Common Therapy Questions

To schedule your first session (either a meet-and-greet or an intake), please email or call our Client Care Coordinator, Ellie, at [email protected] or (763)913-8261 to arrange your first session.

During your first session, you will work with your therapist to better understand why you have come to therapy. You will begin to develop a relationship with your therapist. Other formal aspects of your therapy will also be discussed, including your fee for sessions and scheduling a regular meeting time.

Common questions teens have about their first therapy session.

Payment is due at the beginning of session and methods of accepted payment include cash, check, credit card, and online payment via our patient portal.

If the required fee is a barrier to your therapy, please talk with your therapist when arranging your first appointment. A sliding scale is sometimes available and a reduced fee may be offered.

We are out of network providers with many insurance companies which means that we do not bill insurance companies directly. Your counseling services may be eligible for reimbursement through out-of-network benefits, medical spending or health care savings accounts. Health insurance plans and benefits vary. If you are interested in using your health insurance to see one of our therapists, please call your insurance provider to inquire about reimbursement for out-of-network counseling services. (See below for questions to ask your insurance company). Sentier will provide you with a receipt at the end of each month which you can submit to your insurance company for out-of-network coverage/reimbursement.

Questions to ask your insurance provider (prior to seeing our therapists for counseling):

If you would like to investigate the possibility of reimbursement for out-of-network coverage, please check your policy carefully and ask the following questions of your provider:

• Do I have mental health benefits?
• What is my deductible and has it been met?
• How many mental health sessions per calendar year does my insurance plan cover?
• How much does my plan cover for an out-of-network mental health provider?
• How do I obtain reimbursement for therapy with an out-of-network provider?
• What is the coverage amount per therapy session?
• Is approval required from my primary care physician?

Many clients choose not to involve insurance companies in their mental health care. Their counseling is not limited by the diagnosis, treatment plan or session limits that health insurance companies dictate. Insurance companies often limit the number of sessions and even the type of therapy. Many insurance companies do not cover couples/relational or family therapy.

To have therapy services covered under insurance, a mental health diagnosis must be made. This then becomes a part of your permanent health care record. This may lead to limitations such as denial for quality life insurance or health insurance later on. Additionally, since a mental health diagnosis must be made to obtain reimbursement, the insurance company has to know a lot of information about you to be covered. The insurance company can review all of your records at their discretion.

By paying privately or out of pocket, we can assure private pay clients of the highest degree of privacy, flexibility and control of their mental health record allowed by Minnesota state law, since our records are exempt from insurance reporting and random compliance audits. Our work is off record.

In addition, many insurance companies require a deductible to be met before they start paying, so you may be paying out of pocket anyway.

We will work collaboratively to decide how often to attend therapy and you decide what you want to focus on. You have the control, not the insurance company.

The time that is allotted for your therapy session is unique to you. Sentier Psychotherapy reserves that time for you and requires a 24 hour cancellation notice. Appointments cancelled with less than a 24 hour notice will be billed at the session fee.