Frequently Asked Questions

  • Therapy can give you support, validation, coping skills, and strategies to help you change your perspective and decrease destructive behavior patterns that are blocking you from living your idea of a life worth living. Therapy can give a corrective emotional experience to help undo the effects of previous relationship attachments that have influenced one’s use of defensive mechanisms. Therapy can give you a greater peace of mind and help you learn to better tolerate difficult feelings and situations. My main goal is to create a space that is safe and non-judgmental to allow you to feel comfortable in exploring and expressing the different parts of yourself fully to help you gain greater insight of your unique needs. Therapy has the potential of being both powerful and transformative in one’s healing process.

    Therapy cannot change other people or external circumstances. Therapists provide psychoeducation, feedback, and guidance, but they don’t give advice or answers. If you’re new to therapy, or are exploring unprocessed trauma, therapy may make you feel a bit worse before you feel better.

    The length of time it will take for you to feel better varies from person to person based on their unique situations. The more you put into therapy, the more you’ll most likely get out of it.

  • This is a very important question because you are looking to make a commitment of your time and resources and want to invest in the right person to help you with your specific needs. I offer a free 20-minute consultation for us to discuss your specific needs to allow me to determine if I am qualified to help you with those needs and for you to see if I meet your logistical factors (availability, location, fees, etc.) and personal considerations (training, expertise, personality, etc.). Sometimes it takes a few sessions to determine if a therapist is the right fit for you. Ultimately, I want you to find the help you need whether it is with or without me and I will never take it personal if you decide I am not the right fit for you. It is important to find someone that you can trust and feel safe opening up to over time. Research shows that the greatest predictor of therapeutic benefit outcomes is the relationship you have with your therapist. I encourage all my clients to have an open dialogue with me informing me of what is working and what is not working in the therapeutic relationship to help me better help them get their therapeutic needs met.

  • Therapy is a financial investment in yourself. I offer competitive rates for all sessions.

    Intakes (Psychiatric Diagnostic Evaluations)- $200

    Standard Individual Therapy Session, Therapeutic Hour- $175

    The forms of payment accepted are credit/debit (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express) card processing. Payment is due each session. HSA cards and FSA cards are also accepted. I require both a credit/debit card on file and a card authorization signed prior to the first session.

    I believe that therapy should be accessible to everyone; for this reason, I reserve a limited number of reduced-fee weekly appointments (based on financial hardship). Please contact me to discuss sliding scale options further.

    I have a 24-hour cancellation policy. My late cancellation fee or no-show fee is $100.

  • I am an in-network provider with United Healthcare/Optum and BCBS of Arizona.

    For insurances that I am considered out-of-network, I can provide you with a superbill. A superbill is a statement from a provider to a client that provides detailed, specific information about the services a therapist or other health care provider rendered to a client and includes the diagnostic codes for you to submit to your insurance. If you have out-of-network benefits, the insurance company may reimburse you some money for treatment. If you elected to submit a superbill to obtain out-of-network benefits, you would pay the full appointment fee out-of-pocket at the time services are rendered and then you would submit the superbill to your insurance to work on receiving reimbursement directly through your insurance company.

    If you plan to use insurance, either in or out of network, please contact your insurance company prior to scheduling to confirm what is covered under your insurance plan. I have included below a script for you to utilize when speaking with your insurance. Please take notes when speaking with your insurance and we can discuss how you would like to proceed based on your benefit information prior to scheduling.

    Script to use when speaking with your insurance to determine in-network benefit coverage:

    If Jennifer Ami, MSW, LCSW is "in-network with" or "paneled" with your health insurance, ask your health insurance company the following questions to verify that (1) you indeed can see me in-network, and (2) how much it would cost to see me if you use your insurance benefits.

    • Is this provider (Jennifer Ami, MSW, LCSW and NPI# 1871972273) in-network with my health insurance? (Your therapist may not be in-network with your particular plan, so this is important to check!)

    • What is my in-network deductible for outpatient mental health visits?

    • How much of my deductible has been met?

    • What is my copay for outpatient mental health visits?

    • Is this coverage applicable before or after I meet my deductible?

    • Is virtual therapy covered under my plan?

    Script to use when speaking with your insurance to determine out-of-network benefit coverage:

    If I do not take your health insurance, ask your health insurance company the following questions to understand how much of sessions they will reimburse:

    • What is my out-of-network deductible for outpatient mental health visits?

    • How much of my deductible has been met this year?

    • What is my out-of-network coinsurance for outpatient mental health visits?

    • Do I need a referral from an in-network provider or a primary care physician to see someone out-of-network?

    • How do I submit claims for out-of-network reimbursement?

    • Is virtual therapy reimbursed?

  • Before using your benefits, I encourage you to investigate all options and arrive at an informed decision regarding your health care. You are an expert on your life and your finances, my goal is only to provide education for you to consider when determining how you choose to proceed when investing in your treatment. Private pay may be a higher financial cost than a typical copay, but some find it beneficial to avoid using insurance for various reasons.

    When using insurance with either out-of-network or in-network, the insurance requires the clinician to use an ICD-10 diagnosis (example- Generalized Anxiety Disorder ICD 10 code F41.1) vs. a circumstance or problem that is present which influences the person's health status but is not in itself a current illness or injury (example- Z71.9 (counseling, unspecified). Certain criteria adhering to a medical model focused on diagnosis and severity of symptoms must meet the criteria of what is deemed “medical necessity” for Insurance to cover the cost of treatment.

    The insurance carrier can dictate the specific type of counseling they are willing to reimburse the clinician for and can determine the length of treatment they are willing to cover for the client, as opposed to the clinician and client having full control over deciding the course of treatment. Electing to use insurance means that any diagnosis made and any treatment received will become a pre-existing condition on your medical record.

    Utilizing insurance means a loss of confidentiality. HIPAA Privacy Rule permits clinicians and insurance companies to exchange Protected Health Information (PHI) with certain protections and limits for activities involving Treatment, Payment and Operations (TPO). An individual Release of Information (ROI) with insurance is not required by HIPAA. For an insurance claim to be accepted, the clinician is not only required to submit diagnosis, treatment methods, but progress to treatment as well. The insurer can audit your medical records at any given point, having access to the personal details discussed in therapy.

    The message presented above about the benefits of not using insurance, is in no way testimony to or a reflection of my judgement around mental health difficulties, diagnoses, and care for one’s mental health and well-being. The message about the advantages of private pay reflects the challenges around insurance, managed mental health care, and the stigma that remains.

  • You have the right to receive a “good faith estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost.

    Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.

    You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, hospital fees, and mental health services.

    You can ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an appointment.

    If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill (please note, while this is the law, this is not applicable to our practice as our estimate is only for each session since we are unable to predict the length of therapy).

    Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

    For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call (800) 368-1019.tel:(800) 368-1019

    You will receive a Good Faith Estimate through the client portal with your intake paperwork at the time of scheduling an appointment. If at any point during treatment you would like to request another Good Faith Estimate, please contact us. A Good Faith estimate will be emailed to you within 24 business hours.

  • At the start of therapy, I typically see individual clients once per week. Seeing each other weekly allows for the work to move along at a good pace for you to be able to see progress. If we reach a maintenance phase, we will evaluate the frequency of sessions needed at that time. The goal at the start of therapy is to work towards termination, which is a therapeutic term used to refer to the end of the therapeutic relationship and you no longer receive therapy. With that being said, people come in and out of therapy throughout their lifespan. The need for therapeutic benefits can be an ongoing process, but it is encouraged in the therapy world for therapy to end when goals are met and maintained for a specific set period of time. It is important for my clients to know the door is open for future therapy sessions when new challenges occur, and new goals are identified.

  • Yes, after our initial communication, I will ask for your email address and send you a link to my online portal through Simple Practice so that you can conveniently complete the intake paperwork prior to our first appointment. The intake paperwork includes several documents that need to be reviewed, completed, and signed prior to the initial psychosocial assessment. The forms include: Practice Policies, Notice of Privacy Practices, Informed Consent and Authorization for Psychotherapy, Telehealth Informed Consent, Intake Questionnaire, Depression (PHQ-9) and Anxiety (GAD) Screenings, Credit Card Authorization, Demographics Form, and a Release of Information (to help coordinate care with a primary care doctor or a psychiatric medication provider that is already involved in your mental health care). Other assessments and forms may be required depending on the information discussed in our consultation prior to scheduling a full psychosocial intake assessment.

    Please give yourself an hour or two to complete these forms and return them 24 hours prior to your initial appointment for me to review before the start of our scheduled appointment.

  • I do my best to be understanding of emergencies that may arise, which is why I want to make sure you understand our policy before you begin working with me. As much as I want to be flexible every time something comes up, I appreciate your understanding that sessions cancelled within 24 hours of your appointment time, for any reason, will be charged $100. Insurance cannot be billed for cancellations or no shows, so you will be responsible for the $100 for your missed session. I always require a credit card on file that will be automatically charged the no show fee. Please refer to the section on fees for further details.