• My fee is $160 per hour or $140 per 45 minute session.  Please note that the per hour fee includes a small discount.  We can talk about Whether or not you could make better progress with longer sessions, including 60 minute or 90 minute (or more) sessions. 90 minute sessions are often recommended for Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) sessions for the treatment of OCD. Longer sessions are also generally best for sessions using EMDR, too.

• Phone consultations must be kept to a minimum or I will have to charge at the hourly rate in 15 minute increments.  Insurance generally will not reimburse for telephone consultations.

• Because of the disruption to my practice, my fees are higher if I have to go to court or do legal work:  $200 per hour and $800 for a 4 hour minimum for court time, even if court is postponed or dismissed (because I scheduled around it).  For a court case, the least payment is for a half day of court.  You should ask me about these fees prior to any involvement in court.  For these cases, I also bill for “door to door” time, and for review of materials, preparation time, telephone calls and emails, and all in 15 minute increments.

• If you arrive late for an appointment, you will still need to pay for the entire scheduled time, since it was reserved for you.  If I am more than a few minutes late, I will make the time up to you either in that appointment or at a later date or give you a discount.  I do have emergencies, and even though I try to be on time, it is possible that sometimes I will be late.

• I accept VISA and Master Card, as well as checks and cash.  I do not always have change for cash.

• I do not have time for billing, so please come prepared to pay the fee at the beginning of each session.  It will keep you from taking time away from your therapy time if you have the check already made out prior to the session.

• If you have to cancel, please give me as much notice as possible.  That helps both of us: if I can reschedule you within the same week and fill the slot for your initial appointment, you will not have to pay for that original time (full fee), but if you wait and I cannot fill it, then I will have to bill you for that time-- if you have not given me at least 48 business hours of notice.  Unfortunately, if you cancel repeatedly, I will have to consider whether or not I can help you, since regular appointments generally make therapy go more smoothly.  Insurance does not reimburse for cancelled appointments or “no show” fees.

• I bill $20 extra for the problems encountered with checks returned for insufficient funds (NSF) because of bookkeeping and telephone time. In some counties and jurisdictions, there are government services (sometimes under the courts) for bad checks, and clients with NSF checks can be referred to them, which could eventuate in court involvement and the loss of confidentiality.

• My fees include additional time on your behalf (except for legal cases) for routine tasks such as very brief phone conversations (up to 5 minutes).  Due to the nature of my practice, additional time for other services are often provided and the fees are based on a rate of $40 per 15 minutes and in legal cases $50 per 15 minutes.  These services include:

Extended phone conversations
Extended sessions
Test scoring and administration
Record reviews
Court appearances
Extended calls or visits to schools and other agencies
Extended consultations with other professionals for your care

• I generally raise my fees about once a year.

• Rarely, I may have to discuss termination with clients who cannot pay fees on time.  In these cases, services can be resumed when the balance is paid in full.  If you have a problem paying the fees, please discuss arrangements for payment.  When appropriate, I will attempt to find other sources of assistance for clients with serious financial need.

• I do not belong to any insurance panels and am not a preferred provider for any insurance.  This was my choice after having spent too long trying to get paid by insurance companies when I was on panels.

• If you have health insurance (and I hope you do), and you are seeking reimbursement from that company, remember that your contract is between you and them.  I cannot guarantee anything about their reimbursement (and no other therapist can either).

• These are questions to ask your insurance company:

• Are there out-of-network mental health benefits?

• Do Dr. Cole’s fees fall within their “reasonable and customary” (R&C) rates for the following: (be prepared for “no” and then ask what they do “allow” for these codes:
 - Intake  code 90801 $160
 - Psychotherapy code 90806 $140

• What is your deductible for out-of-network benefits?

• What percentage do they reimburse for out-of-network? (and remember that percentage is multiplied times the R & C rate, not
times my fees)

• When does your calendar year start?

• Do you need a treatment plan, and if so, what is the fax number for it?

Best of luck with all of this.  I know it is time-consuming to deal with insurance, and it takes lot of persistence.