Hello! Today I contacted a therapist in the city that I am moving to, he specializes in LGBT issues. He charges $100/session. Is that reasonable?
Does he have a sliding scale fee? Discount for no insurance? Think thats fairly standard in lots of places.
I e-mailed 2 therapists in my area, and both were over a hundred dollars. Not sure if there is any sliding scale, but I did indicate that it was cash, not insurance.
That's pretty typical (crazy as it seems.) Sometimes, you can talk with the therapist and ask if there's anyway they could lower the cost. Mine usually charges $100, but she cut it down to $75 because our insurance doesn't cover her.
If true with the two therapists I e-mailed, I wonder what they charge for insurance! (I stated, when asking, that it would be cash, no insurance.) ---------- Post added 4th May 2013 at 05:54 PM ---------- If a hundred bucks is too much, Dare2bProud, you might be able to find some lower cost option. Allegedly they are out there. For example, one idea I heard was to find a college that trains therapists.
My therapist is incredible. He charges $120, but he's seen literally everyone in my family by now, and our friends, including some of our poorer ones for $25. I pay more than $25. He just accepts what you can pay. Also, definitely LGBT therapist. Very LGBT He has been such a godsend to me!
Wow! As low as $25! I always love stories about professionals who will actually make an effort to make their service affordable for those with limited means. I wish I could figure out how to find such a person here...at least, short of e-mailing every therapist I can find in a 3 county area!
BMC77 - you need to push back on them and say that you can't afford that, and ask if there's some other arrangement that can be made. I'm certain that there is, so long as the practice can afford it (i.e. there are enough other clients that can carry the actual costs of running the practice - sounds cruel, but in reality they are running a business) No one is going to refuse people help simply because they can't pay for it. There's always SOME arrangement that can be made.
Rainbowman, you're probably right. I guess I come from a background that has the attitude of "you can't afford it, you don't buy it." Also my nuclear family was poor with negotiating--I think my parents bought the last family car based on the price quote, no haggling. Although whether prices can be cut is another question. Last round of counseling/therapy ended because of the cost. I was upfront about that. The counselor insisted I had to do one more session to get more information--which ended up being a self help book title I could have found with even a fast library catalog search at my library. There was no mention from him about reduced rates, or anything like that. He did do a follow up call several months later, and the only offer he had was to recommend lower cost options. ---------- Post added 5th May 2013 at 02:33 AM ---------- I should have said this above, but I suppose price cuts are a variable from practice to practice. One problem: my state has really cut back on the social safety net. As a result, I suspect there are a lot of people in my position, and the numbers are too overwhelming for private practice therapists to deal with on reduced rates. ---------- Post added 5th May 2013 at 02:34 AM ---------- I haven't pursued anything since I got those e-mails...it was too depressing reading the prices! Sort of like, I guess I'll just have to suffer for free. This week, I hope to get back to looking at options. Too much has come at me in recent weeks....
Any healthy relationship with openness, communication and affection is therapy. Even EC is therapeutic.
While I appreciate the sentiment behind the comment, the above is absolutely not true, and I don't want anyone to get the idea that talking with friends or anyone else is the same as, or a substitute for, therapy. A healthy relationship is therapeutic (beneficial), yes, but it is in no way the same as therapy, and I've seen a lot of people who delay or avoid going to therapy simply because of this misconception. As far as going to a therapist goes... it's worth knowing that pretty much *every* therapist will work on a sliding scale. No therapist I know has such a full schedule that they cannot accommodate more clients, and in this economy and this era of managed care (in the US), therapists are constantly squeezed, and often even the really good ones are struggling to find clients. Yes, you do have to ask, and you have to be insistent. And some therapists are better than others. One that a friend of mine went to, had an asking rate of $125 (this was almost 10 years ago.) He claimed that he never went below $90. My friend could afford about $25 (and that was a stretch, he made $300 a week and wanted to go weekly.) So, on my encouragement, he went back and said "This is important to me, but I only make $300 a week, and all I can afford after food and rent and my other expenses is $25. Can you see me for that?" And the therapist agreed. Many others will as well. They may not be delighted at first, but if you show up consistently, don't miss appointments, and are really there to do your work... the therapist will appreciate you as a client. Any therapist will tell you that many of the full-price clients they see aren't really there to do the work, because insurance, or parents, or somebody else is paying, and they don't treat it for the valuable gift that it is. So often, it is the patients that can least afford it that are most willing to do the work to improve their place in life, and any therapist worth having will realize this. To answer Dare2bProud's original question: $100 is very reasonable, provided you can afford it. The therapist expects you to be willing to sacrifice to get therapy, and put the cost of therapy before lots of trips to Starbucks, expensive vacations, or other more frivolous expenses. But if you're doing so, and if your take-home pay is limited, then the therapist should be willing to set a fee that you can manage. If s/he won't, there are dozens of other excellent ones who will.
Seems like a bargin - my charges 175 but that nyc rates. If you can swing it - I think it's a worth while investment in yourself. And this is coming from some anti therapy.
$100 is pretty standard. The clinic I go to charges that much per visit to my psychiatrist, but they have a sliding scale and because I am a student with no insurance I pay nothing. You should look into different places in your area. I recently discovered a clinic in my city that specializes in LGBT issues. Their sliding scale fees are AMAZING! I pay $10 per visit to a primary care physician(something I haven't had in years), and I'm about to start counseling with them for a measly $2 a visit. If you can afford it, go for it...but if it's a little out of your means, I say check around. 2-1-1 might be able to give you some information.
In my are they stay at around 100 and can g0 up to 200. My are is pretty affluent so that may be why. But 100 seems in the average range.
