We work hard in life and pay good money for health insurance. Health insurance can be really beneficial, especially when it comes to those times in life that require it to cover expensive treatments, procedures, hospital stays, and surgeries.  The drawback is that health insurances dictate the care that you can and cannot have by your provider.  When it comes to your mental health and emotional well being, an insurance company doesn't know what you need.  You do.  Maybe you want to work on issues that an insurance won't cover because they decide that it is unimportant, or the insurance deems it as medically unnecessary.  And there are times when you need more time with your provider, more visits than are allowed by the insurance, and more privacy than this arrangement provides for you.

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This is where Concierge Psychology comes in.  We are happy to offer Concierge Psychology services to a limited number of our clients who desire to drive their own therapy experience.  Do you want to ensure that your psychologist can see you once a week, twice a week, maybe for briefer visits, or longer visits, that you can be seen on the same day that you call in?   What if something comes up in your life that you need to talk out or process with your psychologist, maybe for a couple of hours?   Insurances require diagnoses to pay for treatments. They also have access to your psychotherapy notes and records.  This is not ideal, and for some individuals who desire and need more discretion, or if you want to keep the intimate details and struggles in life between you and your psychologist, that is what Concierge Psych assures you. With Concierge Psych services that we offer, you and your psychologist can fully direct your care when and how you need it.  Why consider Concierge Psych?   Here is a comparison of how standard care works when using insurance vs a Concierge Psych arrangement.

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Insurance-Driven Care 

• 45 minute sessions every week or other week

• Insurance requires a diagnosis or diagnoses that are severe enough to be approved to cover psychotherapy sessions and treatments

• Insurance has access to all psychotherapy notes and records to pay for treatment

• Insurance typically caps the number of visits that are allowed per year

• Insurance typically does not approve frequent visits, unless due to crisis, emergency, or other extreme situations

• Since insurances underpay providers and limit the number of visits, providers have to book more sessions that are shorter and back to back

• Due to overbooking, there is usually limited to no availability for same day or emergency visits.

• There is no guarantee of being seen weekly or for 60 minute sessions.

• Insurances do not allow long (e.g. 90 min, 2 hour, or longer) visits.

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Concierge-Driven Care

• Client dictates the length and frequency of sessions- can be 45, 60, 90, 120 minute sessions

• No severe diagnosis or diagnoses need to be assigned in order to have psychotherapy

• No insurance access to any psychotherapy notes or records

• No cap on the number of visits per year. This is dictated by the client

• No limit on frequent visits, regardless. This is client-driven.

• The client directs the length of visits

• Clients can have same day visits or emergency visits

• Guaranteed sessions with your psychologist, weekly if desired.

• Clients decide if they want longer (e.g. 90 min, 2 hour, or longer) visits.

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How it works:

With our Concierge Psych services, clients sign a monthly retainer that guarantees client-driven, NOT insurance-driven care.  We offer this to a limited number of clients in order to ensure availability when it is needed for our Concierge Psych clients.  

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If you have Concierge Psych services, you sign a retainer that is based on the provider's hourly rate, but discounted.  The hourly rate is based on the current market, competitive, and based on degree (Ph.D. or master's level) and years of clinical experience.  

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First there will be a thorough evaluation to get to know you and come up with a treatment plan.  We can break the evaluation down into two parts to save you time and not cover so much ground in one sitting. Typically, an evaluation can take anywhere from 60-120 minutes.  This is separate from the retainer. Then psychotherapy begins.

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With the retainer, our concierge psych clients can pre-reserve the frequency and duration of their sessions, based on their needs and wants.  So, maybe a client wants to reserve weekly 60-minute sessions at a set day and time.  Another client may want to reserve 2  90-minute visits and 2  45-minute visits per month.   What individuals want and need can change, based on what is going on in life at the time, and their time availability.  The beauty of the concierge agreement is that the client chooses how often and for how long they're seen for therapy.  

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The amount of time that clients decide they want to guarantee for a given month can be varied, mixing up the 30 min, 45 min, 60 min, 90 min, and 120 min session lengths.

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What happens if a client guarantees a specified amount of time with the provider for the month, and an unexpected situation comes up that exceeds that amount.  How is this handled?    If the visit is not included in the concierge psych retainer, it is charged at the regular hourly rate.