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CONSUMER
INFORMATION
Philosophy of the Boulder Psychotherapists Guild,
Inc.
- Psychotherapy is a valuable health care service that benefits many
people.
- Informed consumers should make their own personal mental health caredecisions
in consultation with the professional of their choice. These decisions
include the selection of a therapist, the goals of therapy, and the
length of therapy.
- The Guild strives to provide the consumer with clear information about
the members psychotherapy services, the nature of psychotherapy,
and Guild services.
The Informed Consumer of Mental Health
Care
Why be an informed consumer?
- You are the only person who has the authority and right to decide
what treatment you or your children receive.
- You know your own individuality better than anyone else. Experts base
their knowledge on what most people are like, but you still know yourself
better.
- You are the person who is in charge of following through on maintaining
your
own mental health.
What do informed consumers need to know?
- What are the types of mental health problems or issues that you might
have?
- What are the potential benefits of various treatments or other solutions?
- What are the possible risks of various treatments or solutions?
- What are the costs of the various treatments or solutions?
How do you get information?
- Read this directory.
- Ask professionals for their opinions and recommendations. Ask
them to explain. Make a list of questions because it is typical to forget
questions when in a professionals office.
- Read about your issues or problems.
When you are informed, what happens next?
- You are able to make your choices.

What is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is a powerful, time-honored and proven method
of helping people change the way they feel and manage their lives. Therapy
is the practice of talking things through with a skilled and trusted professional
who, by using a variety of techniques, can help clients make positive
changes in their lives. It is a healing method based upon both the science
of psychology and the skills of understanding, teaching, supporting, and
confronting.
In therapy, it is important for clients to be self-aware and open but
for most people, this is difficult. Feelings of shame hinder self-awareness
and openness. To be successful, the therapist must support the client
and avoid shaming and judging. Over time, by openly and honestly talking
about feelings, the client learns to trust that the therapist will be
able to provide understanding and support even while discussing behavior
about which the client and/or therapist may disapprove.
Psychotherapy is confidential and private. No information about therapy
sessions can be released to anyone without client permission. (There are
legal exceptions to confidentiality when someone is a danger to
themselves or others and when there is evidence of the physical or sexual
abuse of children. These exceptions can be explained in more detail by
a therapist.)
Psychotherapy is individual. A skilled professional has a knowledge of
many therapeutic techniques and is able to use them to meet individual
needs.
Effective therapy moves at the clients individual pace. A therapist
knows how to time interventions according to a clients readiness.
Together, client and therapist decide the frequency of sessions and when
it is time to end the therapy.
Human beings have the amazing ability to control or alter the course of
their lives. Furthermore, we are biologically programmed to control and
change our fate most effectively when we discuss our feelings with a helping
person. This is why the effects of talking to another person are more
profound than the effects of talking to ourselves, especially when the
other person can listen skillfully and respond empathically. Psychotherapists
use the skills and knowledge of psychology. The power of the healing relationship
between patient and therapist grows over time.
Research shows that with trained, empathic and experienced therapists,
people can make great improvements in their personal, emotional, occupational
and interpersonal lives. In fact, millions of people have benefited from
psychotherapy. Solving problems in therapy can prevent many of the social
tragedies of our time including depression, domestic violence, child abuse,
school failure, substance abuse and suicide.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
by Cynthia Kale, Ph.D.
and Evelyn Bassoff, Ph.D.
In the present era of managed-care health care, the most commonly recommended
therapy for people with emotional problems is brief and symptom-focused.
Increasingly, the health insurance industry requires that mental health
providers find quick solutions to reduce their clients distres-sing
symptoms. Quick fixes, however, often do not produce sustainable
changes for complex human problems. A more effective treatment is psychodynamic
psychotherapy.
What is psychodynamic psychotherapy? It is a therapy that addresses the
clients inner conflicts, which may, for example, derive from early
traumas or troubled relationships with parents. Through a deepening and
compassionate self-understanding, clients free themselves from the destructive
aspects of their past. In psychodynamic psychotherapy, clients look beyond
the symptoms of their unhappiness to their causes: they learn why they
feel as they do and how their feelings came about. They see the big picture
(which is why psychodynamic psychotherapy is also called insight-oriented
psychotherapy) and they begin to make lasting changes that may have been
impossible in brief therapy.
The quality of the relationship between therapist and client is a critical
factor in successful psychodynamic therapy. The therapist becomes a true
ally as well as a reliable and skillful collaborator in the healing process.
In fact, as the best research in psychology has demonstrated, a successful
outcome and a strong therapeutic relationship go hand in hand.
Some facts about psychodynamic therapy:
- Treatment typically lasts at least one year.
- It emphasizes autonomy, improved self-esteem, and self-understanding.
- For people who want to make sense of their whole life story and
get at the root of their problem, it is a therapy of choice.
- It is a treatment with goals more ambitious than symptom relief;
it aspires to increase personal awareness and growth.
- It is an alternative for those who have tried other treatment and
found it unsuccessful.

What About Brief Therapy?
Consumers generally want their therapy to be as brief as possible, and
today more people are talking about brief therapy techniques. Many researchers
and therapists call 30 sessions of therapy brief. Other
therapists consider briefto be just a few sessions. It is
important to know what a therapist means when referring to brief
therapy.
Research generally shows that therapy must be longer than a few sessions
to be helpful. Studies suggest that at least 6-8 sessions are necessary
for the benefit of psychotherapy to be measurable. The research that proved
psychotherapy is beneficial was based on analyzing hundreds of studies
of therapy that averaged 17 or more sessions.
Whether brief therapy works for you depends on what you are looking for
from therapy and the kind of problem you bring to therapy. Many times
people see a therapist for just a few visits. This can be successful if
a client is looking for a brief consultation or is dealing with a temporary
crisis. Sometimes a therapist can help individuals or families change
very quickly. Most therapists use brief therapy when it is appropriate.
What is important is making sure that your goals are accomplished.
Because it can be helpful with many people, it makes sense to consider
brief therapy. However, long standing, difficult, complicated, or more
serious problems often need more time. Long-standing problems rarely change
overnight. But even for these difficult problems, there has been a trend
over the last thirty years for therapy to be shorter.
Some insurance and managed care companies encourage almost everyone to
use an ultra-brief therapy that lasts only a few sessions. Unfortunately,
there has not been any research showing this kind of therapy to be effective.
If you have experienced brief therapy that didnt work for you, it
may have been the wrong treatment, and a longer term therapy may be what
you need.
As an informed consumer, you should ask your therapist about the length
of therapy. Your therapist may not know the exact duration of your therapy
but can help you understand how therapy moves forward and how you can
tell when it is complete.

Individual Psychotherapy:
When to Start and When to Finish
by Ina Robbins, Ed.D.
When do I need outside help?
We each feel our emotional pain differently. Therefore, we must make a
personal decision about when to enter therapy. We generally seek therapy
when there is a crisis or a persistent disturbance in our thoughts, feelings,
or behavior that interferes with our work or relationships. You may want
to enter therapy when:
- You have trouble making or keeping satisfying relationships or
have repetitive problems in your relationships.
- You have trouble obtaining or keeping a satisfying job or your
behavior keeps you from advancing in your career.
- You realize that an emotional problem has gone on for too long or
seems to be getting worse.
- You keep behaving in a way that is self-defeating, out of control,
or a sign of addiction.
- You are often bothered by traumatic memories.
- You are preoccupied, worried, confused, or disoriented.
- You feel depressed, up and down, anxious, fearful, agitated, or too
angry.
- You find that no one in your support system can help solve the problem,
and you, yourself, are stuck.
- You are self-destructive or harmful to others.
When am I done?
Therapists and clients together plan the work of psychotherapy. Likewise,
together they decide when therapy is finished. Some of the signs that
therapy is finished are:
- You know the sources of your problems and can deal with them effectively.
- You encounter significantly fewer problems.
- You know how to take care of yourself and maintain your mental health.
- You can tolerate the pain and difficulties of life without developing
symptoms like those that brought you to therapy.
- You handle your relationships and your work well.

Couples Therapy / Marriage Counseling
Partners in intimate relationships start out with many hopes, both realistic
and unrealistic, for creating a rich, satisfying life together. Unfortunately,
the stresses from lifes events, disappointments in the partner,
and the reality of tedious routines often lead to disillusionment. When
this happens, some couples fight, some grow apart, and some find themselves
living in great pain, tension and suffering. These are the times couples
enter therapy. Frequently, they have reached the point of considering
separation or divorce.
Is it the intent of marriage counselors to prevent couples from splitting
up? Nothats the couples decision. Because the counselors
are skilled outside professionals, they can help most couples greatly
improve their relationships. However, the improvement may not be enough
for the couple to choose to stay together. Because many couples see counselors
when they are contemplating divorce, couples often decide to work on their
marriage for a while before making the commitment to remain married.
A counselor may see the couple together at each session or may want to
see the partners individually. Counselors also vary in the amount of privacy
they encourage each person to maintain. Some focus on childhood issues,
expectations, and relationship patterns. Some therapists focus mostly
on communication and problem solving.

When Does a Child Need Therapy?
Contrary to the wishful myth we have often heard, children are not more
adaptable and less affected by problems than adults. The opposite is truechildren
have fewer coping skills and less control over themselves or their environment.
They are not able to verbally describe emotional problems but exhibit
their distress in a number of symptoms that include irritability, sleeping
problems, eating problems, personality change, physical complaints, disregard
for personal safety, school problems, problems getting along with
others, acting younger than their age, and acting older than their age.
Every child will be distressed at times. How does a parent know when psychotherapy
is needed? This depends on how severely distressed a child is, how long
the child has been distressed, the childs personal strengths for
handling problems, and what kind of help is available. Child therapists
can help evaluate if therapy is necessary. If therapy is needed, therapists
may work in several different ways: sometimes they assist the parents
and teachers design techniques for helping the child, sometimes they see
children and parents together in family therapy, and sometimes they see
children alone.

How Much Does Psychotherapy Help ?
Psychotherapy can help almost everyone. Studies show that, on the average,
people with emotional or interpersonal problems who use psychotherapy
do better than those who dont. The amount of improvement depends
on the person, the type of therapy, the length of therapy, and the type
of problem.
People often ask if psychotherapy can cure a person. They
are thinking of a persons emotional problem as an illness. Medical
tradition leads us to think in terms of illness and cure. This is often
useful, particularly when treating some emotional problems that are like
illnesses and may be called a mental illness. However, this is not always
the best way to think about using psychotherapy. Some problems can be
completely solved by psychotherapy and can be thought of as cured.
At other times psychotherapy helps people solve emotional or interpersonal
problems. In many of these situations, it
does not make sense to think that the person is sick when
they start psychotherapy or well when they finish. A useful
way to think about therapy in these cases is that the person has grown,
improved, gained insight, or solved specific problems.
Sometimes people have a chronic mental illness, and psychotherapy helps
the person to cope with the illness. In many of these cases, the symptoms
and problems cannot be completely cured. But here, psychotherapy is helpful
because it can make an important difference in improving the quality of
a persons life.
Each person is different and unique. The amount of improvement you should
expect is something to discuss with your therapist.

What Can a Client Do When Therapy
Does Not Seem To Go Well
A Second Opinion
Occasionally a client in psychotherapy does not improve or even seems
to get worse. At times clients may question if their therapist is providing
the right treatment. Often there is an uncomfortable period of emotional
turmoil during therapy. Other times clients may become angry or feel hurt
because of something their therapist said or did. These situations can
be difficult for a
client to evaluate.
Even in the best of therapy, there are difficult times. When people discuss
personal and sensitive topics, they often become very sensitive to the
therapists reaction. In these situations a client may be easily
hurt or angered by their therapist. Trusting anyone is difficult for many
clients. Frequently, the reliving of past emotions happens in therapy,
and past conflicts may seem to be repeated in therapy. This is called
transference. A major part of therapy is separating these past feelings
from the present. The process of experiencing these difficult feelings
with new skills is healingbut it is difficult.
When problems or concerns do come up in therapy, it is important to discuss
them with your therapist. Remember that therapists are professionals,
and part of their job is to answer your questions about therapy. If the
answers your therapist gives dont seem satisfactory, then getting
a second opinion is a good idea. Second opinions are your right and also
a good way to take care of your health.
To get a second opinion, contact another therapist and ask for a second
opinion evaluation. This can be done either with or without the knowledge
of your current therapist. However, if you decide to continue in therapy,
it is important to be open and honest with your therapist about your concerns,
and the second opinion should be discussed with your ongoing therapist.

What About Medication?
Making a decision to use medication is individual and complicated. Some
problems get better primarily with medication and other kinds of problems
get better primarily with psychotherapy. Still other problems respond
best to medication and psychotherapy combined. Most often, when people
take medication for emotional problems, they do better if they also seek
psychotherapy.
The best reason to take medication is that for many people it can cure
their symptoms without side effects or other adverse consequences. There
are, however, some reasons people choose not to take medication. Some
people prefer to avoid medications, some have tried medication and had
unpleasant side effects, and others find that medication doesnt
help enough to be worthwhile.
It is important to be an informed consumer. Ask your psychotherapist for
advice and information about referral to a medical doctor for a medication
evaluation. Ask your medical doctor for advice also. Get as much information
as you can about the different treatments for your own individual problem.
Then use this information to make your personal decision about when and
how to use medication and/or psychotherapy.

Who Should You Talk to About Medication?
When considering medication for mental health problems, a person must
ask a medical doctor for a medication evaluation. Sometimes the family
doctor or a general practitioner is consulted, and other times it makes
sense to see a specialist - a psychiatrist. If a person has a therapist,
the therapist can be helpful in making the decision to try medication
and may recommend a specific doctor or assist with the referral to a doctor
of your choice.
Why do people choose to ask a family doctor for medication? Many
people prefer to ask their family doctor for a medication evaluation because
they know their doctor, feel comfortable with their doctor, and can easily
make an appointment with their doctor. Much of the psychiatric medication
prescribed in this country is prescribed by family doctors, and generally
they charge less for an evaluation than a psychiatrist.
Why see a psychiatrist for medication? Sometimes people prefer
to consult a specialist rather than a general practitioner. Psychiatrists
usually can offer both psychotherapy and medication management, but often,
patients will see a psychiatrist just for medication and see another professional
for psychotherapy. Before prescribing medication, the psychiatrist generally
will take a thorough history and conduct a comprehensive verbal evaluation.
As a specialist, the psychiatrist is more knowledgeable than a family
doctor about how treatment can be effective and will usually spend more
time with each client than a family doctor. If the medication or diagnosis
is complicated, consulting with an expert is a good idea.
Why do some patients have a one-time consultation with a psychiatrist?
Although patients may receive medication from a family doctor, there are
still times that it makes sense to consult with a psychiatrist. If the
medication and treatment are not working as well as hoped, patients may
decide to consult with a specialist about additional ideas for treatment.
Sometimes the psychiatrist can give the general practitioner recommendations
for changes in medication or treatment that will give better results.
When patients would like an additional evaluation from a psychiatric specialist,
patients may ask their therapist or family doctor for a referral to consult
a psychiatrist or may independently choose to call a psychiatrist. Sometimes
after the consultation, patients continue medication follow-up with the
psychiatrist, and other times, the patient continues with the family doctor.
Usually family doctors are happy to have the consultation and helpful
advice from a specialist.

Why Pay for Your Psychotherapy
Rather Than Use Your Insurance?
You want privacy.
Whenever insurance is used, some information (such as your diagnosis)
is available to the insurance company and at times to employers. Managed
care companies often ask for detailed personal information about clients
in order to make payment decisions. This judgmental review can undermine
the sense of privacy necessary for effective psychotherapy. When clients
pay for psychotherapy out of pocket, there is no loss of privacy to managed
care
companies, insurance companies or employers.
You want to choose your own therapist.
Many insurance companies limit the choice of therapists. Some of these
preferred providers offer good treatment, keep their clients
interests foremost, and try to keep treatment brief without sacrificing
quality. At times however, the insurance company asks the preferred providers
to divide their loyalty between the client and the insurance company.
Many clients prefer to choose their psychotherapist personally and avoid
seeing a therapist with a
potential conflict of interest between the client and the insurance company
Other clients may want to work with a therapist who was highly recommended
but may not be on the company or preferred provider list.
You want to choose the type and length of treatment.
Managed care programs often limit the choice of therapy. While some interfere
very little with the consumers choice of type or length of therapy,
others make many of the important treatment decisions -the length of treatment,
the type of therapy, the use of medication, and referral to self-help
groups instead of professional services. Some companies provide only ultra-brief
therapy and referrals. Self-paying for therapy may be necessary in order
to receive the type and length of treatment needed.
You dont want a managed care employee making judgments about
you.
When managed care is responsible for payment, they have the power to influence
your treatment. A company employee evaluates your motivation, the severity
of your problem, and your progress and makes treatment recommendations.
The therapist must take the companys recommendations into consideration
or risk losing the contract to work with the company altogether. Many
clients prefer paying for their own treatment to eliminate influence from
an outsider.
You dont want to be labeled sick.
Whenever insurance is used for psychotherapy, the treatment must be medically
necessary, which means that your therapist must give you a psychiatric
diagnosis. When you pay directly, you may seek consultation from a mental
health professional for any reason you choose. People use therapy for
personal growth, for help coping with stressful life situations, and for
marriage and family difficulties, as well as for chronic and serious psychological
problems.

Comparison of Self-Payment and Managed
Care
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Self-Payment Through The Guild
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Treatment Under Managed Care
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The guild provides information about background,
experience and interests to help you make an informed choice.
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The insurance company provides a
small list of therapists names to
choose from. |
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You contract with your own
therapist.
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The therapist has a contract first with the insurance
company and second with the client. There is a conflict when the client
wants to be treated until satisfied and the insurance company limits
treatment. |
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Your personal information is kept strictly confidential
unless there is a specific release of information.
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The insurance company requires information about a clients
most dysfunctional behavior. The insurance company does not inform
the client who has access to this information, if the information
is in a data bank, how it is protected, and how the information may
limit the clients future insurance ability. |
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The length of treatment is decided by you and your
therapist.
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The length of treatment is decided by the insurance
company. Economics and internal policies may influence treatment decisions. |
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You may get a second opinion to aid in this decision.
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The insurance company chooses the treatment and does
not recognize second opinions from outside the insurance network. |
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You choose the type of psychotherapy that fits your
personal needs.
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The insurance company is apt to choose brief therapy
regardless of the individuals needs. |
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Guild therapists charge only moderately higher
fees than the co-payment for many insurance plans.
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Many plans require a co-payment that is close to the
fees that Guild therapists charge, and because managed care often
ends treatment prematurely, many clients end up paying for treatment
after the managed care plan terminates payment. |
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When you self-pay you may be treated in the medical
model and/or the self growth, problem solving mode.
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Managed care and insurance companies only pay for the
treatment of psychiatric diagnosis and the resulting symptoms. They
do not pay for personal growth or problem solving treatment. |

What You Should Ask if You See
A Managed Care Therapist
Because of the rapid increase in the cost of health care, most insurance
plans are using Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) or Managed
Care Companies to control costs. These companies promise to control
costs by cutting waste and lowering rates. Because insurance often requires
that consumers use a managed care company and the co-payment is very low,
many consumers use the mental health benefits under their managed care
plan.
The management company hires or contracts with the psychotherapist and
then encourages the therapist to follow cost-reducing policies. This is
a problem when the managed care company makes choices different than the
consumer. A concern for many therapists is that some companies ask the
therapist to end treatment sooner than the therapist feels termination
is advisable. When therapists do not follow the company directives, they
risk losing their contracts.
There are many good therapists working for managed care and many clients
receive good treatment from managed care. However, therapists working
for managed care companies do have split loyalties. They are working for
both you and the company. It is important to know about the therapists
obligation to the managed care company and how this may influence your
treatment.
Questions you can ask of a managed care therapist
- Ask what kind of arrangements your therapist has with a managed care
company. Psychothera pists have codes of ethics that require them to
be honest with their clients and reveal information
about how managed care companies are involved in treatment.
- Ask specifically about financial arrangements in which the therapist
makes more money by seeing you less. One of these arrangements is called
a capitated contract. With this arrangement, the therapist
is paid a certain amount regardless of the number of times you are seen.
Under these contracts the therapist has no financial incentive to see
you after the first meeting. Sometimes there are bonuses for quickly
discharging clients.
- Ask if your therapist or other therapists would make different treatment
recommendations if you were paying directly.
- Find out if there are any policies that limit or restrict the treatment
available to you.
If the answers to your questions about your treatment are not satisfactory,
you have a right to a second opinion.
Good therapists will be open and honest about the involvement of managed
care in your treatment. You have a right to know about alternative types
of treatment and everything that the managed care company does to influence
your personal mental health care decisions.

Is Therapy a Wise Way to Spend Your
Money?
If people have a need for psychotherapy, the improvements they make through
therapy often result in so much financial benefit that therapy becomes
a wise use of their time and money. How is it that therapy can lead to
financial benefits?
One of the financial benefits comes from reduced future medical expenses.
Because so many long-term health care expenses are a result of stress
or untreated mental health conditions, proper mental health treatment
greatly lowers the overall cost of health care. In fact, many research
studies show the medical cost savings are so great that when a large groups
medical costs are measured over a period of three to five years after
treatment, therapy lowers overall health care costs so much that it more
than pays for the cost of therapy.
Therapy can also improve a persons performance on the job. Employers
are becoming increasingly aware that mental health problems can increase
the number of sick days, interfere with the quality of an employees
work, and decrease an employees productivity. The financial benefits
of treatment are great enough that many employers have hired employee
assistance programs to provide short-term therapy and identify employees
who can benefit from longer-term therapy. Executives and some other people
now use a form of psychotherapy - coaching - to improve their effectiveness
and performance. Moreover, psychotherapy helps many individuals succeed
in gaining promotions or becoming ready to change to a better job.
Problems with relationships and family issues can be very expensive. There
are enormous costs that can result from divorce, child adjustment problems,
or other relationship problems. Individual and family therapy can often
help in averting these costs.
So how should you decide if therapy is a wise use of your money? Of course,
individuals are different and need to decide this for themselves by making
some educate guesses. To figure this out for yourself, try to estimate
the total cost of your therapy and compare it to the long-term reduction
in costs or increases in income. You can ask your therapist to help by
estimating how long it might take to accomplish the kind of changes that
you hope to make in therapy. Use this information to estimate the cost
of therapy.
To estimate the financial benefits, consider the changes that you are
making in stress levels that may affect your long-term health care costs.
Look at whether the therapy is helping you be a more productive employee
or enabling you to earn more money through promotions or by changing jobs.
Look at the relationship and family problems that you are working on in
therapy and evaluate if the therapy is likely to avert expensive problems
in the future.
When you estimate the cost/benefit ratio, remember your personal improvements
may yield financial benefits over many years to come, and the therapy
costs are usually spent up front. If you are like most people, as long
as there is a need for treatment, you will find that the potential financial
benefits probably justify the investment in psychotherapy even when insurance
does not pay for the treatment. In addition, think about the possible
intangible improvements in your quality of life that cannot be measured
financially.

What You Need to Know to Choose a Therapist
Is this psychotherapist qualified to help me?
There are many kinds of problems that people bring to therapists. The
license provides proof of basic qualifications, but many professionals
have additional training. A professionals experience, interests
and specialties also help you decide about the qualifications that are
important to you as an individual.
Does this person use a type of therapy that fits for me?
Does the therapist work with the right age group? Are they able to offer
what Im looking forindividual, couple, family, or group therapy?
There are many effective types of psychotherapy. Each type may put a different
amount of emphasis on feelings, thoughts, relationships, or the unconscious.
Some value brevity while others value thoroughness. Ask how a therapist
would help you work on your problem and see if it
makes sense to you.
Do I feel comfortable with this person?
It is very important for you to feel comfortable, respected and supported
by your therapist. How you feel talking to a therapist is very important
because a therapeutic relationship must have trust, openness and honesty.
What does the therapist charge?
For the members listed in the directory, the Guilds 20% no
administration discount applies to outpatient individual, couples
or family therapy if there is no insurance or other paperwork, and you
request the Guild discount when agreeing to fees at the beginning of therapy.
Find out if the therapist has a sliding scale and if they take your insurance.
How does someone go about arranging for therapy through the Guild?
Phone callAfter getting a few therapists names, you
may call to ask some
questions or schedule an appointment. Most therapists are have voice mail.
Be
prepared to leave a clear phone message with both daytime and evening
phone numbers.
Get-acquainted interviewSome therapists offer a brief chance
to meet and
get acquainted free of charge. Ask if this is possible. Some clients prefer
to make a choice and get started right away by scheduling the first therapy
session.
Questions to askThink of the questions you would like to
ask on the
phone, in the get-acquainted interview, or in the first session. You may
want to write them down to make sure you can remember them. The ideas
in this directory should help you think of some questions that are important
to you.
The first meetingWhen you first meet with a therapist, dont
be surprised
if you are nervous - most clients are. Inner feelings and thoughts are
hard to talk about and it takes time to trust and feel comfortable with
a therapist. Dont be surprised either if you open up almost immediately
and share personal concerns. Many clients experience great relief in finally
having a chance to talk with a professional.

Licensing Credentials
A license to practice psychotherapy indicates that the state of Colorado
has verified that a psychotherapist has completed a professional training
program, has completed a period of supervised experience, and has passed
a formal examination in a specific profession. The Guild Members have
one of the following five types of licenses.
Clinical Nurse Specialists in Psychiatric Nursing must complete
a two-year masters degree in nursing, complete a supervised clinical
and psychotherapy training internship as part of the degree program, pass
an oral examination, and be licensed as an advanced practice nurse.
Licensed Professional Counselors must complete a two-year masters
degree in counseling and the practice of psychotherapy, one year of supervised
post-degree experience, and pass a written counselors examination.
Licensed Clinical Social Workers must complete a two-year masters
degree in social work and the practice of psychotherapy, two years of
supervised post-degree experience, and pass a written social work examination.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists must complete a two year
masters degree in family therapy and the practice of psychotherapy,
two years of supervised post-degree experience, and pass a marriage and
family therapist examination. While their training specializes in marriage
and family therapy, they may also be qualified as individual therapists,
and psychotherapists with other licenses may be qualified to conduct marriage
and family therapy.
Licensed Psychologists must complete a four year doctoral degree
in psychology and the practice of psychotherapy, one year of supervised
post-degree experience, and pass both a written and an oral psychologists
examination.
Psychiatrists must first become licensed medical doctors. Additionally,
they must complete a three-year program in psychiatric medicine and the
practice of psychotherapy.

The following pages are provided for your benefit:
Eleven Unethical Managed Care Practices Every
Patient Should Know About.
© Ivan Miller 1998.
End Secret Treatment Guidelines
by Ivan Miller, Ph.D.
© American Psychological Association Monitor 1997.
Dealing with Insurance Refusal to Pay for
Couples Therapy
© Ivan Miller 2000.
The Time Has Come to Choose the Replacement
for Managed Health Care
© Ivan Miller 2000.
Guild Members offer a 20%
"no administration" discount for outpatient individual, couples and
family therapy when you pay at the time of service, there is no insurance
or other paperwork, and you request the Guild discount when agreeing
to fees at the beginning of therapy.
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