At Space Between Counseling Services, we believe that all clients should have affordable and accessible therapy without sacrificing quality. Every member of the SBCS team, clinicians and graduate student interns, receive specialized training opportunities, clinical supervision, peer support and participate in weekly team meetings to ensure that clients are reaching both affirming and informed care. Our tier rates reflect our therapists' level of experience as well as their expertise in certain areas.

PLEASE NOTE: COUPLE THERAPY RATES ARE LISTED BELOW THE INDIVIDUAL THERAPY RATES. PLEASE SCROLL FOR TRANSPARENT PRICING INFORMATION

Advanced Senior Therapist

Advanced Practitioners

Fellow

**To Be Announced**

Associates

Novice Practitioner

**To Be Announced**

Graduate Student Interns

TELL ME ABOUT FEES AND INSURANCE?

Clinician fees at SBCS range from $175-$275 per individual 45-minute session. Couples intake sessions range from $275-$650 and $275-$425 per follow-up appointment. Sessions with a graduate student intern range from $0-$100, depending on client need and clinician experience.

SBCS is not paneled with any insurance plans but can offer you what's called, "out-of-network" (OON) benefits. Not everyone has this as part of their benefits package so please call your healthcare plan and ask these questions:

Do I have out-of-network benefits?
What percentage of my therapist's fee does my plan pay for?

MOST OON BENEFIT PLANS REIMBURSE BETWEEN 50-90% OF OUR FEES.

At times, insurance plans request upfront billing codes SBCS will be using. You can share this list of codes for their approval:

• 90791  Psychiatric Diagnostic Assessment (from 1-4 sessions depending on the problem)

• 90847  Family Psychotherapy, conjoint psychotherapy with patient present

• 90834 Psychotherapy, 45 minutes

• 90832  Psychotherapy, 30 minutes

When using OON benefits, your clinician would provide you with a document monthly called a "superbill" which is like an invoice but contains the service codes, dates of treatment, and monies paid during therapy. You would submit this to your plan directly and your plan would reimburse you directly as well.

You can get in-network therapy if this is out of your budget. Your plan can identify providers who are in-network should you need to use your benefits.

HOW ARE OUR RECORDS STORED?

We at SBCS utilize a HIPAA compliant, encrypted, electronic medical record called SimplePractice that holds all of our client's mental health records safely in it. You will get a link to a client portal where you fill in demographic information and can access documents like invoices and superbills on your own.

HOW DO I PAY MY THERAPIST?

SimplePractice has a credit card processing system named Stripe embedded in it.  If choosing to work with a therapist at SBCS, you would upload your credit card number and your therapist will charge after each session or late cancellation for the fee.  Your therapist will only have access to the last 4 digits of your card and it is completely secured.

DO YOU HAVE A CANCELLATION POLICY?

All clinicians at Space Between Counseling Services have a 24-business-hour cancellation policy You will be responsible for an entire session fee if the change is made in less than 24 business hours' notice. Exceptions may be made for emergencies such as sudden illness or accidents, at your therapist’s discretion. It should be noted that insurance does not reimburse for canceled sessions and HSA and FSA cards can't be used in these cases.

• CREDIT CARD

• HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT

• FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT

• CASH / CHECKS FOR ESTABLISHED CLIENTS (ONLY)

IF YOU HAVE A FINANCIAL NEED FOR LOW COST THERAPY,

WE RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:

• Open Path Psychotherapy Collective connects clients with therapists for discounted fees between $30 and $60 per session.

• Pro-Bono Counseling Project connects clients with therapists for discounted session fees up to $30. We are not currently in network with the Pro-Bono Counseling Project.

• TurnAround provides no cost counseling for survivors of domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, and sexual assault.

• Women's Growth Center provides counseling for all genders, accepts many insurances, and offers sliding scale services.

• The Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund provides funds to access to a comprehensive list of mental health professionals across the country providing high quality, culturally competent services to Black women and girls.

Wellness is a term used to measure a persons overall health and wellbeing. At SBCS, we view wellness as a holistic entity comprised of many parts, including: body, mind, spirit + emotions. Many individuals invest in their personal wellness journeys by joining a gym, signing up for yoga classes, or drinking green juice. These practices can be beneficial for the body. We invite you to think of therapy as a way to promote the wellness of the mind, spirit, and emotions.

SBCS deeply subscribes to some of the underlying principles of holistic wellness. As a team, we believe:

• All clients possess the innate ability to heal themselves when given the access to safe containers.

• The client is an intersectional being - not a diagnosis.

• Wellness is comprised of multiple components - so we embrace collaboration with other providers such as body workers, health care providers, medication management providers + beyond.

• Treatment is multidimensional and involves not only alleviating symptoms & developing coping mechanisms but also understanding and healing the root of the condition(s) being experienced.

• Providing clients with access to psycho-education, resources, and space to build insight so that they can continue towards wellness both inside of the therapy office and out in the world.

Here at Space Between Counseling Services, we choose to work outside of insurance companies for a variety of reasons:

1) CLIENT PRIVACY AND PROTECTION

When using insurance to pay for therapy, a mental health diagnosis is required which then goes onto your permanent medical record, possibly creating an impact when applying for life and medical insurance coverage, or possibly limiting future employment opportunities. At SBCS, we like to empower our clients to choose whether or not they want to have a diagnosis on their medical record. By being out-of-network and private pay, we can allow our clients the highest degree of privacy, flexibility, and control of their medical records allowed by Maryland state law.

2) WE WANT OUR CLIENTS TO BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE LENGTH, + FREQUENCY OF THEIR THERAPEUTIC SERVICES.

When you use your insurance plan to obtain therapy, the insurance companies can often dictate how long you can be in therapy. Individuals, couples and families seek therapy for unique reasons. Therefor, the amount of time needed to address client concerns and achieve goals varies. Some clients have specific concerns that can be addressed a resolved in a minimal amount of sessions, while others may require longer-term treatment. As a team of therapists, we share the goal of setting up a therapeutic structure that works best for your schedule and needs. Do you have a varying schedule? No problem!

While it’s ideal to see each other at least 3 times in the first month of working together, you don’t necessarily have to schedule for weekly 45-minute sessions. Some clients prefer bi-weekly, or even monthly sessions. Others prefer a 90-minute session format. As out-of-network providers, we are able to cater to these different preferences, so long as they are clinically relevant.

3) WE WANT OUR CLIENTS TO BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE TYPE OF THERAPY THEY RECEIVE

When you use your insurance plan to obtain therapy, the insurance companies can often dictate what kind of therapy you can receive. Space Between Counseling Services is proud to offer various therapeutic modalities, including individual talk therapy, couples therapy, and Brainspotting.

At SBCS, we provide both relationship counseling and Brainspotting in a 90-minute session format. Because of the experiential nature of couples work + brainspotting, sessions are longer than the traditional 45-minute therapy hour, lasting between 90 minutes and 2 hours. We are able to make significant changes in these longer sessions, and as a result clients often do need to meet as frequently. That being said, sessions in this format are often not covered by insurance agencies.

4) YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHOOSE WHO YOU WORK WITH

One of the biggest determinants for the outcome of therapy is the relationship that you share with your therapist. At SBCS, we have 6 clinicians, each bringing their own unique trainings, backgrounds, identities and personalities. For some clients, it feels important that their therapist share elements of their own identities. For some, specialized training in the specific concerns that they bring to therapy is essential. When you work with an out-of-network provider, you have options to work with a therapist that meets all of your unique preferences.

When utilizing insurance provided by an employer, if you switch jobs, or if your job switches insurance providers, you may not be able to continue working with your existing therapist. Many clients do not want to start over with a new therapist due to third party changes that are often out of their control after gaining trust, building rapport, and experiencing security. A gap or change in insurance coverage will not impact your ability to receive therapeutic services with a private-pay therapist.

• 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 WORK, RELATIONAL COUNSELING AND/OR FAMILY THERAPY OON. 

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 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 MARYLAND STATE LAW, SINCE OUR RECORDS ARE EXEMPT FROM INSURANCE REPORTING AND RANDOM COMPLIANCE AUDITS. 

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.

No Surprises Act and Good Faith Estimates at SBCS

On January 1, 2022, congress enacted a "No Surprises Act", which is a "new federal protections against surprise medical bills that take effect in 2022. Surprise medical bills arise when insured consumers inadvertently receive care from out-of-network hospitals, doctors, or other providers they did not choose". Under the law, health care providers, including mental health providers, must give clients who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for services.

If you are an existing client at Space Between Counseling Services, it is highly unlikely this would affect our work together. There will be no situation in which you would "inadvertently" receive care from a member of the SBCS team. Also, the final rules about how to implement this in a practice such as SBCS have not even been written yet by the federal government. We are an "out of network" practice for all insurance companies.

As stated above, our licenses, training, and education qualify for out-of-network reimbursement. This means that we do not bill insurance companies directly. Your counseling services may be eligible for reimbursement through out-of-network benefits, medical spending (FSA's) or health care savings accounts (HSA's).

If you are currently working with a clinician at Space Between Counseling Services, you are already aware of your costs for your mental health services. We believe in transparency, which is why fees are listed at numerous places on our website, discussed explicitly during initial phone consultations, and during your initial session.

If you are considering working with a clinician at Space Between Counseling Services for individual or couple work, your chosen clinician(s) will need to provide you with a diagnosis prior to meeting for your initial session, which as a team we feel is both unethical and impossible without a meaningful evaluation of your circumstances. At this time, many professional organizations are attempting to understand the details of this law, to whom it applies and how to apply it. Unfortunately, guidance so far is uncertain and in many cases conflicting.

Please know: Space Between Counseling Services will remain transparent with you about the costs of the services agreed upon. You will have "no surprises" at our practice in regard to fees. In the meantime, you may certainly ask your clinician or our client care coordinator, Niina “Ninny” Bacha, about any costs about which you may be unsure, and you will be provided clear information. Please feel free to contact your clinician if you have any related questions.

CALL OR EMAIL 

support@SPACEBETWEENCOUNSELINGSERVICES.COM FOR A COMPLIMENTARY PHONE CONSULTATION (443)-240-5207