FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Our fees vary depending on the therapist licensing type and status, and type of service.

Intake Session: Our 90-minute diagnostic consultation fee ranges from $380 to $400 depending on the therapist you will be working with.

45-52 min Psychotherapy Session
Master level graduate therapist: $170
Masters level, independently licensed therapist: $195

Doctoral Level Psychology Associate: $210

Licensed Psychologist: $230

Dr. Salazar: $250

60-min couple’s therapy with Master Leveled Clinician: $210

Understanding your Out-of-Network Benefits.

We don’t participate with any insurance plan. Before you proceed with scheduling your ongoing therapy appointments, make sure that you understand your out-of-network insurance benefits. These are the questions you need to ask:

-What is my deductible for Out-of-Network providers?
-What percentage you cover for 90834 (45-min psychotherapy) and/or 90791 (Therapy Intake)?

If you have Out-of-Network benefits, you will have to meet your deductible, before you can get a  reimbursement of your therapy fee. Most importantly, keep in mind that in order for you to be eligible for reimbursement of therapy services, your therapist needs to provide you with a diagnosis during the intake session.

You can also use this Calculator to find out about your out of network benefits:

If you would like more detail information about using your out-of-network benefits, you can watch an informative video that we have prepared for you.

Searching for an In-Network therapist.

If you decide that you need to stay within your in-network benefits, we completely understand. The best way to find a provider within your insurance network is to call your insurance carrier and ask directly for assistance.

Another way to search for an in-network provider is to use an online therapy directory such as:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us
https://zencare.co/
https://www.goodtherapy.org/
https://therapyforblackgirls.com/
https://openpathcollective.org/

We require a 24-hour cancelation notice. We charge the equivalent of your full fee for late cancelations and missed appointments. We understand that ocassionally unexpected situations happens that may interfere with a scheduled session and you may have to reschedule. Our clients have access to self-scheduling through our Client Portal, which makes it easier to find alternative times to meet with their clinicians.

Therapy can be a deeply transformative experience! Therapy aims to:

Provide Symptom Relief: It’s not uncommon that people who for the first time are struggling with symptoms of depression and anxiety, experience relief of symptoms within the first three months of treatment. Sadly, by the time people reach out for help from a therapist, they are likely to have been struggling with moderate to severe versions of emotional suffering (anxiety, depression, phobias, trauma, grief, despair), which means that treatment will take longer. 

Help you Reset to a Previous Level of Functioning: Often people experience events that overwhelm their capacity to cope. These traumatic experiences can inflict significant pain and cause temporary impairments in different areas of life. Therapy can help you get back to your optimal level of functioning so that you can continue moving forward towards your personal and professional goals.

Help you Reclaim your Ability to Fully Love, Work, and Play: Mental health is not only defined by the absence of a symptom. By examining how you’re doing in any of these areas you can have a quick idea of how you’re doing regarding your mental health. Therapy can help you on the LOVE front by improving your relationship with others and yourself, increasing your sense of belonging to a community or group, helping you heal from racial or immigration trauma. On the WORK front, therapy can help you overcome the inhibitions that keep you stuck in your professional development, defeating long-standing patterns of self-sabotage, or learning ways to handle stress and preventing burnout so that you can continue enjoying what you do. PLAY refers to our ability to be free, stay curious, create, solve problems, and experience pleasure. It’s by definition, one of the first things that goes away when we struggle, and often an overlooked marker of health.

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to estimate the duration of a psychotherapy treatment, unless you and your therapist have agreed to work within a limit of time.  Everyone’s circumstances are unique to them and the length of time therapy can take to allow you to accomplish your goals depends on your commitment to come to therapy consistently to work on the specific goals you and your therapist have agreed to.

We offer time-limited therapy for those who have time or financial limitations that prevent them from engaging in long-term work. Time-limited therapy is not indicated for everyone. The decision of treatment frequency and duration is based on clinical judgment and is made in collaboration with your therapist after the initial assessment appointment.

Everyone needs help now and then, even those of us who are pretty good at doing it on our own. Therapists go to therapy too!

Most of our ways of coping with stress and pain have been successful in the past, but for some reason, there comes the point when they no longer work as well. That is when situations become problematic or when we develop a particular symptom such as anxiety, difficulty sleeping, or depression.

Many people feel confused when they find themselves needing help with their emotional health because they have always been very successful under very stressful situations, or they have overcome a lot of adversity in their lives.

Some people tend to be really good at plowing throw life, ignoring their pain. At some point, the “mind-body” rebels and calls their attention a bit louder! sometimes through an illness, or the loss of a job or an impending divorce.

In therapy, you will still be doing most of the work! After all, therapy is only 50 minutes a week. Your readiness and level of committment to the work will certainly be of extreme importance during the process!

The work of therapy goes beyond just talking to someone or getting advice. Therapy taps into our vital need to feel safe and connected to others and to ourselves. In therapy, you have no pressure to take care of another person’s feelings or needs. Just yours. And by the way, no, going to therapy doesn’t make you selfish or self-centered.

In therapy, you are invited to be kind and suspend judgment so that you can understand better what is causing your current problem. The healing nature of therapy, at least how we see it at the Center for Effective Psychological Services, is in the relationship itself. We also pride ourselves on our willingness to be innovative, creative, and to tailor our interventions to what works best for you. Bear in mind that what is best for you, doesn’t necessarily mean what feels easy to you. Therapy is not comfortable, and it shouldn’t be.

However, we are trained in modalities of therapy that take into consideration the importance of always working within the “window of optimal tolerance.” We know from research and experience that if you are not feeling challenged in therapy, you can’t expect change. And if you are feeling overwhelmed during treatment, there won’t be change either because we can’t learn when we are flooded with emotions. All our therapists are trained to incorporate the body as a resource.

Because each person has different issues and goals for therapy, therapy will be different depending on the individual and also the therapist.

We tailor our therapeutic approach to our client’s specific needs. Our mission at the Center for Effective Psychological Services is to provide therapy that is highly intentional and experiential so that we can help clients achieve their goals in a time-effective manner. We believe that everyone’s time on this earth is precious. We strive to provide therapy that goes beyond solving symptoms. We want your time in therapy to be a life-changing experience for you.

We are so glad you are intentional about getting the most out of your sessions!  Your active participation and dedication are crucial to your success. After all, therapy is a minimal amount of time compared to the rest of the activities that you do during a week! Being intentional about what brings you to therapy is helpful. Also, we rely on ongoing feedback from you to let us know what is working and what is not working. An essential aspect of therapy is the work you do outside of our sessions, for insight without action isn’t enough to bring change. Although we all wish for magical solutions, therapy is hard work, both, in and outside of the sessions. It is only through committed application and integration of what you learn about yourself in your session that those areas in the brain responsible for our emotional wellbeing can be “rewired.”