FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
What is therapy? Therapy
involves discussing your painful emotions,
experiences, and relationships with a
professional who has training and experience
to offer insight and advice to help you
heal, change, and grow.
How long does therapy take?
This is a common question that must be
answered on an individual basis. Variables
that affect the length of treatment include:
number of issues a client wishes to address,
how long has the current problem existed,
does the client attend sessions regularly,
and does the client make the suggested
changes.
How often do we need to come?
Most of our clients come once a week.
When clients are experiencing a crisis,
multiple sessions a week may be desirable.
Will our insurance pay for the
costs of therapy? Your insurance
company may pay for some of the costs
of therapy depending on your diagnosis
and your particular policy. Many insurance
companies do not pay for marital therapy.
Neither Dr. Laird nor Dr. Shari is a contracted
provider with any insurance company. We
do have clients who use the “outside
of network” benefit of their policy
to help defray the cost of therapy. (This
option is not available for clients with
HMO coverage.) This benefit reimburses
you for psychological care at a lower
rate than if you used a provider that
was part of your network. Generally, we
ask that you pay our fee at the time services
are rendered (at each session). We will
then supply you with monthly superbills
that you may submit to your insurance
carrier. Your insurance company will then
reimburse you directly.
What methods of payment do you
accept? We accept cash or a check
made payable to BPS (Bridgman Psychological
Services). Sorry, we do not accept credit
cards.
How do I know if I, or someone
I care about, need therapy? Any
time you have emotional or relationship
issues that are affecting your ability
to function at work, at home, or at school,
you probably need therapy. If you find
yourself tearful, angry, fatigued, irritable,
anxious, nervous or if others have commented
that you “don’t seem yourself
lately” these are good indictors
that it is time to invest in some therapy.
What are the costs of therapy?
Therapy costs vary from therapist
to therapist, and may vary by the type
of service being provided. Your therapist
will discuss the fees with you.
How long is a therapy session?
A typical therapy session is
45-50 minutes long. Dr. Laird works on
a 50-minute session and Dr. Shari works
on a 45-minute session.
What can I expect from my first
session? Generally in the first
session we review our therapy agreement,
discuss the problems for which you are
seeking help, get background information
from you (which may include school history,
work history, significant relationships
and experiences among other things), and
begin to set goals for treatment.
How can I maximize my therapy
experience? It is always helpful
when clients make their therapy a priority
by consistently attending their sessions
and completing any homework assigned by
their therapist. We recommend that our
clients bring a pad and paper to write
down significant insights or information
that they want to make sure they remember
and incorporate into their healing process.
It is important that you come to each
session with an idea of what you would
like to discuss. Many of our clients choose
to use our form, “How to prepare
for a therapy session” which is
available for
download from this website.
