The unnoticed exposure
"Well, except for the diagnosis issue, are there any other reasons to avoid filing insurance claims through the office?
Perhaps the most important issue to many clients is the lack of
privacy they sense when their therapy records are open to their
insurance company. While the old-fashioned stigma of visiting a mental
health professional has largely disappeared, most people do not want
others having access to their therapy files. Therapy is, typically, a
private, personal process and confidentiality is a concern of all
professionals. However, to maintain tighter control on mental health
expenditures, third-party payers may insist on having full access to
client records."Andrews and Associates
Here is a link to the post that introduced this topic: http://therapiststhoughts.blogspot.com/2011/11/pay-as-you-go-choice.html
Another related discussion: http://therapiststhoughts.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-clarification-for-therapy-consumers.html
Posts
My privacy is so important to me that I'd rather pay out of pocket!
ReplyDeleteDespite feeling weak and silly and stupid doing so, thanks to you and this blog, I have made an appointment with another therapist. (You and I are in different states.)
I quit therapy over the holidays because my first-ever-and-only therapist of one year was too busy with personal issues to schedule time for me. There were some cancellations without explanation and a general lack of follow up. For weeks, I thought I'd said something wrong and had dome something to cause it.
Later, the therapist apologized and I truly feel compassion for this person and all that the therapist is dealing with.
But ... I just can't go back. I felt so tongue tied and unsafe and shattered. I felt as if I couldn't speak. I didn't even know how to say, 'I feel as if I can't speak.' If it had happened once, I think I could have dealt with it. But it happened multiple times.
I'm a recovering foster kid who "made it" out of the system and took the risk of trying to deal with some of that old stuff and I feel like I was rewarded, but just as I started to deeply trust, I got my hand slapped!
I hope my next therapist is like you!
-PJ
Dear PJ, This sounds like a pretty darn difficult experience. I'm glad that the therapist apologized; take that in, it helps. It's better than just having a shattered relationship with no closure whatsoever. Even so, I suggest that this incident be your 1st order of business with your new therapist. The new therapist should be able to help you to process what happened.
ReplyDeleteI give you credit for starting to try to build your own foundation, having been subject to the sometimes unpredictable experience of being in the foster care system. When you do begin with your new therapist, just take your time, pay attention to your own responses-both in the room and between sessions-and be patient with yourself in developing this new relationship.
Gosh, my heart goes out to you and I hope for a healing experience for you in your upcoming therapy.
Thank you! Thank you!
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