The short answers are that a. paying a fair full fee for therapy enables the therapist to have a more balanced and reciprocal relationship with the work that they do and to provide more access to members of the community who might not otherwise afford therapy b. it makes sense to invest in yourself and c. you get what you pay for, in a very real way. Read below to understand the journey we have taken in evolving our pricing structure.

We are extremely empathetic to folks’ difficulty with how expensive it is to access quality mental health care, and have struggled over the years with how to price our therapy services so that they are the most accessible and equitable to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, that typically leaves us as therapists and our wellbeing out of the equation, which has only ensured burnout and an extreme decline in our capacity and ability to show up in sessions with presence and compassion.

A lot of the work that we do with patients is around unpacking the messages they’ve internalized about their identities and their worth from being socialized into a capitalist, white supremacist, hetero-patriarchal society that is built to exploit every form of labor. As femme-identified people with social work backgrounds, our traditional impulse has been to give more of ourselves than is good for us, because that feels like our primary source of value or worth. The inherent problem with this behavioral pattern is that it creates deprivation, exhaustion, compassion fatigue and resentment, and we would rather not show up in session, whether it be as therapist or supervisor, under the influence of any of those states. Be assured that it is our intention to create conditions for our therapists under which we are able to be our highest practitioner selves in session with you every single week, and charging our full rate is a part of our being able to do that.

We appreciate your participating in a very meaningful way in interrogating and working to dismantle the inequity around healthcare for both receivers and providers.

Psychobabble Therapy and Wellness accepts out-of-pocket/private pay clients. Let us know if you are eligible for out-of-network reimbursement by an insurance provider and your therapist will gladly provide you with an invoice on a monthly basis which you can submit.

You can find out if you have out of network reimbursement by calling your health insurance provider and asking if they will reimburse you for outpatient behavioral health services that you pay for out of pocket, and at what percentage is the reimbursement. You should also ask if you have to meet a deductible in order to get reimbursed. This will help you determine your budget for therapy before you make your initial inquiry.

As a small but growing group practice, we strive to offer accessible options for therapy and other services to folks. Every therapist who works under the Psychobabble Therapy and Wellness umbrella has pledged to offer at least some slots for sliding scale services. The sliding scale rate may differ depending on the therapist and their level of experience.

We offer solidarity pricing for our services, which is a tiered sliding scale that takes income and household size into account. Please indicate if you’d like one of these spots in your initial inquiry.

We invite you to take a look at the Green Bottle Sliding Scale image (below) to see what that might look and feel like for you.

Our cancellation policy is that we require 24 hours’ notice of a cancellation. Because we understand that emergencies occur, our clinicians will make every effort to reschedule the cancelled session for a different day the same week. If we can’t reschedule within the same week, you will be charged for the session. In the event of a no-show, you will be charged for the session. We require a credit card on file in case of no shows or late cancellations.

Understand that when we schedule an appointment, we are committing our time to you. As practitioners who book our services by the hour, that means that we have planned for that session to take place and might have declined other clients during that time, because it was promised to you. We pledge to be on time for our sessions and present when we have booked with you, and we ask that you respect our time in the same way.

Payment is required on the day of the service. We keep a card on file in secure practice management software, and can charge that card for payment for your session. You can also arrange an alternative method of payment with your clinician.

We accept cash, credit/debit card, Venmo or Zelle. You can use an FSA/HSA card to pay for therapy sessions.

Between sessions, clinicians are reachable via email, telephone and text message and will reply to you as soon as is possible. You and your therapist will discuss the best way to reach them outside of your scheduled session. Please do not share sensitive or clinical information via text or email. Text or email with logistical issues only please, and we can set up a brief phone call or a session for urgent or sensitive topics.

Please understand that because we are often engaged with clients, it may take some time to receive a response. Additionally, on weekends and vacations clinicians may not be as responsive as they are at other times. Your therapist will inform you ahead of time if they are going to be out of the office and unavailable, and in longer periods of time out of office or unreachable, will provide you with an alternative person to contact if you need them. If you are experiencing a crisis or an emergency, please do not wait for your clinician to respond — call 1-888-692-9355 for NYC Well’s confidential crisis hotline or go to the nearest emergency room.