Frequently Asked Questions
What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy involves developing a safe environment and trusting relationship with a therapist so you can work together with the overall aim of improving your mental health and well-being. Sessions can be individual, couples, families, or groups. Together you will work with your therapist to make positive changes in your mood, thinking, relationships, and behaviours.
Are there different types of Psychotherapy?
There are many types of Psychotherapy. While all of them help you achieve the changes you desire, there are variations in the approaches, ranging from therapies that focus on thoughts and behaviours and provide you weekly tasks, to therapies that may focus on helping you understand and explore your history and emotions. There are also specific types of therapies depending on your symptoms and goals (e.g., trauma focused approaches). Please see the specialty drop down in our menu for a detailed list of our therapies and click here for detailed bios for all of our therapists. What is most important is that you and your therapist collaboratively develop a working relationship and plan together.
What is the difference between psychotherapy, therapy, counseling, and other mental health services?
The truth is the words can be very interchangeable. In general the differences are related to the therapist/ clinician themselves and also the duration and intensity of the services. Counseling services tend to be more short term oriented where therapy and psychotherapy services tend to be longer term. mental health services is a general term that incumapses all mental health realted treatment including inpatient services.
How many sessions will I need?
The length of treatment varies from one person to another and will depend on your goals and history. In your first sessions, you and your therapist will begin these discussions and have an idea of what the treatment length may be. Research suggests that the majority of individuals will remain in therapy for approximately 20+ sessions to achieve their goals. Some may need less sessions, especially if the therapy is for a specific shorter-term problem or utilizing more intensive services, while others may need more sessions if they have multiple conditions or are looking to understand and make changes to lifelong patterns.
Can I do my session online?
Yes! We offer our therapy services in-person as well as through secure video or phone sessions for California residents.
Do you treat couples?
Yes we do, we love couples! We offer both in person or secure video sessions for couples. Our therapists draw from many therapeutic modalities during their sessions with couples. We also offer a pre-marital counselling personalized program.
Do you treat specific conditions for kids?
Yes we have multiple child therapists who can offer a range of services for children. This can include therapy to help with emotional regulation, anxiety management, behavioural difficulties, coaching and skill building for attention and learning problems, as well as help with social difficulties (e.g., social skills, relationships). We also offer family support and parent consultations as well as webinars online to provide full rounded services for busy parents.
Are treatments covered under my insurance?
We are able to bill certain insurance plans directly and we also offer out of network billing through Mentaya. Please contact us directly to check eligibility of in network and out of network options.
Note: not all of our clinicians are a part of every insurance panel the practice is credentialed with. Please contact us with specific insurance questions and we will do our best to answer.
What if the therapist I want to work with is not accepting clients?
We know therapy is a very intimate relationship, we want you to feel safe and comfortable right from the start. Because every therapist can approach therapy differently we do encourage clients to view the bios of our therapists to identify who they might want to work with, but we do our best to also match referrals to the best available therapist. If you do have a specific therapist you would like to work with and they are not accepting clients’ we do offer waiting lists for each therapist.
What if I want to do a non-traditional service?
We offer services that are not considered traditional therapy including BrainSpotting Intensives, Coaching and Retreats. We also have an online course catalog with resources and classes for those who are not wanting traditional therapy or are looking for supplemental care (Adjunct services). These services are not considered replacements to therapy, but can be seen as a way to heighten your overall experience.
Can you coordinate adjunct services with other therapists?
Yes, for specialty services like Brainspotting and EMDR along with our coaching and other “non-therapeutic” services we can complete releases of information in order to coordinate care with your primary therapist or any other health care provider.
Does Insurance cover intensives or other “non-traditional/ non-therapeutic” services?
No, insurance does not cover anything outside of their defined Mental Health/ Behavioral Health services. They might cover a portion of the intensives due to therapeutic nature, but they do not typically cover services longer then an hour. If you have more specific questions related to your specific insurance please contact our office.
Any additional questions, please reach out to us!