Usually, what we talk about in therapy stays in therapy except for a few things meant to protect you and other people. Aside from these though, is not the case if I were to use your insurance company to pay for therapy and I'll tell you why.
When you use insurance to pay for therapy, I am basically required to give your insurance company a diagnosis even if that diagnosis doesn't suit you. It’s fair to say that NOT everybody needs a diagnosis when they come to therapy but your insurance doesn’t seem to think this way at all.
Numerous people come to therapy when contemplating and important decision, seeking clarity for personal exploration and growth. By the way, insurance companies don’t consider personal growth much less self-exploration a valid reason to seek out therapy and without a diagnosis they WILL NOT pay for your sessions.
Not only do insurance companies want us therapist to give you all a diagnosis, but they also ask for treatment notes; basically, your personal information related to some things you share with me in our sessions. This pretty much undermines the basic premise of therapy, and it also gives people unnecessary private health information about you.
Some people don't really mind this since they already give confidential information about themselves to their medical health providers, but you also don't talk to your medical provider about the most intimate details of your life every week, so the content is much more vulnerable.
If you're like, “You know what Maria?... at this point it really doesn't matter what I share with those insurance companies so go ahead and do it.” I'd advise you to air on the side of caution when it comes to that because what some people don't realize is that sharing this confidential information can have unintended consequences for you in the future. Providing insurance companies with a diagnosis and therapy notes can put you at risk for higher premiums if you choose to renew or switch insurance companies and if you do not meet criteria for a mental health diagnosis then I’m only left with 3 options.
1. Assign a diagnosis you don’t meet criteria for so that your insurance company will continue authorizing sessions.
Let’s say I decided to go along with it, and I chose option 1. Maybe you meet criteria for a diagnosis, maybe you don’t. Either way, you now have a diagnosis on record with your insurance company which in turn means that when it comes time to renew and or switch insurance companies you now have a “preexisting condition”
2. Ending therapy.
Personally, I would not feel comfortable making up a diagnosis you don’t even meet criteria for and discontinuing therapy wouldn’t be advisable either… assuming we have already established a good treatment plan that is working great
3. Continue therapy without assigning a diagnosis but risk having claims denied and not getting paid for the work.
I certainly don’t want to risk having my claims denied and not getting paid either.
So there it is folks, please feel free to ask me any questions.
