Fees and Insurance for
Couple Therapy
Consider this...
You have likely put heart and soul into your life and your intimate relationship. If you're on this site looking for help it probably means things aren't going the way you'd like. What we have to offer you and your circumstance is substantial academic background, extensive post-graduate training, many years of experience and a passion for working with couples.
In an age when insurance is as confusing as it is desirable, we think it is vital for couples to take responsibility for their relationship life. Because we think couples should take responsibility for their relationship we work outside the confines of insurance companies' desire to dictate the terms of treatment. It's your relationship. You decided to get in it and you should decide on intervention.
It's entirely possible that you will find less expensive services.
It's unlikely you will find better...
Think about it...
The average duration of therapy is 12 sessions. At $150.00 per session that comes to $1800.00. The typical cost of a divorce is between $15,000 and $30,000 with attorneys charging $250-$450 per hour.
It's possible that a marriage could be saved and a lot of collateral damage avoided by spending one tenth of what one would spend on a divorce.
Ask yourself...
Is my marriage worth a $1800 investment?
If your answer is, "No" you should probably rethink remaining in it.
Is couple therapy covered by health insurance?
The short answer to that question is, no, it is not covered. Call your health insurance company and ask. But, make sure you ask if the relationship is diagnosed. Or, if the provider is required to diagnose one of you with a mental illness.
Health insurance is designed to cover individuals who have a condition that requires a medically necessary intervention or procedure. There is no way for insurance companies to define relationships as unhealthy. We all know that relationships can be very unhealthy...even toxic...but, our current diagnostic system does not accommodate that situation. We know that it's possible for two medically healthy individuals to form a relationship that is unhealthy. Just because two people are so different that they can't happily live together does not mean either of them is sick. It simply means they are having a hard time trying to accommodate their differences.
Couple therapy is essentially about recognizing strengths and weaknesses. It's about noticing similarities and differences. It's all about helping two individuals who are naturally different find productive ways of living together. Couple therapy is NOT about identifying one partner as sick and the other well.
When we work with a couple, the relationship is the client. Bob is not my client. Neither is Sally. Their relationship is the client. We don't think about Bob except as he is in a relationship with Sally. The same goes for Sally. This is what makes couple therapy unique. It is not two individuals in therapy at the same time. Rather, it's a relationship that's in therapy and two individuals show up as its representatives.
When we work with a couple, the relationship is the client.
You can find therapists who will use your insurance to cover the cost of couple therapy. When they do that, they are identifying one or the other of you as "sick," needing a medically necessary intervention. This implies a particular mindset on the part of the therapist. It creates a foundation for therapy that is essentially lopsided...one of you is well and the other is sick.
We believe doing couple therapy on an uneven playing field violates the fundamental premise that both parties are in it together and both parties hold responsibility for its health.