We understand that you may have a lot of questions before starting therapy for yourself, your relationship, or your child.
That’s why we’ve compiled some of our most common client questions and answers!
GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THERAPY:
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Psychotherapy (also known as talk therapy) is employed to support individuals in comprehending their emotions and behaviors, enabling them to confront novel obstacles and enhance their overall well-being. An average therapy session usually lasts between 45 to 60 minutes. Within these sessions, your therapist will assist you in finding solace from psychological distress, identifying effective resolutions to everyday challenges, and modifying behaviors to boost both professional productivity and personal relationships.
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The short answer: EVERYONE! Even therapists go to therapy. The primary users of therapy typically consist of individuals grappling with mental health concerns like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, personality disorders, and addiction. Nevertheless, therapy can also offer significant advantages to those facing various everyday life stressors.
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Current research has demonstrated that the most efficacious approach to addressing mental health issues involves a combination of therapy and medication. While medication can be beneficial in mitigating troublesome symptoms, therapy provides an opportunity to explore not only these symptoms, but also their impact on one's life and relationships.
To illustrate, let us consider an individual who has faced challenges in effectively managing their time, leading to difficulties in meeting deadlines and being punctual. In such a scenario, medication could potentially assist this person in accomplishing tasks within the prescribed time frame and being more prompt. Nevertheless, it is important to note that medication alone cannot fully restore the trust that may have been eroded due to a history of unreliability. In this aspect, engaging in therapy would enable this individual to cultivate the necessary skills to rebuild and mend these relationships.
By utilizing both the therapy and medication management aspects of treatment provided at The Affinity Center, you will greatly enhance your chances of achieving a successful outcome.
COMMON QUESTIONS FROM NEW CLIENTS:
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The Affinity Center is a “non-traditional” treatment facility. Not all of our clients receive medication from our medical team, but for those who do, our established treatment model is that BOTH medical and psychotherapy treatment is needed to give our clients the most comprehensive care possible. Our clinical staff is an integral part of their client’s medication management and our medical staff members collaborate regularly with them to ensure their patients receive the appropriate monitoring and guidance. All of our medical providers are part-time. In order to ensure all of our clients receive timely assistance with medical issues, it is imperative that they have a connection with their full time clinician to ensure appropriate attention.
The Affinity Center is proud of our model of care, and hope that all of our clients can grow to value the benefits of continued psychological and medical treatment to maximize their health and functionality.
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We regularly treat clients who have an established therapist. We respect those important relationships. This, however, does not change our treatment model for clients seeking medications, which maintains the requirement to visit with our Affinity Center clinician as well as one of our Affinity Center medical providers. We also receive referrals from outside therapists to administer testing for their clients. We regularly schedule consultation appointments with such clients, and then administer needing evaluations, providing a written summary or report. After testing, the client is no longer obligated to continue services with us.
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Receiving medication through The Affinity Center is optional. Clients may choose to utilize our testing services. After completion, they will receive a comprehensive evaluation report or evaluation summary letter (depending on the level of testing administered). They are free to provide these results to their primary care physician (PCP).
Some of our clients report that their regular PCP is either unable, uncomfortable, or unwilling to prescribe stimulant (schedule II) medications and so they depend on our medical providers. We also have clients who receive medications through their PCP’s but continue to seek clinical treatment through the Affinity Center. We work to support each client’s mental health, growth, and education whatever their medication path.
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The Affinity Center is bound by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules and regulations. We risk a potential violation even by responding in a generic way to complaints. To do so would be acknowledging the person writing the complaint is either a current or past client/parent. Some complaints we receive have merit while others do not. We handle each complaint with urgency, respect and due diligence. Although we are not always able to rectify the complaint to the client’s full satisfaction, that is always our goal. Any specific issues regarding shared complaints cannot be discussed with anyone other than the adult client, parent of underage client, or individual with a signed release, (Protected Health Information (PHI).
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The Affinity Center is not contracted with any insurance companies. This means that we do not send claims, file, or adjust costs for our clients. Our office provides clients with a comprehensive receipt (once a diagnosis has been determined) that clients may file with insurance if they are eligible for out of network reimbursement for mental health services. It is the client’s responsibility to review their policy to see if this is an option. Some insurance companies require more detailed information regarding services and charges. Clients need to reach out to the front office to seek assistance. We are sometimes able to provide supporting information. If medical documentation is needed, a release must be signed (at the client’s discretion) and appropriate records can be released.
For medication/pharmacy insurance coverage, we will routinely ask for a copy of your insurance card for your patient chart so future prior authorization requests from your insurance will be handled without delay.
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The medical team at The Affinity Center strongly recommends each of their patients have access to a primary care physician (PCP) while under their care. A PCP can be a family practitioner, internist, pediatrician, osteopath, general practitioner, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant. Establishing this relationship is crucial to thorough patient care. A PCP can detect and manage a wide range of health issues, and refer to specialists as needed. They screen for diseases, and monitor and keep records of ongoing issues. Such records are invaluable when health situations arise to establish optimal treatment planning.
Below are some answers to common opinions about establishing PCP care:
1) I never get sick.
Great! A PCP can help you stay healthy. They keep an eye on your general health. They get to know you and your healthcare preferences. They can be an advocate for you when you need more intensive or specialized care.
*Cleveland Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23467-primary-care-physician
2) I get my medication through The Affinity Center.
We are happy to provide medication services for your ADHD and common mental health needs. However, we are not able to provide medication for other acute or chronic illnesses. We also do not coordinate your general wellness. While we suggest other healthy recommendations, it is often a PCP that will provide those services.
3) I can always go to the Emergency Room.
The average emergency room wait time in Ohio in 2024 was 3 hours*. This can greatly increase during times of peak illness, such as flu season. Emergency room visits can cost up to 10x more than urgent care or primary care visits.**
*Becker’s Hospital Review https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/ (2022 numbers adding the average 10 minutes per additional year) **https://www.debt.org/medical/emergency-room-urgent-care-costs
4) I’m too young for a PCP.
Longevity may be positively impacted by consistent primary care visits.* Those that regularly saw a PCP were more consistent with healthy habits, were more engaged with their own healthcare, and experienced better outcomes especially with chronic or mental health issues.
*https://www.mdvip.com/about-mdvip/blog/study-keeping-same-doctor-can-lead-longer-healthier-life
5) I get overwhelmed by all the choices for a PCP.
There are a lot of options here and that is a good thing. Instead of being stuck with the one doctor in town that everyone goes to or the one doctor that your insurance will cover, YOU get to decide which doctor is best for you.* You can decide what matters most to you and select a doctor that provides the services you prefer (i.e. telehealth, evening hours, concierge, holistic, etc.) But where to start? Ask those around you or look at local social media groups. Check the covered physicians often listed on your insurance’s website. Some insurance plans may have lower co-pays for doctors that have better patient outcomes. If you use a specialist, ask them for their recommendation for a PCP. Check reviews from multiple sites. And remember it is a little like dating…keep at it until you find the right one for you.
*https://odphp.health.gov/myhealthfinder/doctor-visits/regular-checkups/choosing-doctor-quick-tips
COMMON QUESTIONS FROM CURRENT CLIENTS:
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All clients receiving medications from The Affinity Center are required to pay an annual fee of $60. There are several reasons this fee is necessary. Our center is unique in how we function and how we compensate our clinical professionals. Our clinicians, as well as our medical providers, review each prescription requested for their client. Clinicians do not receive compensation for their time, nor for the time that is sometimes required to review medication responses, such as symptoms, efficacy, contra-indicators with other prescribed meds, or health changes with the prescriber. Commonly, a clinician may need to schedule a brief phone call to follow up on a medication. Utilizing the clinicians in this way helps reduce the amount of follow up visits needed with their providers. Med checks are typically no charge. (unless visit exceeds 10-15 minutes). The exception to this is when a patient is prescribed a new med, or other health issues are present, the prescriber will ask that a 30 minute appointment is scheduled with the clinician. These visits are charged at the normal 30 minute session rate.
This fee also covers the cost to facilitate a basic prior authorization through the client’s insurance, which is a common occurrence with stimulant medications, especially for adults. Additional charges for extended prior authorizations or appeals may apply.
For our new medical evaluation appointments, the Administrative fee is pro-rated through your first year. If you schedule your initial evaluation during the first quarter, you pay the entire amount. If you come in during subsequent quarters, you pay a lesser fee, ($45, $30, $15) and will pay the full amount at the beginning of the next year.
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The Affinity Center is legally required to retain adult client records for seven years and an additional three years for underage clients. You may request records for yourself or your child, if still under the age of 18. For current adults treated at the center as children, only the client can request records unless they have signed a release for a parent to contact the Center. A signed release is also required if records need to be sent to anyone other than the client, such as Physician, college, therapist, insurance, attorney, etc. This release can come from the receiving/requesting entity, or we can provide one.
Record requests are free of charge for the client to receive their own records or to have records sent to another clinician or medical provider. In cases of insurance, educational or legal requests, we reserve the right to charge the requesting entity at our standard rates.
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For therapy appointments, the client is required to contact the office at least 24 business hours before the day they are scheduled. (Ex: If an appointment on Monday needs to be canceled, the message for cancellation must be received Friday during business hours in order to cancel without penalty).
For our medical provider appointments, the policy for cancellation is 48 business hours. (Ex: If an appointment on Tuesday needs to be canceled, the message for cancellation must be received on Friday during business hours in order to cancel without penalty). This requirement is necessary as our medical providers all practice part-time, and they are often booked several months out. We never want to waste a valuable appointment time and do our best to keep the medical staff fully scheduled. Often, 24 hours is not enough notice to reschedule an appointment slot that opens due to a late cancellation.
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We strive to help our clients find success in attending each scheduled appointment. We send two courtesy reminders through email and text. We provide a patient portal allowing each client to review scheduled appointments. We can sometimes accommodate virtual appointments when a physical appointment cannot take place (when clinically appropriate and when appropriate notice is given). When our appointment cancellation policy is not followed, we have clinicians who cannot be properly compensated for their time, and we miss the opportunity to schedule urgent appointment requests when needed.
Additionally, in most cases, we charge a reduced fee for our client’s first miss or late cancellation to $50.00 and do our best to educate each client to the importance of carefully following their treatment schedule.
We typically waive charges due to illness, family emergencies, and weather complications (as long as these incidents are reported within a day of the appointment.)
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There are several reasons that our therapists are not able to write a letter for their clients to assist in receiving official accommodations for their animal. The first reason is competency. - When a mental health practitioner agrees to write an ESA letter, they step into a forensic evaluation role which many/most are not competent to fulfill. In order to appropriately assess a client’s needs, the clinician should have training and experience in all laws, rules, and precedents that govern these types of assessments.
In addition to competency, ethical conflicts may arise, which would harm the client – therapist relationship, and could even leave the therapist vulnerable to civil liability claims and/or board sanctions.
In short, due to the legal weight and consequence of ESA certification, our standard of care is to direct our clients to diligently research practitioners proficient in making appropriate and competent assessments.