What is the likelihood that you will be able to help my child? How do I know if my insurance will cover the cost of therapy? Are there any risks to participating in psychotherapy? What is the likelihood that you will be able to help my child? Since I address your child’s problems systemically: relying both upon the process of psychotherapy and the lucrative returns of creating positive changes in the inter-relationships between your child and his or her community, the likelihood that your child’s problem behaviors will improve under my care is very good. In fact, newer research in the field of mental health recommends specific treatment modalities that incorporate multi-systemic interventions (psychotherapy + community interventions) to address and successfully resolve some of the most chronic and pervasive mental health disorders of childhood and adolescence. You seem to have a long history working with children — does this mean that you are less able to help my partner and me work through our relationship issues? No, but good question. Although my practice has formally focused upon child and adolescent mental health over the years, I have found that, in order to best help my younger clients resolve their psychological issues, I have inevitably had to gain considerable experience treating the entire family system, including the parenting couple and the emotional and psychological issues that exist between them. How do I know if my insurance will cover the cost of therapy? Determining whether your insurance company will cover the cost of psychotherapy depends upon a number of factors, including but not limited to the following: whether you have a PPO insurance policy (I am not an HMO provider); whether your insurance policy covers mental health care; whether or not you have met your insurance deductible. I would suggest that you call your insurance provider and ask how much it would pay for the specific service you are seeking (e.g., individual therapy) in the zip codes 90048 and 90025. I feel that my teenage daughter is keeping secrets from me; this makes me very concerned. Will you be able to tell me about what she talks about in therapy? Generally speaking, I cannot, by law, disclose any information that your teenager discusses with me during the course of psychotherapy, unless she poses a risk of harm to herself and/or others. Moreover, the practice of “keeping secrets” in a relationship suggests that there has been a significant breakdown in the area of trust. So, rather than disclose to you the details of your child’s session, and risk creating another distrustful relationship in your child’s life, I would recommend that the both of you begin discussing the issue of trust between you and the ways by which it might improve. Are there any risks to participating in psychotherapy? Therapy is the Greek word for change. Throughout your engagement in the process of psychotherapy, you may learn things about yourself that you don’t like. Often growth cannot occur until you experience and confront issues that induce you to feel uncomfortable emotions, such as sadness or anxiety. And sometimes things have to feel worse before they get better. This is a risk. Another risk, in couple’s therapy is the possibility of exercising the option of breaking-up or divorce. |
