessions it will take to meet your goals. So much depends on what brings you to therapy and what you want to work on. Many of the treatments used are briefer therapies and are somewhere around 16 sessions or so. Still, for some, 6-8 sessions is all they need to make the changes they desired. Others view therapy as a continual opportunity to grow in a number of areas and prefer to engage in longer-term treatment. You get to decide when you have achieved what you want.