Why Loyal Blue?
Spring 2021: How are you doing sessions right now?
How long, how often, how much?
Do you accept insurance?
What is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and how does it work?
Cancelation Policy
Q: Why Loyal Blue?
A: Loyal Blue is a well-respected group practice using research-based techniques to build lasting change for our clients. Our mission is to serve the east bay community with authentic, down-to-earth therapy that works.
A successful therapy experience needs a good alliance between client and therapist. Personality fit is very important! Our group shares the value of providing exceptional service to our clients, while offering a variety of therapists. We hope you can find your therapist on the Loyal Blue team, and are happy to schedule free consultations (or recommend outside therapists) until you get there.
Loyal Blue uses CBT (see below) to produce effective change. We offer clients a chance to fill out Session Rating Scales in order to make sure appointments are useful and tailored to their needs. Use of Session Rating Scales has been shown to increase participation in treatment and lead to better outcomes.
We collaborate with local pediatric practices, student groups at UC Berkeley, and fellow experts in the field of psychology to bring you good therapy.
Q: 2023: How are you doing sessions right now?
A: Loyal Blue is fully vaccinated and operating both in-person and remotely. Clients are free to choose, based on our availability.
Many clients prefer in-person sessions, which are guided by our covid safety protocols. Talk with your therapist about days they are offering in-person sessions, and review our Covid safety page. You can book an appointment here.
Q: How long, how often, how much?
A: Sessions are between 40 and 50 minutes depending on your therapist. We also offer 30 minute sessions. Sessions can be prorated to shorter or longer.
For most topics, counseling works best when you can set aside time for 6-10 sessions and schedule them on a weekly basis. We will work with you to tailor a plan that fits your goals and schedule. We are guided by research that shows a presenting therapeutic problem is typically resolved in 10-12 sessions, but that outside topics arise during the time and therefore the average duration of therapy is closer to 20 sessions.
Our therapists are trained to be a reliable resource for as many chapters of therapy as needed.
We offer a flat fee which includes most communication between therapist and parent or collateral contact. Rates are set by Loyal Blue each October and differ among therapists’ experience. Our associate therapists (AMFT, APCC) therefore charge the least and offer sliding scale.
Q: Do you accept insurance?
A: We use a secure electronic health system where you may store your insurance information and receive a monthly receipt to submit which says Statement For Insurance Reimbursement. However, we are considered out-of-network providers and therefore collect our fees directly from you, the client.
We want counseling to be affordable and guided only by our clinical expertise and your needs. For this reason, we opt to be a private pay practice with options for lower fee services from our associate therapists.
As part of the No Surprises Act, you have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate of services. Because the nature of therapy is ongoing, this is a range of costs dependent on your particular circumstance. Fees are set at the start of counseling and subject to increase with 2 months notice, usually once per year. This Good Faith Estimate can be provided upon commencement of services and available with details specific to your treatment in our client portal.
Q: What is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and how does it work?
A: CBT is an empirically validated approach to treating problems like depression, anxiety, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders (perfectionism, routines, etc). What this means is that CBT has been clinically proven to be more effective than medication alone and more effective than other forms of talk therapy to resolve problems for longer than traditional talk therapy. If you see a Loyal Blue therapist, chances are you will receive some application of CBT in your sessions.
CBT is a process guided by a therapist who teaches you how to gently challenge your thought patterns and identify core beliefs and update them to serve your goals. It is not simply positive talk! CBT often uses homework like thought charts and mood records in order to better understand the path from thought —> emotion —> state of being.
CBT seems simple, but is not easy. Like many things worth investing in, it takes practice and patience. However all ages can benefit from learning CBT and its broad application and straightforward approach make it our treatment of choice.
Our Cancelation Policy Is Designed For Effective Therapy
We request notice of cancelation by Friday at 5pm the previous week.
If you cancel within the same week of your appointment, we make our best effort to reschedule your session that same week and 50% of the session fee may be charged if we cannot. Rescheduling is subject to our availability and may include offering a telehealth session, or a shorter session.
If you cancel within 48 hours you will be charged the full fee for the missed appointment. We always make exceptions for illness or emergencies.
It is our top priority that you get the session you pay for.
Why Is This Our Policy?
We know that many service providers allow 48 hours notice of cancelation. However, our policy has been in place for 20 years and has research and results behind it:
- We care about providing the best treatment outcomes you can get.
Not surprisingly, we’ve found that effective therapy is correlated with regular attendance. We have high standards for ourselves and care about our clients getting the outcomes they want.
Regular attendance allows therapists to establish better connections with their clients, and the therapeutic bond is the #1 factor associated in a positive therapy experience.
- We want you to prioritize your counseling.
We know life gets busy and things come up. We’re happy to provide regular clients with a one-time waiving of our policy when your calendar gets mixed up.
But we take mental health seriously, and we want you to as well. Talk to your therapist if you find your session schedule needs adjusting. We recommend weekly sessions to start, but after the first 4-6 sessions, it may be appropriate for some clients to come less often if that helps accommodate other plans.
- We have acceptable alternatives to in-person sessions.
Because we are able to offer secure sessions via our telehealth platform, as well as allow you to book and change appointments online, there are other ways to receive your session and to schedule at your convenience.
- We respect our therapists and their schedule.
Therapists are in high demand and ours work particularly hard at 2 different locations and by video to accommodate our clients.
Therapists have a limited number of hours in their week just like everyone else, and when a cancelation occurs, especially within the same week, it means an empty hour in their schedule when they could be helping someone. We cannot hold times for those who frequently cancel, and we cannot keep therapists fully employed when their schedule gets frequent cancelations.
Here’s the bottom line
We want you to receive what you pay for: the very best therapy provided by the skilled therapists at Loyal Blue. If you need to cancel, let us know the week before. And if something comes up last minute, let us accommodate you with an alternative (we know it won’t be your first choice) so that you stay on track and meet your goals!