Question 1

I’m looking for either individual therapy or relationship therapy. Who would I work with?

Accepted Answer

Maggie only offers individual therapy, and Sam only offers couples and relationship therapy. While both of us have a lot of the same areas of expertise, these are the only structures that each of us works with right now.

Question 2

I’m interested in working with both of you. Can I do that?

Accepted Answer

You do have the option of working with both of us. We recommend that you have consultations with each of us before you get started, and we want to remind the reader that Maggie can’t work with everyone in the couple/relationship - she can only work with one individual who is part of that configuration. We can provide you with trusted referrals for the additional partner(s) in the relationship.

Question 3

Do I have to work with both of you when I work with one of you?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely not! There are times where we share clients or refer to each other, but we only do that if we think that the other is a good fit. In that case, we follow the norms and ethics of our field and encourage our clients to have a free consultation to make sure that the therapist feels like a good fit, and we also have our clients sign the appropriate documentation so that we can coordinate care as needed. We aim to be as transparent as possible about the process, and we’re open to answering questions or concerns as clients have them. All of that said, the times where we have shared clients (Maggie as the individual therapist and Sam as the relationship therapist) have been very rewarding, and those clients have seemed to really appreciate this collaboration.

Question 4

What will our first session be like?

Accepted Answer

Maggie: During our first session, we will begin to get to know each other. We may go over your intake paperwork a bit and talk about what’s bringing you to therapy at this time, including any specific goals you have for our work together. If you’ve been to therapy before, I’ll ask what has worked well for you in the past, and what hasn’t worked as well. In the first few sessions, I also like to get some more detailed family history from my clients. I also like to balance this routine with meeting my clients where they are, so if there are any acute issues that are bothering you, we will talk about them and try to lay the foundation of our new relationship.

Sam: During our first session, we will all meet together so that I can gather a greater understanding of your relationship, starting at the beginning. We will work to identify what has brought you to couples therapy at this time and begin developing goals together. I will then meet with each of you individually during the following 2+ sessions (depending upon how many people are in the relationship) to gather your individual family and relationship history and to understand more about your personal experience in the relationship.

Question 5

How often will we meet and for how long?

Accepted Answer

Maggie: It's hard to predict how long we will work together as every individual has different goals for therapy and a unique way of defining the role of therapy in their life. So far, in private practice, I've worked with some clients for a year and some for 7 years. I tend to be more interested in developing longer-lasting relationships rather than doing short-term work (less than a year).

I ask clients to meet with me weekly for the beginning of our work, if funds allow, while we are getting to know each other and establishing goals for therapy. After that initial time, we will determine the frequency of sessions based on your needs and goals. Often, weekly sessions are the most effective for helping you reach your goals. I only meet with people weekly or biweekly (every other week) when we are new to working with each other -- if you're looking for less frequent sessions, I don't offer those.

Sam: At first, we will meet either weekly or every other week (biweekly), depending on your desires and my schedule. Many folks choose biweekly due to financial and time restraints, though weekly tends to allow for more continuously productive frequency. If you are on a biweekly schedule, I will very often give you “homework” between sessions so that you keep attending to the needs of the relationship. Many couples that I have worked with who have met their goals will continue to check in for a session every month to 6 months, depending on their particular circumstances, for regular maintenance.

Question 6

What are your hours?

Accepted Answer

Our hours can shift slightly depending on the season and depending on the provider, but our general availability is as follows. We typically meet with clients Mondays 9am to 12pm, and 1pm to 3pm, and Tuesdays to Thursdays from 9am to 1pm. We do not meet with clients in the late afternoons or evenings, or on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. If you’d like to set up a consultation, please contact us.

Question 7

Do you provide support in between sessions?

Accepted Answer

Depending on your provider’s availability, you may be able to schedule an additional full or half session in between your regularly scheduled appointments. ​If additional support is needed between sessions or you are in crisis please contact emergency support services that your provider has provided to you. We are a small private practice, and we don’t have the infrastructure to provide higher levels of support to clients who need a lot of care outside of sessions, especially if they are experiencing issues such as chronic, recurrent suicidality or folks who experience acute mania. In cases such as these, we recommend that you work with a larger group practice or a higher level of care.

Question 8

Where do sessions take place?

Accepted Answer

All sessions take place on a HIPAA compliant, secure online platform for the foreseeable future. We offer sessions for folks residing in Massachusetts and North Carolina. Personally, we live in Western Massachusetts and moved here from the Triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) of North Carolina in 2022.

Question 9

If we do therapy virtually, can I live anywhere and meet with you?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately, no. You need to live in the states in which we are licensed. Those states currently include Massachusetts and North Carolina.

Question 10

Is there anything you do not specialize in?

Accepted Answer

Maggie: Most certainly! I generally work with people who are 25 and older. If you are younger than 25, and you'd like to see if I can make an exception, please reach out to me.

There are countless issues that come up as part of the human experience, so I work with all kinds of things. And, there are issues and experiences that I do not have sufficient training in. In these cases, it’s my ethical obligation to try to refer you to a therapist who has more expertise or focus on these issues as soon as possible. If these topics come up later in our work together, I’ll address it with you directly and try to help you find someone who is a better fit.

Some things that I do not specialize in include but are not limited to: recurrent active suicidal ideation, recent hospitalization,  active eating disorders (such as bulimia, anorexia, etc), active problematic substance use, active domestic violence, and total power exchange or 24/7 D/s dynamics.

Sam: I do not specialize in working with “high conflict” couples, or couples who have pervasive and frequent patterns of negative and hostile conflictual exchanges. I also do not work with 24/7 D/s dynamics.

Question 11

How much do sessions cost?

Accepted Answer

Session rates are different for Sam and Maggie as each of us offers different services, and Maggie has different rates for North Carolina and Massachusetts. Please refer to our Fees Page (https://www.inclusiverelationaltherapy.com/fees)for information about our rates.

Question 12

Do you take insurance?

Accepted Answer

We are not in network (INN) with any insurance networks. We are established out-of-network (OON) providers with many insurance networks. What that means is if you have Out-Of-Network benefits, then you would pay your clinician their full rate for your appointments, and they can give you a detailed receipt ("superbill") for you to take back to your insurance to seek reimbursement options.

Depending on your insurance policy, some (not all) policies will offer partial reimbursement to you for out-of-network services. If you are interested in seeing if your insurance company offers this, call them to ask if your specific policy reimburses for out-of-network mental health services, and what deductible you must reach before reimbursement is offered. We cannot guarantee that your insurance provider will reimburse you.

To learn more about our fees and how our payment works, you can visit our Fees Page.  (https://www.inclusiverelationaltherapy.com/fees)

Question 13

Why aren’t you in network with insurance?

Accepted Answer

We have many reasons that we have chosen not to remain in network with insurance panels, and we are happy to have more in depth conversations with you about them. It’s not a simple issue, and it’s not one that we have taken lightly. However, we have been able to run our practice more sustainably, both financially and energetically, since we became out of network providers. Both of us are able to maintain smaller caseloads, which allows us to give our clients more personalized attention and means that we experience less burnout. Here is a link to one article that offers some reasons why you may want to see an out of network therapist.(https://blog.zencare.co/reasons-to-see-out-of-network-therapist/)

Question 14

Can I use Out of Network (OON) benefits?

Accepted Answer

We are happy to provide superbills to our clients who want to seek reimbursement for sessions. We also answer questions about this process to the best of our abilities. Here’s a link to a helpful article (https://blog.zencare.co/what-to-ask-health-insurance-mental-health-therapy-benefits/)about asking your insurance about out of network mental health benefits. We also have a link on our Fees page to Reimbursify, where you can verify your OON coverage. We welcome clients using their HSA/FSA cards for payment, if they have access to those benefits.

If you choose to use insurance benefits to pay for therapy, you understand that you are responsible for knowing your insurance plan benefits and you accept financial responsibility for any coinsurance or deductibles per your plan policy.

Question 15

Do you offer reduced rates?

Accepted Answer

We offer a limited number of sliding scale appointments. At this time, all sliding scale appointment slots are full. This section will be updated when that changes. If you are in need of therapy services at a lower cost, we recommend www.openpathcollective.com (http://www.openpathcollective.com/)to check out folks who offer sliding scale services and have availability.

Question 16

What is your cancellation policy?

Accepted Answer

We have a 48-hour cancellation policy. You will be charged the full fee of the session if an appointment is missed or canceled without 48+ hour notice.

It may be helpful for potential clients to know that we are stringent about our cancellation policy, except in cases of true emergency. Regarding a planning error or preventable miss, the policy holds.

Question 17

How do we begin?

Accepted Answer

If you’re interested in working together, please send email to info@inclusivert.com (mailto:info@inclusivert.com)or fill out the form on our contact page!(https://www.inclusiverelationaltherapy.com/contact) From there, you’ll set up a free 20-30 minute video consultation with the therapist you’re interested in working with to determine if you’re a good fit for working together. This consultation is a good opportunity for you to let them know what you want to work on in therapy, to ask any questions you have, and for the therapist to make sure that they specialize in those things. You’ll also discuss logistics, like your schedules and availability. If that all looks good, your therapist will send over intake paperwork, and you’ll schedule the first session.

There are times when either Maggie or Sam has a waitlist for new clients. We do our best to keep the website updated to indicate if either provider has a waitlist, and you will learn more about our availability when you inquire.

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