Counseling
Los Angeles Sex Therapy psychotherapy, sex therapy, and coaching/consulting services are meant to support you in personal, relational, sexual and/or professional growth and development. While ongoing attendance in these can lead to substantial improvement, the process itself may not always be comfortable. You may gain awareness in your experience in psychotherapy, coaching or consulting which may help you decide to make changes in your life as a result. Changes which could in turn affect your relationships, your work, etc. When you consent to participate in my coaching or consulting sessions you should take into consideration its potential benefits, risks and nature of the services. It is also important to recognize that while there are no guarantees, commitment and effort both during and in-between sessions will increase your chances for the most beneficial of outcomes.
Coaching/Consulting vs. Sex Therapy/Psychotherapy
Pscyhotherapy and sex therapy drawn on our clinical experince with individuals, families and couples. We may delve much deeper into longer standing issues, we will spend more time processing and understanding, developing insight, bridging gaps and defining the tools needed to work through more challenging issues, and road blocks while realizing and developing needs and goals.
Coaching/Consulting also differs from psychotherapy in that it does not address serious mental health issues. Please note: Consulting and coaching should not replace psychotherapy or other medical interventions, and are not billable via insurance. I will refer you out if I feel my services are not a good fit for you.
Contacting Us
You are free to contact your therapist/coach between sessions. There is a fee based on the session fee for all calls lasting longer than 5 minutes. If your coach/therapist is not available to take your call, you can leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible. If you need to speak with us immediately, please leave a message indicating that your call is urgent and we will make every effort to return the call within 24 hours. Please do not text regarding personal matters. Texting is reserved for scheduling and rescheduling appointments only. If you need to discuss personal matters please try to reach me via voice. If you are experiencing an emergency call 911.
Session Framework and Payment
Sessions are 50 minutes in length depending on the focus of the work, while the frequency varies depending upon your needs. 75 minute or bi-weekly sessions are common for people working through acute issues. Generally, services will continue until we decide together that the work is complete. Payment is due at the time of service. If you have not taken care of your financial obligation within ninety days, we reserve the right to proceed with formal collection activity.
Appointments/Missed Appointments/Rescheduling
In order to make my business sustainable we need our time slots filled. We require 48 hours for cancel or reschedule. There are no exceptions to this policy. All first sessions shall be reserved with a credit card. The credit card will be charged if the first session is missed. Should you cancel or reschedule the session within 48 hours your credit card will not be charged. Appointment times are reserved for you in advance. Once you book a day and time I can no longer give that time to someone else. Before making an appointment I ask that you please consider how serious you are about showing up. You may call and leave a message, e-mail or text to cancel or reschedule any day of the week or weekend.
Balance Accumulation
We are under legal and ethical obligation not to let a balance accumulate substantially. This is one of the reasons all sessions are to be paid for at the time of service. If the balance rises substantially this can create a debtor-creditor relationship, which, together with the therapist-patient relationship, can constitute a dual relationship.
Refunds
Refunds are not provided for services rendered.
Confidentiality
Here at Los Angeles Sex Therapy we take confidentiality very seriously. Everything you disclose in our sessions is confidential with the exception of what is required by law to disclose it (e.g., where there is reasonable suspicion of child, dependent adult or elder abuse, when you pose a danger to others or when you pose a danger to yourself unless protective measures are taken). Should the necessity of releasing confidential information arise, every reasonable effort will be made to discuss this matter with you first; the preference beingto make any such disclosures together with you in person. If you have any questions about the exceptions mentioned above, or if you need any further clarification, I encourage you to discuss them with us directly.
Insurance
We work out-of-network with most insurance companies, which means I require payment by credit card, cash or check at the time of your visit. You may then submit my invoice to your insurance company so that they can reimburse you. The amount you will be reimbursed depends on your insurance policy and out-of-network mental health benefits.
A growing number of insurance companies reimburse for psychotherapy. To confirm that your insurance company will reimburse for my services, I recommend calling them by phone and asking: "Does my policy cover mental health visits with out-of-network providers?" and “What is my deductible for these visits and how much will I be reimbursed?”
To simplify the reimbursement process, an invoice will be emailed to you every 4-8 sessions with insurance billing codes, which is a receipt for your visit. You can submit this invoice directly to your insurance company. If the process is unclear, I will be happy to guide you through it.
Payment for services is payable directly to Moushumi Ghose or Los Angeles Sex Therapy as outlined above. Your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance company. Even when there is such a contract with your insurance company, if they do not cover services, you are responsible for the payment. A separate contract exists between you and us regarding services. We do not place calls to insurance companies. The client must handle all communications related to insurance companies. Please note that insurance companies vary widely in their policies regarding reimbursement for psychological treatment and therapy. If you cancel or reschedule a session less than 48 hours in advance or miss an appointment you will be billed for this session and insurance cannot be billed for the cancelled/missed session. The client is responsible for verifying and understanding the limits of his/her coverage, as well as his/her co-payments and deductibles. PLEASE KNOW AND UNDERSTAND YOUR INSURANCE COVERAGE PRIOR TO ATTENDING YOUR FIRST THERAPEUTIC SESSION.
Fees
$100 -$250 and are based on the level and experience of the practitioner you are working with. Most associates work on a sliding scale, as they are working towards their hours for licensure. While they are pre-licensed they are still registered with the Board of Behavioral Sciences of California, and still expected to provide top notch care within their scope of practice. They are also closely supervised by Moushumi Ghose, MFT #44134.