A Letter to my potential clients:
I Choose to Work Directly for You
When you decide to start therapy, you are making a profound investment in yourself. Because I value that investment, I want to be transparent about why I have chosen to operate as a private-pay practice rather than partnering with insurance panels.
In short: I want our work to be guided by your needs, not a corporate bottom line.
Here is how this choice protects the quality of the care I provide to you
Your Privacy is My Priority
When we use insurance, I am often required to share your personal information with third-party claims adjusters. This includes a mandatory diagnosis and, sometimes, details about our sessions to "prove" you still need help. They ask for notes to determine that we are doing what they want for them to pay.
Why this matters: I am ethically and legally bound to confidentiality, meaning that what is said in session, stays in the session with a few exceptions regarding abuse or harm of self or others. I believe what we discuss in our sessions should stay between us. By working outside of insurance, your records remain private. They won't follow you into future life insurance applications or become a permanent "label" in a corporate database.
To be fair, there is a lot of emphasis on maintaining the privacy of documents throughout the process; however, the fewer people involved, the less likely your personal information will be in jeopardy.
We Focus on you as a person, your growth and life, Not a "Label
Insurance companies only pay for therapy that they deem "medically necessary." To get them to cover our time, I would be forced to give you a formal mental health diagnosis from the first day we meet.
My Perspective: Most of the people I work with aren't "sick" or have a ‘medically necessary pathology—they are navigating grief, healing from old wounds, or seeking a deeper sense of purpose. I don't want to pathologize your normal human experience just to satisfy a billing code. Private pay allows us to focus on your actual life goals, regardless of whether they fit into a clinical box.
There is a subtle push to make the diagnosis more severe or add others to increase the need for sessions or more money.
I don’t believe in giving a person a label that will follow them for years to come and harm their lives in some way.
Also, someone sitting in an office thousands of miles away will not be telling us that ‘you are done’ with treatment. Insurance often limits the treatment length and treatment protocols.
You Deserve My Full Energy
The reality of the "insurance model" is that it often requires therapists to see 30 or more clients a week just to stay afloat. I have experienced this already and can tell you that recovery from burnout is lengthy and raises questions about the therapist's resolve and future in the field. I don’t believe that's fair to you to start this journey and, after a short while, be left stranded with nowhere to go because I burned out trying to make a living.
Our Connection: By choosing a private-pay model, I can limit my caseload, ensuring that when we meet, I am fully present, energized, and have the "mental bandwidth" to engage with you in session as you deserve and pay for. You aren't just another folder on a crowded desk; you have my dedicated focus.
You and I Hold the Reins
Our Autonomy: I believe that you are the expert on your life. In our practice, we decide together how often we meet and when our work is complete. Our timeline is dictated by your healing, not an insurance company’s algorithm.
How We Can Make This Work
I know that therapy is a commitment of time, energy and finances. And that is why I don’t take insurance. I’m in it to help people and I enjoy what I do and want to do it a long time. I know that
the financial side of therapy is a big consideration. While I am not "in-network," I want to help you maximize your benefits if you have them
The Superbill: If your plan has "out-of-network" coverage, I can provide you with a monthly document called a Superbill. This is submitted to your insurance company for a significant portion of my fee reimbursed directly.
Transparency: You will always know exactly what your care costs. No surprise bills, no "denied claims" months later, and no hidden fees.
My Commitment to You
I choose this path because I am committed to providing the highest level of care possible. I want our sessions to be a space of total freedom, deep privacy, and genuine transformation. By working directly for you, I can ensure that your well-being always comes first.