FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What are the potential benefits of therapy?
Psychotherapy has been shown to have benefits for people who undertake it, often leading to a significant reduction of feelings of distress, better relationships or the resolution of specific problems. As with most things in life, there are no guarantees about what will happen.
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What are the potential risks of therapy?
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Sometimes psychotherapy involves recalling and talking about unpleasant events in your life. Because of this, the risks of psychotherapy may include experiencing uncomfortable levels of feelings like sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, frustration, disappointment, loneliness and helplessness.
I think I want to give therapy a try. What’s next?
If you feel I could be a good fit for you, reach out to me either by phone 516-712-4919 or email elizabeth@sullivanlcsw.com. I will almost always get back to you within a day or two during normal business hours to answer any questions you have or to set up an appointment. I will want to know a bit about why you want to come to therapy, but I will not press you to talk about anything you aren’t yet ready to. I know that most people need to get to know and trust a therapist before they feel comfortable really opening up.
How long are sessions and how much do they cost?
Sessions are 45 minutes long and cost $175. I feel that it is important for private psychotherapy to be affordable and accessible so I offer a reduced fee in some circumstances and am open to a conversation about your particular financial situation.
Payment is at the time of service either by cash or check made out to Elizabeth B. Sullivan LCSW PLLC.
For those who are willing to make a commitment to multiple times per week therapy, I offer an extremely reduced rate. Please contact me to discuss.
I do not take insurance at this time, but I am able to provide you with a monthly “paid in full” invoice that contains all the information you need to submit to your insurance company for possible out of network reimbursement. Insurance plans vary widely in how much they will reimburse, it is up to you to negotiate with your provider.
Except in cases of emergency, I ask that you pay for the session if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice.
How often should I come to therapy and how long will therapy take?
Psychotherapy works best when you attend weekly. When clients come less often, I find that a greater part of the session is spent “catching up” and we spend less time investigating the challenges that brought the client to therapy to begin with. Usually, as our work winds down, I will suggest you slowly start to come more infrequently until we officially end treatment.
It is difficult to say just how long therapy will last as every client's situation is so unique. At some point in the first few sessions, we will have a conversation about how long you see yourself in therapy and what I realistically think can be accomplished in that time.
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Is what I tell you confidential?
I take confidentiality very seriously and, in general, the law protects the confidentiality of our sessions. Some exceptions to this are: -suspected child abuse
-suspected elder abuse
-suspected dependent adult abuse
-intent or plan to harm another person
-intent or plan to harm yourself
In all these cases, I must take measures to protect the person in danger, which I will discuss in more detail with you either prior to or during our first appointment.
If you’d like for me to speak to another provider, past or present, or to a family member or friend, I will first ask you to give me written permission.
Occasionally a family member or friend may reach out to me to try to discuss a client. If they leave me a message, I will ignore it, but I will let you know that they contacted me. If they call me and I answer the phone, I will say nothing more than I cannot confirm or deny that anyone is or ever has been a client.
I am always willing to discuss any concerns or potential concerns you may have about confidentiality.
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What if I bump into you outside of therapy?
If we run into each other somewhere outside of the consulting room, I will first ignore you. If you say “hi”, I’ll do the same. I’ll follow your lead, especially if I am alone. I want to protect your privacy, so if I’m with someone else, I may pretend I don’t know you. During sessions, I rarely disclose anything about myself personally, but if you bring something up that makes me feel that there is a good chance our outside lives will collide, I will let you know and then we can discuss how we’d like to proceed.
What if I come to a session and realize I am not ready or that I don’t like you or feel comfortable with you?
If you have any of these feelings either in the first session or later on, please tell me! I won’t take it personally. These feelings can tell us a lot of things. First, we may just not be a good fit and that’s ok. If this is the case, I’d like to help you find another therapist that feels more comfortable for you. Second, I’ve often had clients tell me they feel guilty for “ghosting” a previous therapist, and I’d like for us to be able to say goodbye in person so you are able to walk away without these feelings.
If you are comfortable with me, but feel that you are not ready to discuss certain things, let’s talk about that. If you decide to stop treatment, I want to make sure you know that you are always welcome to return at any time. You may also request my help in finding another provider.
Finally, I find that negative feelings can occur, either towards me or towards therapy in general, after we’ve worked together successfully for a while. In this case, it may be that I am somehow reminding you of someone in your life for whom you have feelings that need to be worked through. It also could be that some difficult feelings are surfacing that are making you feel like you want to stop coming to therapy. In either case, let’s talk it through and figure out what’s happening. Ultimately, though, I will respect your decision to either continue with or stop treatment and I will do my best to provide you with the names of other providers if you so desire. I don't close the door on former clients from my practice, please feel free to reach out to me after any length of time.
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Please contact me with further questions or concerns. If you make the decision to work with me, I will give you paperwork detailing confidentiality, your rights, and all office policies and procedures either before or during our first session.
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