Average Cost Per Session
The average private practice therapist in Los Angeles charges $125 - $175 per hour. However, some therapists, like me, offer a sliding fee scale to patients who qualify. A sliding scale allows me to adjust the fee depending on your income.
Length of Treatment
One of the most common concerns when considering the cost of therapy is, "How many sessions will it take?" Frankly, there is no way of telling. Depending on what you want out of therapy, the length of treatment can be as brief as 10-12 sessions to see real results, or continue for months and even years. Many people find therapy so useful that they continue for longer than they had planned. Often, people come in with one specific issue that needs to be addressed, but in the process of therapy discover that there is much more to talk about. The mind is powerful and extremely complex, and no one can predict how quickly or slowly an individual will respond to therapy. However, this is not to say that treatment with me is open-ended. In my private practice, I like to set real world goals that will help us evaluate if the therapy is working and when to end treatment.
How Many Sessions Per Week
Many patients come in once-a-week for a session. However, I have found that increasing sessions to 2 or 3 times a week can actually shorten the total time spent in therapy greatly.
Health Insurance
Another consideration is how your health insurance may offset the fee. How much your health insurance covers is an entirely different issue -- Some health insurance companies only pay for a small number of sessions per year, some have a high deductible, some require a high co-pay from you, some only allow you to see their doctors, and almost all insurance companies require a diagnosis from the therapist in order to cover the cost. I am an out-of-network provider for all insurance companies. This means that I will require you to pay me directly, but I will work with you to get reimbursed from your insurance company. Through my experience working with many different insurance companies, I can guide you through the different options that may be available to you to ensure that you get the most allowable benefits from your particular insurance plan.
The Cost of NOT Coming to Therapy
While therapy can be expensive, I believe that the investment pays off many fold. For example, even moderate anxiety or depression can interfere with your ability to advance your career, keep you from having a satisfying relationship, may cause you to engage in self-destructive habits, and can be one of the main factors in many different physical health problems which may arise. Left ignored, problems such as these can ultimately cost you more than therapy ever will.
Thanks for reading,
Ryan Janis, Psy.D.
Beverly Hills Psychologist
http://www.drryanjanis.com/
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