7 Tips On How To Plan For Therapy Near Me In 2024
How To Plan For Therapy Near Me At The End Of 2023
Hey everyone! Shameless sex therapist and sex coach Jackie here, let’s spill the tea IMMEDIATELY because we’re at the end of 2023!! Here’s 7 Tips On How To Plan For Therapy Near Me In 2024…
#1-Set aside a budget for online therapy or in person therapy now.
#2-Read your insurance benefits & opt in for an HSA/FSA account now.
#3-Create a budget aside from your payment therapy funds until the end of the year.
#4-Shop for therapists near you and online therapy now! Be it online therapy or therapy near me, both are great places to start searching for a therapist.
#5-Prioritize your mental health and therapy in 2024 by planning ahead now!!
#6-Schedule therapist consultations for online therapy and therapy in your state.
#7-Once you’ve scheduled, take an hour aside to fill out that therapist’s paperwork they sent you.
Keep reading why these 7 tips are important to plan ahead for therapy near you in 2024 and additional considerations for each one! There are also vlog videos under some of these tips for those auditory learners out there too, I see you!!
Why Is It Important To Plan For Therapy Near Me Now?
It’s practically the end of 2023, insurance plans will be changing soon, and you think, this is the year I am going to do therapy! Be it therapy online or therapy near me, nothing can stop you. Then you get your new insurance benefits, restart in 2024, and realize, oh crap, I haven’t met my deductible and insurance won’t cover my therapy appointments. Here’s the thing, now is the time to budget for therapy and switch to get an HSA/FSA account in your insurance plan for the new year. Prior to the new year, if there is a therapist you want to work with, budget for therapy now, take a percentage out of your paycheck and set this aside for therapy in 2024. Hold yourself accountable and remember your why for starting therapy!!
How To Plan Ahead For Therapy Near Me
Set aside a budget for online therapy or in person therapy now. Even if you’re not ready to meet with a therapist for sessions, you’ll thank me later. More and more therapists are opting out of accepting insurance plans, due to the late payouts, not getting adequately reimbursed, burnout, and they can’t afford to do business without accepting private pay clients. As a sex therapist herself who can’t take insurance because what I do is not paid out through insurance companies, this is heard and learned experience I have gotten feedback from my fellow online therapists and in person therapists as well. That may sting a little to read or hear, and therapists deserve to be paid too. I’ve heard insurance companies delaying the process of paying therapists anywhere from 3-6 weeks, to 2-4 months. Imagine if that was your therapist that you had a great rapport with, I bet you’d feel a little sad or disheartened for them, and if that was your career and livelihood, I bet you’d want to be paid too! If you celebrate the holidays, a birthday, or get an end-of-the-year bonus, set it aside to create a therapy budget because you never know when you’ll need a therapist near you ASAP! If you need more ideas regarding how to pay for therapy near you or online therapy, check out my vlog on 8 ways to pay for therapy!
Read your insurance benefits & opt in for an HSA/FSA account now. Literally THIS! This is the time of year, November when most people change their insurance plans or they get updated. Having an HSA/FSA card account where you get funds taken out of your paycheck right away is just like cash to pay for therapy near you and an easy therapy budget. I’m in no way the insurance expert, I know plans will change in 2024, and a deductible will have to be met before those benefits kick in if they even cover your therapy costs. Paying a therapist out of pocket is also a tax write-off and can be used towards a deductible as well. As your therapist to provide you with receipts to give to your insurance company for potential reimbursement (if you have a PPO plan) or count towards your deductible. For more information on this, please check out my vlog on what you need to know about your insurance plan in regard to therapy.
Create a budget aside from your payment therapy funds until the end of the year to receive more confidentiality with therapy. You may be thinking what?? I thought therapy was confidential. It is and it isn’t. When working with a therapist and depending on if your workplace is tracking attendance, any type of schooling, or system has you sign a release of information, those diagnoses and reasons for therapy could be shared with your written consent. Along with using insurance for therapy, that is on your medical record and although companies may have a clause where they cannot fire someone due to mental, sexual, or physical health reasons, there are risks of using insurance because of that. Really track your spending habits, money, and where that is going at the end of the day. Sometimes we can get into instant gratification spending habits like planning a trip to Italy for $6,000 when that could buy 2-3 weeks of happiness when therapy and prioritizing your mental health is for life and a 365 day job. This could also show up as quick dopamine hits from Amazon coming to your house a couple of times a week when that could be your therapy session budget. Take time to reflect on shedding what doesn’t serve you or your mental health and figure out a budget that works for you to work towards finding a private pay therapist near you who is going to ensure more confidentiality versus less. Watch my other vlog on the benefits of paying a therapist out of pocket could be beneficial for you!
Shop for therapists near you and online therapy now! Literally, waitlists are a thing, read my previous blog, How to Plan for Therapy Near Me in 2024, to learn how many people were on waitlists for therapy because they wanted to use their insurance in the past couple of years here. Be it online therapy or therapy near me, both are great places to start searching for a therapist to avoid waitlists now. If you need help seeking therapy near you, feel free to reach out to me, and I’d be happy to help!
Prioritize your mental health and therapy in 2024 by planning ahead now!! You never know when you are going to need therapy near you or online. Major lifecycle transitions, moves, SAD symptoms during the winter, anxiety, stress, and sex changes with our mental health over the year. Create a time to sit aside with all these tips to plan ahead for therapy in 2024. Make a note to create time in your schedule to plan for 1 time a week therapy sessions, planning ahead with bosses, employers, or if you own your own business times that the therapist has available, and get into the habit now.
Schedule therapist consultations for online therapy and therapy in your state. Take your time with therapists regarding phone and video consultations. Ask questions about in-person or online therapy appointments, what it’s like working with them, what their rates of service are, and then see how you feel after talking to them. If you’re not sure, don’t rush the process to just schedule if you don’t feel a connection to that therapist. 50% of why therapy works is because of that therapeutic rapport and relationship. If it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right, trust your intuition when searching for therapy near you.
Once you’ve scheduled, take an hour aside to fill out that therapist’s paperwork they sent you. Yes, you read that right, an hour. That therapist took time sending you forms, intake questions, and policies and needs you to take time to fill them out. One-word answers aren’t going to be helpful to that therapist when needing to review intake information over time. Be descriptive and share, this is the first time that the therapist is meeting with you, and having that information on file is helpful for future therapy tools, exercises, and recommendations. Also, be on time, that therapist is prioritizing you and needs you to also prioritize your therapy session just as much, if not more. Therapists can’t do the work for their clients, if we did, I’d be out of a job ;) and because of this fact and the fact that we want to help you, we need you to help yourself and show up too!! Don’t ghost your therapist boo!
Consequences Of Not Planning Ahead For Therapy Near Me
Yes, there are absolutely consequences of not planning ahead for therapy near you or online therapy! Let’s get some bullet points listed out of potential consequences when you don’t plan ahead for therapy…
You may be dealing with waitlists anywhere from weeks to months to years
The provider you’ve researched or googled therapy near me that you found may no longer be taking clients
Prices can change be it with or without insurance, therapists who own a private practice in order to stay ahead of business costs need to up their rates 10-15% annually to stay afloat
Your sexual, mental, and physical health could take a toll on you to the point of injury, illness, and further delaying the therapy process, a therapist may recommend needing to work with you for longer vs. a shorter length of time
The times of therapy you want could be unavailable
Things you are struggling with could get worse before they get better
And of course, there’s more! Let’s just end this with a couple of reflection questions for you to consider when it comes to seeking therapy online or near you. What’s my why with wanting to start therapy? How could therapy help me if I did start? What am I looking for in a therapist? What’s my plan to take the next steps to schedule therapy consultations and then therapy? Reflect on these questions and think through what is best for you!
I hope this blog helps you think about planning for therapy now in 2023 for the upcoming 2024 year. Therapists do get swamped with referrals at the beginning of January, so if you are even thinking about starting online therapy or therapy in Minneapolis or near you, I highly recommend reaching out, researching, and scheduling a consultation today boo!
If you want to work with me in therapy, couples sex therapy, sex therapy, or self care therapy, then Book your consultation here today!
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If you are looking for help with Sex Therapy, Couples Therapy, & Self-Esteem, you can read more about how I can help on those pages. If you are seeking Sexual Wellness Coaching Services or Holistic Healing Services, click on those links! If you are a therapist in Minneapolis or outside of Minnesota and seeking Consultation Services, Pick Your Brain 1:1 Consultation, or a Speaker or Trainer for Your Next Workshop, I can help here too! Let’s get started on your Shameless Goals in Minneapolis, MN today!
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