FAQ about therapy
General questions about therapy
Q. What’s the first session going to be like?
A. Intake sessions are the same length as other sessions (50 minutes) with the same session fee. Here are some things that usually happen during an intake session:
Go over practice policies and answer any questions you have about scheduling, payment, or anything else
Talk about why you’ve decided to seek therapy and what your goals are
Discuss your history, current symptoms, and other relevant details
Talk about your past experiences in therapy and what has been helpful or unhelpful to you
Schedule your next appointment
Q. What is a parent coaching session like?
A. In the first parent coaching session, you’ll discuss your family’s needs and your child’s history and set clear, achievable goals for the coaching process. In subsequent sessions, you might:
Brainstorm strategies for improving communication and resolving conflict between you, your child, and your family
Discuss your anxieties and concerns about parenting an LGBTQ child
Explore your self-care strategies and help you figure out ways of getting your own support needs met
Identify gaps in your knowledge about LGBTQ identities and provide information and resources
Reflect on your family’s religious, spiritual, and moral values and how your child’s identity fits into that framework
Q. How many times a week will we meet?
A. You can adjust the frequency of your sessions based on mutual availability, your budget, and your preferences. Weekly is the most common, but some clients meet as often as twice a week or as little as once a month.
Q. Is therapy confidential?
A. Yes. Please see this page for more info about confidentiality.
Q. Can my spouse, partner, or family member come to therapy with me?
A. This practice offers individual therapy, family therapy, and couples’/relationship therapy. A joint session with your partner or family member to provide them with psychoeducation about your condition may also be clinically appropriate in some circumstances.
However, for ethical reasons, you won’t be able to have relationship or family therapy with the same therapist you’re seeing for individual therapy, and your therapist can’t also see your romantic partner or close family member for individual therapy. Feel free to ask for a referral to another therapist at this practice or to an outside therapist.
Q. What kind of therapy do you practice?
A. The practice is led by an existential psychotherapist who uses tools from ERP, ACT, and IFS. Staff therapists share similar treatment philosophies and training and work closely with practice director Andrew Triska in supervision. Click here to learn more about our treatment approach.
Questions about scope of practice
Q. can you prescribe medication?
A. No. This practice employs only psychotherapists who are licensed to treat psychiatric illness and psychosocial issues using psychotherapy, not to prescribe medication. Mental health professionals who can prescribe medication include psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners (not psychotherapists, counselors, or psychologists). If you think you might need medication, feel free to ask for a referral.
Q. Can you provide me with a psychiatric diagnosis?
A. Yes, if you request it. However, while many people find value in being able to apply a label to what they’re experiencing, no diagnosis can provide full picture of what’s happening to you or what kind of treatment you need. Diagnostic labels are imperfect descriptions of what’s going on in your brain and your life, and the criteria used to apply diagnoses are often controversial. You won’t spend a lot of time in therapy talking about whether you fit a set of arbitrary criteria in the DSM-5. Instead, you and your therapist will focus on what you can do in therapy to mitigate your symptoms and improve your functioning.
Q. Can you diagnose neurodevelopmental conditions and learning disabilities like autism, ADHD, or dyslexia?
A. While we’re experienced in working with neurodivergent people in therapy, these conditions should be diagnosed by a specialist who can provide a neuropsychological evaluation. Please ask for a referral if you feel you need these services.
Q. Can you testify in court or conduct a custody evaluation?
A. No, this practice not provide these services.
Q. I am transgender. Can you write a letter of support for gender-affirming hormones or surgery?
A. Yes. All of the therapists at this practice are qualified to write these letters, either during ongoing therapy or as part of a limited-time surgery or hormone therapy readiness assessment.
Q. Is anyone at this practice a notary?
A. Practice director Andrew Triska is a New York state notary public. Current clients at this practice may contact us to arrange to bring documents to the office to be notarized free of charge. Signers must be physically present in the state of New York (no e-notarization).
Location and teletherapy questions
Q. Do you provide teletherapy?
A. Yes, we offer teletherapy sessions using a secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform called Sessions Health. You do not have to install any software or apps to use this platform.
Q. In what states or countries do you provide teletherapy?
A. We offer teletherapy in any state in which a particular therapist is licensed or registered to practice. For most therapists at this practice, that includes the states of New York and New Jersey. We also have therapists licensed in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maine, Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida. Each therapist has different state licenses, and some have more than one; see the staff page for the most updated information about staff therapists’ licensure. The relevant state is the state in which the client is physically present at the time of the session. Your home address or the therapist’s location do not matter.
If you live outside the United States, we may be able to provide you with therapy depending on your local laws. Some locations do not regulate the practice of psychotherapy at all. Get in touch to ask about your options if you’re a non-U.S. resident looking for therapy.
In some cases, we may be able to provide letters of support for gender-affirming surgery or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to clients in other states that allow out-of-state telehealth practice when the care provided is considered “episodic” or if the consultation is requested by a healthcare professional licensed in that state. If you’re in a state where our staff are not currently licensed or registered and you’re interested in obtaining a letter of support for surgery or hormone therapy, please send a message using the contact form.
Q. Do you offer in-person sessions?
A. Yes. Our office is Manhattan, NY. You can find directions here.
Q. Can I mix teletherapy sessions with in-person sessions?
A. Yes. Many of our clients do just that.
Q. How do I get to your office?
A. See this page for info about the office’s location and how to get into the building.
Q. Have you changed your gender-affirming healthcare services based on recent anti-trans policy changes?
A. No. We continue to provide psychotherapy and letters of support for gender-affirming medical care to trans and queer clients of all ages in every state where we are licensed or registered to practice. We can sometimes provide single-session gender-affirming medical care readiness assessments at no cost or on a sliding-scale basis, especially if you’re in an area impacted by anti-trans legislation.
If you are concerned that your healthcare or your child’s healthcare may be affected by recent state legislation or executive orders, please contact using using the contact form to inquire about how we protect our clients’ confidentiality in response to these challenges.
Financial questions
Q. How much does therapy cost?
A. Each therapist charges different rates. See this page for staff therapists’ biographies and rates.
Q. Do you offer sliding scale rates?
A. Periodically, therapists at this practice make need-based sliding scale slots available. Every therapist sets their own eligibility policy. Please inquire with individual therapists for their current sliding scale rates, eligibility criteria, and availability.
Q. Do you take insurance?
A. We are not in-network (sometimes called a “preferred provider” or “participating provider”) with any commercial insurance companies. However, if your insurance plan offers out-of-network benefits, these benefits can be used to cover your sessions. You can also use HSA/FSA funds.
In some cases, if you don’t have out-of-network benefits, we may be able to offer a single-case agreement (a special agreement with your insurance company to make an exception to cover out-of-network therapy) depending on your plan. You would be responsible for any amount your insurance does not cover.
Q. How do I know if my out-of-network insurance benefits cover your services?
A. If you have out-of-network benefits at all, they almost certainly cover individual psychotherapy. The best way to find out if you have out-of-network benefits is to visit your insurance plan’s online portal or call the phone number on the back of your card. If you’re not sure about your reimbursement rates or have questions, feel free to ask the therapist you’re interested in working with.
Q. When I use my out-of-network benefits, do I pay up front or does my insurance pay you?
A. You pay up front and your insurance pays you back. Here’s how it works:
After your session, you’ll get an email with your invoice attached. You can then pay your session fee using a credit card, debit card, HSA/FSA card, or cash.
You’ll see a document called a “superbill” when you log into the client area of the practice management system.
You’ll download the superbill and submit it to your insurance company for reimbursement. (This process varies by insurance company. Many insurance plans have apps or web sites where you can easily upload your superbills.)
In 2–6 weeks, you’ll receive a check for the percentage of the bill your insurance company has agreed to cover.
Q. What if I don’t want to submit my own superbills?
A. You might consider using a service like Reimbursify, which takes care of claim filing for you for $3.99 per claim. The first claim is free.
Q. How do I pay my bill online?
Normally, your payment card will be charged automatically after your sessions. However, sometimes you may need to enter a payment manually (e.g. if a card payment fails). Log into the online billing portal and enter your invoice number. You can find your invoices under the “Billing” tab in the client portal (which is a different link than the bill payment portal).
Scheduling questions
Q. How do I schedule an appointment?
A. You can request an appointment on this page. You can also use the form at the top of that page to be matched with a therapist.
Q. How do I cancel or reschedule an appointment?
Contact your therapist using their individual phone number or email. Do not call practice director Andrew Triska or practice manager Gemma Barbaro. All staff therapists’ contact info can be found on this page.
Q. What’s your cancellation policy?
A. You can view our cancellation and other policies here.
Q. Do you have evening or weekend times available?
A. Each therapist at this practice sets their own hours, and some work on weekends or evenings. Please contact the therapist you’d like to work with and ask for their current availability, or use the therapist match form to be matched with a therapist with evening or weekend availability.
Q. What should I do if I have questions before scheduling an intake?
A. Contact our practice manager or email the staff therapist you’re interested in working with.
Accessibility questions
Q. Is your main office wheelchair accessible?
A. No, our office is down one flight of stairs. If you cannot safely use stairs, please mention this in your appointment request and we will arrange an alternative office location depending on your accessibility needs.
Q. Do you offer therapy in languages other than English?
A. Yes, some staff therapists can conduct therapy in languages other than English. Sonal Govila speaks Hindi and Urdu. Jessy Dong speaks Mandarin. Shao Jiayi speaks Mandarin and Cantonese. You can also filter by languages spoken on our staff page.