Frequently Asked Questions

There are many benefits to engaging in therapy. Some of these include: gaining a better understanding of oneself, figuring out life goals and prospects, improving personal relationships, developing coping skills, enhancing problem-solving abilities, making positive changes to problem behaviors, and boosting self-esteem. Your therapist will work with you throughout this process and offer new insight to an issue that you have been struggling with. The benefit that you obtain will ultimately depend on how committed you are to the treatment.

Our practice has therapists who are in-network with the Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. We are out-of-network providers for all other insurance plans. Many insurance policies offer partial reimbursement to see an out-of-network therapist; you may wish to consult with your insurance carrier regarding this benefit. We will be happy to provide you with an invoice that can be submitted to your carrier for reimbursement. Please refer to our Fees & Insurance Page for more information.

Our fee range varies by service provided. We will be happy to discuss rates with you during your free phone consultation.

We accept all forms of payment including cash, checks, PayPal, and credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, etc).

Our cancellation policy requires 48 hour notice of cancellation. Cancellation with less than 48 hours notice requires payment in full. If you are unable to attend your session in person, you can always do it via phone or video.

Once a week sessions are the standard for individual counseling, though clients are welcome to seek more frequent sessions if they are in crisis or want greater insight.

If you are committed to making personal changes for greater life satisfaction, then you are ready to seek therapy. Many people believe that they need to be suffering from “mental illness” or serious “psychological problems” in order for therapy to be appropriate. This is not the case, anyone can benefit from therapy. Some even choose to come in for insight only.

Our practice is not limited to just one method or approach. We tailor our therapy to meet the needs of each client and draw from various theoretical models including Psychodynamic, Relational, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBT).

Many people incorrectly associate psychotherapy with the typical media depiction of a “Freudian” style session in which the therapist is sitting silently in the chair and nodding throughout the whole session. We take on a much more interactive and collaborative approach in our sessions. You can expect our therapists to explore thoughts, feelings, behaviors, the past and the present, and the conscious and unconscious.

Confidentiality is one of the most important components in therapy, as successful therapy requires a high degree of trust. With few exceptions, the highly sensitive material that is discussed between you and your therapist will not be shared with anyone else without your permission. For example, your therapist may share information with someone on your healthcare team (your Physician, Naturopath, Attorney), but by law will only be allowed to release this information after obtaining your written consent. In addition, therapists are legally mandated to make certain disclosures in cases where there is suspicion of harm to oneself, harm to others, or child abuse. All such disclosures will be discussed with you in advance.

Yes. Our therapists offer treatment sessions for psychotherapy by telephone, Facetime, or Skype if you are out of New York City or are unable to attend your regularly scheduled sessions. You will be charged your usual rate for your telephone or video chat session.

Our therapists are not psychiatrists and therefore we do not prescribe medication. However, in some cases medication can be valuable in combination with psychotherapy. If your therapist determines that you could benefit from meeting with a psychiatrist, we can assist with referring you to someone in our trusted network of referrals.

You will need to contact us and schedule your FREE 15 minute phone consultation.

The length of our sessions depend on the type of service you receive:

• An individual psychotherapy session is 45 minutes.
• A couples session is 60 minutes.
• A Gay Men’s Therapy Group session is 90 minutes.
• The Meditation & Mindfulness Group is 60 minutes.
• EMDR sessions are 60-75 minutes.