Good Faith Estimate.

Under the federal No Surprises Act, you have the right to receive a written estimate of how much your health care is expected to cost before you schedule it, if you do not plan to use insurance to pay for that care. This practice is self-pay only — I do not bill any insurance company — which means every client here is entitled to a Good Faith Estimate.

The purpose is simple: you should not be surprised by the cost of your own therapy. You should be able to make a real decision about starting, continuing, or stopping care with the numbers in front of you.

Your rights, in plain language

• You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining how much your care will cost.
• You can ask for a Good Faith Estimate in writing before you schedule a session, and I have to provide it.
• If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate for that same service, you can dispute the bill through the federal patient-provider dispute resolution process.
• Keep a copy of your Good Faith Estimate somewhere you can find it. You may need it if you ever dispute a bill.

What this practice charges

The fee for a standard 60-minute individual therapy session is $180, paid at the time of service. This is a self-pay fee. I do not bill insurance, I am not in-network with any insurance plan, and I do not collect co-pays or deductibles. If you have out-of-network mental health benefits, I can provide a superbill you may submit to your insurance yourself; whether they reimburse you, and how much, is between you and your plan.

Cancellations or reschedules made with less than six hours’ notice are billed a $25 late-cancellation fee. There are no other add-on charges — no intake fee, no records fee for routine session notes, no processing surcharge.

How your estimate is built

Your Good Faith Estimate is written for you, based on what we have talked about needing. If we agree to work together, the estimate will list the fee per session, the length of a session, and a reasonable projection of how many sessions we expect over a defined period of time. Therapy is not a fixed treatment plan the way a surgery is — how long we work together depends on what you are bringing in, how it moves, and what you decide you want. The estimate is a good-faith projection based on what we know at the time you ask for it, not a guarantee of a specific number of sessions.

If our work changes shape — for example, if you decide to move to less frequent sessions, or to extend beyond what we first planned — you can ask for an updated Good Faith Estimate at any time. You are also welcome to ask for one before we ever schedule a first session.

How to request one

Use the contact form to say, in plain words, that you would like a Good Faith Estimate. Include what you are looking for help with, whether you are considering weekly or every-other-week sessions, and a rough sense of how long you think you might want to work together. I will write the estimate and send it back to you in writing before any session is scheduled.

What to do if you get a bill higher than your estimate

If you ever receive a bill from this practice that is $400 or more above the Good Faith Estimate you were given for the same service, you have the right to dispute it through the federal patient-provider dispute resolution process. You can also raise it with me directly first — most billing questions turn out to be simple corrections, and I would rather sort them out with you than have you carry them alone.

For the official federal explanation of your No Surprises Act rights, and to start a dispute if you need to, visit cms.gov/nosurprises.

Not a substitute for legal or insurance advice

This page describes how the Good Faith Estimate works in this practice, in plain language. It is not legal advice, and it does not describe every possible situation. The federal rules are the rules that govern, and they can change.