Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about therapy.
If you still have questions, contact us.
Choosing a Therapist
How should I pick a therapist?
To choose the right therapist for you, you should consider your goals. Find a therapist who specializes in your specific concerns and goals. It is important to find your therapist approachable and easy to talk to.
Therapists often have bios online that you can read to determine what their training, education, and their specialties include. These biographies can give you insight into who the therapist is and what their style might be.
Therapy Process
Now that I have started, how do I know this is the right therapist for me?
Do you feel comfortable with your therapist?
Can you be honest and open with your therapist?
Is your therapist responsive to your concerns and questions?
Do you feel confident in their understanding of your concern?
Are you confident in their ability to help you with your concern?
Having a good fit makes a significant difference in making progress in counseling. It is recommended that you give your therapist 2-3 visits to find a connection, unless you are able to tell immediately that the personality fit is not going to click, in which case it makes the most sense to make a switch at that time.
How long will appointments last?
The length of your session is dependent on a number of factors.
In the past (prior to 2013), the classic therapy “hour” was 50 minutes. Insurance regulations have since changed to 45 minutes as the standard for the general client who experiences mild to moderate mental health symptoms without complex needs.
Insurance regulations do have an extended session available to those clients who meet medical necessity criteria, set by each individual insurance company, which would allow for a full 60 minute session.
Plan for 45 minute sessions unless otherwise discussed by your therapist. If you are paying privately, the length of the appointment may be negotiated between you and your therapist, but will be assessed the appropriate associated fees.
How often will I attend therapy?
Weekly visits for the first 3 months is highly recommended and can be reassessed at that time.
Some clients with more complex or severe symptoms may benefit from a higher frequency.
It is important that children ages 10 and younger are seen weekly in order to make any progress.
We would like to help you make progress in your goals, and a reduced frequency from the start is an unfortunate way to reduce the likelihood of progress and success in counseling. Your therapist will discuss with you if a different frequency is recommended.
What can I expect from these appointments?
The Treatment Phase:
After the first few sessions, then active engagement of the treatment goals and plan begins. This varies dependent on the client’s presenting problem and the therapist’s training and clinical orientation.
In these sessions you will work toward gaining insights, learning skills, expressing emotions, and more, which will help you make progress and see progress for long term change. The therapist can guide you, and you are responsible for engaging in the practice. The progress is directly related to your level of commitment to doing the work outside of the counseling office.
What happens when my treatment goals have been met?
Once goals are completed, it is recommended that clients continue for “maintenance” phase, where a reduction in frequency of sessions occurs to assess and determine how the improvements are maintained as frequency lessens. If progress is maintained a client may move toward completion. If progress hits bumps, sessions will focus on how to manage these bumps.
What happens when I have met my goals and I'm ready to be done?
Once you have successfully completed maintenance phase, showing success in maintaining progress with reduced frequency, clients complete therapy. Clients are welcome back to counseling to revisit concerns that flair up, strategies learned but forgotten, or if new presenting problems are experienced. If a client needs a maintenance check up, they can come in for a few sessions or more. If a new presenting problem arises, a client may start over in the cycle of the counseling process, with the likelihood that the complete cycle would not take as long as the first time through.
So how long does all of this take?
The length of the counseling cycle, from start to finish, is dependent on many factors. Questions to ask yourself: How long has this problem been occurring? How ingrained are my habits related to this problem? Has this problem ever had flair-ups after periods of feeling better? If your presenting problem is related to a relatively new situation and set of symptoms that you have never experienced in your history, and has relatively little to no habits associated with this, your cycle may be fairly short (a few months). However, if you have had long term concerns, please recognize that the counseling will work to help you experience and maintain long-term progress which will take time. Therapists may try to give you a timeframe, but will not be able to guarantee any specific timeframe as progress is predominantly determined based on how much effort is made to engage differently from day to day or even minute to minute outside of the office, based on what you learn in the appointments.
Payment Options
Does Mindful Way Counseling accept insurance?
Our clinic accepts most major insurance plans, including most plans by:
We are also in network with most MNSure, MNCare, and Medical Assistance Plans.
Mindful Way Counseling cannot bill to and we are not in network with any Medicare plans at this time, even if they are associated with a company we are in network with, or if you have secondary insurance with a company we are in network with.
We are not in network with Hennepin Health.
EAPs: Our supervised clinicians cannot accept any EAPs, and being in -network with an insurance company listed above does not guarantee EAP coverage with any of our providers. We work with very limited EAP plans.
Always check with your insurance to be sure that we are in network.
What is the benefit of using insurance?
The benefit to using insurance for therapy appointments is that your insurance offers you a discounted rate from our full private pay fee for therapy services.
Your insurance benefits will determine how much you will owe for your therapy sessions, based on the rates the insurance has set and your specific benefits.
Some insurances will cover therapy services 100% (Medical Assistance for example), and other plans will come with a co-pay, deductible, and/or co-insurance that clients will owe for therapy services.
Please see our Insurance 101 graphic below for further understanding.
What if I have more than one health insurance?
Many clients have multiple active insurance policies at one time and multiple policies are then responsible for your therapy coverage. Please note that clients cannot pick and choose which insurance policy they would prefer to use at any given time. Insurance companies determine which insurance is primary, secondary, and so on. We are required to follow the policy order for claim submission and therefore must be aware of all policies that are active for our clients. We appreciate your understanding!
What if my insurance coverage ends or changes?
If insurance coverage ends at any time, clients will become financially responsible for therapy services engaged after coverage ends.
Clients are responsible for providing up-to-date insurance information 1 week prior to all therapy appointments in order to use insurance benefits.
If insurance changes and that new information is not provided prior to the appointment, clients will be fully financially responsible for therapy services that occurred prior to notification.
Clients are additionally fully financially responsible for any missed appointments and late canceled appointments.
This is outlined in our Policies.
What if I want to pay out of pocket or you are Out of Network with my insurance?
Our clinic accepts private pay clients in addition to clients with the insurances listed above. Our private pay rates and all associated rates are listed in our here. To determine the correct rates, see which rates your provider uses in their bio information here.
Our policies state that clients who are not covered under insurance are fully responsible for all therapy costs at the time of service. Clients who do not have insurance, are out of network, or are choosing not to use their benefits, may additionally be asked to sign a waiver related to their specific situation, as required by federal guidelines or insurance contracts if opting out of insurance benefits.
Notification of Federal Protections against Surprise Billing: Good Faith Estimate for uninsured clients
As of January 2022, there are new federal protections regarding Surprise Billing and the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for uninsured, private pay, and out of network (not submitting to insurance) clients. This is a notice of those federal protections.
You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost
Under the law, health care providers need to give clients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.
- You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees. (However, we do not provide medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment or hospitalization at Mindful Way Counseling)
- Your health care provider shall provide you a Good Faith Estimate in writing prior to your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider and any other provider you choose (to work with), for a Good Faith Estimate during scheduling.
- If you receive a bill that is at substantially higher than estimated on (more than $400 than) your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
- It is a good idea to save a copy of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises
Please note, Mindful Way Counseling already has transparency in private pay rates. We have always and will always be forthright with our fees. While you are considering working with us you can find our private rates for all services and associated items here. To determine the correct session rates, for those not submitting to insurance, see which rates your provider uses in their bio information here. Please note that these new federal protections are meant to reduce surprises in costs, such as in the case of hospitalizations where costs are not discussed or known. We will gladly provide all uninsured clients an official Good Faith Estimate.
Notification of Federal Protections against Surprise Medical Bills for Out-of-Network clients
As of January 2022, there are new federal protections regarding certain circumstances for out-of-network billing. This is a notice of those federal protections. After the notification, you can read about how this may or may not impact your services with Mindful Way Counseling.
Getting care from this provider or facility could cost you more (if we are out-of-network):
If you have insurance that Mindful Way Counseling does not work with and choose to proceed working with Mindful Way Counseling (you are choosing to not use your insurance in-network benefits), getting care from this provider or facility could cost you more than if you went to an in-network provider.
If your insurance plan covers the item or service you are getting, federal law protects you from higher bills:
- When you get emergency care from out-of-network providers and facilities, or
- When an out-of-network provider treats you at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center without your knowledge or consent.
Ask your health care provider or patient advocate if you need help knowing if these protections apply to you.
According to federal regulations, a waiver can be signed to pay the full fees, which may be more than your in-network benefits, which may mean you have:
- given up your protections under the law.
- you may owe the full costs billed for items and services received.
- Your health plan might not count any of the amount you pay toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit. Contact your health plan for more information (regarding your out of network benefits).
You should not sign any waivers, if you did not have a choice of providers when receiving care. For example, a doctor was assigned to you with no opportunity to make a change (or without choice). Before deciding whether to sign a waiver, you can contact your health plan to find an in-network provider or facility. If there isn’t one, your health plan might work out an agreement with a provider or facility.
Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills
When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.
What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?
When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a healthcare facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.
“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay (in network rate) and the full amount charged (private fee) for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.
“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care–like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.
You are protected from balance billing for:
Emergency services
If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments, deductible, and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balance filed for these post-stabilization services.
Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center
When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most these providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.
If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you, unless you give written consent and give up your protections.
You are never required to give up your protections from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get out-of-network care. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.
When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:
- You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
- Your health plan generally must:
- cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
- Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
- Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
- Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.
For more information about your rights under federal law, visit: https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumer-protections/Payment-disagreements
Please note, when signing up for care at Mindful Way Counseling, you always have a choice to engage in services or seek a provider outside of Mindful Way Counseling. Mindful Way Counseling does not provide emergency services, so any reference to balance billing and emergency services does not apply to our level of care. Additionally, clients will have already established their in-network status or their agreement for private pay or out-of-network status prior to engaging in any services, as a non-emergent care type. Therefore, clients who choose to engage in services with Mindful Way Counseling are allowed, under federal regulations, to sign a waiver to proceed with private pay services at Mindful Way Counseling’s full rate. Prospective clients have a right not to sign a waiver or not to agree to full fees for private pay or out of network billing, when establishing services, however, Mindful Way Counseling has the right not to proceed with services at that time. Mindful Way Counseling is not responsible for becoming in network with new insurance companies, please consider this before signing any waivers to engage in private pay care at Mindful Way Counseling.