Therapists are SO expensive, need advice!

[Anonymous]

I am looking for a great therapist for my son - who suffers from social anxiety. At the moment, and $200 a visit, I simply cant afford it - on top of braces, and a host of other things - I simply cant swing it. SO FRUSTRATING.

I've already reached out to the counselor at school. Any ideas for a great therapist who takes insurance or who does a sliding scale?
Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Where do you live? You could also check with your pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

Does your health insurance cover this?

[Anonymous]

I was asking about health insurance and hit submit too quick.

There is no one local that we want to use who takes our insurance so we pay upfront for therapy and then submit the claim to our insurance and get about half back. Still expensive but better than paying all of it on our own.

We are fortunate that we can afford to spend money on this and we view it as being even more important than saving for college. Mental health is not something to mess around with if you can possible afford to seek help.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown takes insurance, and my son has had a good experience with his counselor there.

[Anonymous]

You get a series of books out of the local library, read up, implement and share with your child as appropriate.

This is what I ended up doing with my social anxiety and my daughter's, as well as all other problems in our family's life for which a therapist would have been indicated. Therapists, in my experience, are just a big waste of money.

[Anonymous]

JSSA takes insurance.

[Anonymous]

OP here - these are great ideas so far. My out of network benefits would only cover about 25 bucks of each 200 dollar visit. I did try georgeotwn upon advice from a friend, they dont have any therapy openings now - only medication management. They are getting a new therapist next week, but it doesn't seem like her spcialities will line up with my sons needs. Keep the suggestions coming - thank you!

[Anonymous]

I know what you are going through. I have what is considered excellent insurance and it still covers less than half of the cost of DD's therapy. She has needed extensive therapy (several times a week) -- I think I am up around $5k out of pocket this year.

Here's what we've done -- once her meds were stable, we replaced her $$$ psychiatrist with a psychiatric nurse practitioner who takes our insurance. It took two days of calling every practice I could find to find her, but she is awesome and has saved me thousands.

Now that she is doing better and is out of intensive therapy, she sees a therapist who is still in training. All therapists have to log a certain # of hours supervised by a licensed therapist. The "trainee" therapist costs half of the regular rate and is also fantastic.

We supplement that with group therapy (much cheaper than individual, usually $50-$75/session) and support groups (often free) as needed. DD finds group therapy more helpful than individual now. I think knowing she is not the only one is huge. There are a number of teen groups around NoVa.

Another thing to try is online/teletherapy. Many insurance companies partner with teletherapy practices and some research has shown it is just as effective as in-person sessions, but it costs much less. Talkspace is one I have heard good things about.

Good luck, I know how tough this is and the financial stress is massive if you're not wealthy. I am grateful to have found quality care options for DD at lower costs, but it took hours and hours of calls and research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know what you are going through. I have what is considered excellent insurance and it still covers less than half of the cost of DD's therapy. She has needed extensive therapy (several times a week) -- I think I am up around $5k out of pocket this year.

Here's what we've done -- once her meds were stable, we replaced her $$$ psychiatrist with a psychiatric nurse practitioner who takes our insurance. It took two days of calling every practice I could find to find her, but she is awesome and has saved me thousands.

Now that she is doing better and is out of intensive therapy, she sees a therapist who is still in training. All therapists have to log a certain # of hours supervised by a licensed therapist. The "trainee" therapist costs half of the regular rate and is also fantastic.

We supplement that with group therapy (much cheaper than individual, usually $50-$75/session) and support groups (often free) as needed. DD finds group therapy more helpful than individual now. I think knowing she is not the only one is huge. There are a number of teen groups around NoVa.

Another thing to try is online/teletherapy. Many insurance companies partner with teletherapy practices and some research has shown it is just as effective as in-person sessions, but it costs much less. Talkspace is one I have heard good things about.

Good luck, I know how tough this is and the financial stress is massive if you're not wealthy. I am grateful to have found quality care options for DD at lower costs, but it took hours and hours of calls and research.

Wow! It is really amazing that you have been able to support your daughter this way. How did you find the therapist in training? I would definitely be interested in that route.

[Anonymous]

When I was in college the college counseling center had therapists in training who had to get a certain number of case hours. I saw a woman who was basically a peer to help me through some stress.

Also, make sure you have a good diagnosis - I thought I had anxiety / GAD (as did a series of therapists). Eventually my husband and a trusted colleague both methoned ADHD to me. My doctor put me on meds and many of may anxieties went away - they were often secondary to life management challenges.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are in Northern VA, contact The Women's Center. We were so fortunate to work with a therapist in training who was excellent. Our cost was $49 per visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are in Northern VA, contact The Women's Center. We were so fortunate to work with a therapist in training who was excellent. Our cost was $49 per visit.

I was going to suggest the women’s center too. Sliding scale

[Anonymous]

Anyone in particular at the women’s center for a boy with anxiety?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - these are great ideas so far. My out of network benefits would only cover about 25 bucks of each 200 dollar visit. I did try georgeotwn upon advice from a friend, they dont have any therapy openings now - only medication management. They are getting a new therapist next week, but it doesn't seem like her spcialities will line up with my sons needs. Keep the suggestions coming - thank you!

Georgetown is great but hard to get in; see if your pediatrician can call them on your behalf. I tried this route and they found an opening for me after my dr called.