Our counseling office also a place to experience healing, getting your life or your kid back, and learning how to BE YOU.

And we think your mental health is worth the investment.

Here are some specifics on how we handle fees at Blue Boat Counseling:

There are many reasons for this, but some are:

• Unfortunately “taking insurance” doesn’t mean what it used to in today’s healthcare environment. Most people have high deductible plans now, where you’re using HSA funds or paying out of pocket most of the year until you reach your deductible anyway, whether you’re seeing in-network or out-of-network providers. And even after you reach your deductible, mental health benefits are often limited.

• For insurance companies to cover any portion of counseling, there must be a diagnosis, whether there is one or not, which remains on your medical record. Forcing a diagnosis and allowing a third party to control your mental health path is unfair at best.

• With insurance companies, the confidentiality and privacy of your highly personal information is not guaranteed.

• Insurance companies control the number, length and frequency of sessions, all of which should be decided by you and your counselor.

• Going back and forth with insurance companies takes time, a lot of time. We would rather spend that time giving you an excellent counseling experience.

However, the choice is yours to involve your insurance company or not. The fact that we do not bill insurance directly doesn’t mean you have no coverage. If after contacting your insurance company, you find they will reimburse for out-of-network benefits, and you would like to use this option, we can easily provide you a detailed billing statement for submission. And we accept HSA/FSA cards for payment, some of which would apply to your deductible if you submit.

Payment of the full fee is due at the time of your counseling appointment, and the credit/HSA/FSA card on file will be charged unless you notify your counselor of another form of payment. Please contact us for more information about fees as rates vary based on therapists’ experience.

If you find you need to cancel a counseling appointment, please give as much notice as possible so that we can schedule people who may be on our waiting list. You will be personally charged for your appointment if not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance, other than for emergency reasons.

If you have any questions about these policies, please contact us, and we would be happy to answer them.

Above all else, the rapport you have with a healthcare provider, especially for mental health, is critical to the treatment. So please factor that, along with the payment options, into your decision-making process when choosing a counselor.