Counseling Care VS. Check Book Care

Nurturing ia an art.  Psychotherapy is a business.  Those of us who provide psychotherapy face an inescapable challenge as counselors who are also dealing with tough business issues.  Significant ongoing education, maintaining a practice, competitive marketing and shrinking profits make some therapists squirm, but, those of us who care deeply about our art accept the above situation and seek increasing training to adjust to the pressures of cutting costs while improving the quality of counseling care.
     Providers now do get business training due to marketing  that is required to run a practice.   Education remains the fundamental component  for providing superior professional counseling while we all see that some business savvy is becoming important as well.  Some of the business perspective has to change, however.  My friend's dad (I'll call him Roger) complained about feeling about feeling "really down."  A visit to the emergency room suggested his acute depressed mood with his ideas about suicide..."but I don't think I could really do it."  Even with some insurance, Roger quickly racked up more than several thousand dollars in out of pocket expenses for initial intake, counseling, psychiatric care, neurologists.  You name it.  Roger had a $6000. deductible.  He lost his job and his family had to find money for COBRA payments which were more than the monthly mortgage payments on their home.
     I just don't always know how folks who don't have resources handle these things.  I don't.  There are many people that need help and can't find it.  Just because  persons are insured does not mean that they can actually afford desperately needed counseling/psychotherapy.  Reports in the Economic Well-Being of U. S. Households in an annual survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Board found that more than 50% of adult Americans claim that they could not come up with $400. in an emergency without turning to credit cards, family, friends or the selling of their possessions.
     Crucial care is financially devastating and causes severe damage to many households.  Bottom line: (Counseling and Community Research Section of the Federal Reserve Board's Division of Consumer and Community Affairs (DCCA).
     I wish I had better answers for people who say that "I can't afford counseling."  Here is the best I have for you now.  There is no pretense that this is University of Alabama or Mayo Clinic quality:

        1. 1. Ask your insurance plan (if you have one) to give you a list of providers.  Some of them will accept a smaller fee.  (Get It Done When You're Depressed bu Julia Fast)

       2. Try a training clinic.

       3. Try a community mental health center.

       4. Read self help books.

       5. Attend support groups.

       6. Ask  your counselor about payment plans because cash is often more lucrative than going through the whole paperwork insurance thing.  Ask your therapist if there is a cash policy.

       7. Reevaluate your expenses.  There are some situations where "I can't afford" is really about priorities.  Considerate making your resources accommodate therapy.  I have worked with clients who can't afford my services but who highly value therapy and choose to go without other things because they "can't afford not to be in therapy."

       8. Check with podcasts and videos.

       9. Consult your religious congregation.

     10. Give me a call for more specific and personal help.