Insurance companies have numerous ways of accessing information about you at various stages: this may include people who authorize payment, track your progress, audit psychotherapy practices, input data, print bills, and so on. By not involving your insurance company your private personal information stays between you and me. I'm the only person who has access to it except under specific circumstances which are outlined in my intake forms and discussed in our first session.
Your insurance provider requires you to receive a psychiatric diagnosis for your issue (e.g. major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, bi-polar disorder). If you wish to obtain private health or life insurance in the future, this information is open to review and can result in you and your family being denied coverage. Paying privately avoids this risk.
Insurance companies will often authorize only a certain limited number of sessions and can arbitrarily stop paying for services for a variety of reasons. With private pay therapy, there is really no limit to our sessions together- we could meet anywhere from twice a week to twice a month! I want us to have the ability to make that decision together.
Sliding scale rates can be offered to clients paying private pay. This means that privately paying clients can actually pay less than those who pay with insurance. Plus no need to worry about Co-pays or deductibles.