Chad Harrold

Fees and payment information

You always have equity when you invest in yourself….

Compensation is, hands down, the most sensitive area for therapists and clients to discuss.

Let’s face it, it’s hard to put a price on changing for the better though it is easy to calculate the cost of staying the same!

 

Fees

 

My current fee per clinical hour (50 min.) is $160 for the initial intake and assessment and then $125 for individual sessions. Family and couples work has a slightly higher charge, $150, due to extra duties and the complexity of the work. I do not currently have a sliding scale, but rather offer a negotiable fee so that money doesn’t have to be an obstacle to obtaining therapy from me. Please note that I do have a limit as to the lowest payment I may offer clients as well as scheduling limitations that may apply. Remember, I also have bills to pay so that I can continue offering high quality therapy services to my clients. We should negotiate a fee before the first session, understanding that it may be further discussed in that session if necessary. If we cannot agree upon a fee that is reasonable for both of us, I will endeavor to refer you to a therapist who will be able to help you. 

All clients are required to provide a credit card on file as a retainer for missed sessions as well as over-due payments. If you do not use or have a credit card, we can discuss another advance payment option to provide this protection.

 

Accepted Forms of Payment

Payment is expected at the time of service and can be in the form of cash, check, paypal, or credit card. Please note that I prefer to avoid credit card processing when possible due to related fees and awareness of client debt potential, but understand if this is a necessity. Feel free to discuss and explore other options.

Using Insurance

If you found me through your insurance provider, though I may show to be in network, I may not be accepting new clients from that carrier at present. There are many panels on which I remain active solely as a courtesy to my veteran clients until their discharge. I am working to eventually become a fee for service provider as I believe that provides the greatest benefit to the client given the changing nature of insurance coverage. If you are not familiar with the “privacy related cost” of using insurance, I encourage you to read “Cost Effective Treatment?” or research this further on your own. If you prefer to use your insurance benefits and I am unable to serve you at present, I will be glad to assist you with a referral. All clients are responsible for payment at the time of service.

Ten Things Your Therapist Probably Won’t Tell You

by Pamela Chilton, B.T., C.Ht

  1. Therapy is hard work for the therapist, too. It takes training, dedication, focus, and commitment to healing to sit and witness pain daily.
  2. The money is not worth it. Therapists “in it” for the money, (as well as therapists who have not healed themselves), “burn out” and leave the field or – worse – convince themselves and their clients there are “easier” ways to heal.
  3. What IS worth it is witnessing the healing. No amount of money can equal this personal and professional satisfaction.
  4. Therapists have budgets too. Neither personal nor professional satisfaction pays the bills.
  5. The amount of money the therapist charges reflects the value the therapist places on the therapy provided.
  6. The percentage of that amount a client is willing to pay reflects the value the client places on the therapy provided.
  7. When a client does not pay what the therapy is worth, the therapy suffers. There is always resistance to this point. I resisted it myself in my beginning years as a therapist. As often as I could afford to do so, I provided free therapy to those willing to commit to healing, but unable to provide the funds for it. I observed, as much as I didn’t want to, a common pattern among my free clients: They did not value the therapy. By what measure? Forgetting appointments, chronic canceling and changing of appointment times, arriving late, wanting to leave early, ignoring steps important to take between appointments, and minimal participation in the therapy sessions. Eventually, I began charging everyone something. I used a sliding scale to determine these charges and began to note the following held true:
  8. The percentage paid of what the therapy is worth correlates directly to the percentage of commitment a client makes to healing.
  9. The greater the commitment to the therapy, the quicker the healing gained. Discussions with fellow therapists confirms this. Perhaps the reason is due, in part, to the commitment on the part of the therapist. Even therapists are not immune to resentment, whether conscious or subconscious, when they are not paid what they are worth.
  10. Clients paying for their therapy out of their own pocket heal more quickly. Naturally, few therapists speak of this publicly, nor even want to entertain the thought privately. We all have clients whose therapy is being paid for by parents, a spouse, insurance, social services, and far too infrequently by the person who created the trauma for which therapy is needed. It would be cruel to cut off, deny, or somehow make less worthy, sources of funds for people committed to healing. Nevertheless, the observation holds: Clients who pay for their own therapy heal more quickly. (A suggestion: If you simply cannot afford to pay for your own therapy, a compromise that seems to work is to make the promise (but you must mean it) that you will, in the future, donate an equal amount to the cost of your therapy to a worthy cause. Choosing the cause, and setting aside money weekly for it is convincing to the subconscious that you mean it. Start with a $1 per week and increase as you can.)

For more information from Pam Chilton please visit her here.