Counseling (Psychotherapy)

Service Description

Regular counseling (psychotherapy) has been shown scientifically to be very effective for most psychiatric conditions, whether used in conjunction with medications or not. Dr. Firnberg is skilled in many different kinds of psychotherapy, and can find one best suited to your particular needs and interests. The benefits of regular counseling, whether group or individual, are correlated with the length of time in which one remains in treatment -- the longer one remains in treatment, the better and more profound are the benefits. Two payment options are available for counseling: A. The "Sliding Scale Payment Plan" is designed for those who are not able financially to pay full price. This involves simply negotiating with Dr. Firnberg to find a per-minute rate to which both parties can agree. In the Sliding Scale Payment Plan, the per-minute rate to which the patient agrees applies to what occurs within each session. Anything which the doctor does for the patient outside of the session is billed at TWICE the in-session per-minute rate -- this would include, for example, calling in refills to a patient's pharmacy, filling out disability forms. Thus, it behooves a patient to have such tasks done within each session to avoid the double charge. However, true emergency calls, such as when a patient may be experiencing suicidal thoughts, are provided free-of-charge. Group therapy charges for Sliding Scale patients is provided at the regular rate of $10.-- per session. B. The "Full Service Payment Plan" is designed for those who are financially able to pay full price. This plan has some advantages: (1) discounts of up to 30% are possible for those who are receiving more than one session of counseling per week; (2) for those in regular individual therapy, the per-session rate for any added group therapy is reduced by 50%, to $5.-- per session, rather than the full rate of $10.-- per session. (3) any out-of-session tasks which the doctor must perform for the patient (such as calling in refills on medications, or filling out disability forms) is billed at the regular rate for counseling ($150.- per hour, or $2.50 per minute), rather than the double charge which would apply for those on a sliding scale plan. Of course, any true emergency calls (such as when suicidal ideation is being experienced) is free-of-charge, just as for sliding scale patients.