Fully licensed: Clinician who has a master’s degree in counseling, has completed at 3000 hours of professional counseling work, and has been licensed to practice independently. They are listed as LPC, LPC-S, LMFT, and LMFT-S

Associate license: Clinician who has a master’s degree in counseling and is licensed to practice under the supervision of a fully licensed clinician toward completion of the 3000 hours required for full licensure. They are listed as LPC Associate and LMFT Associate

Counselor intern: Clinician who is currently enrolled in a counseling graduate program and is practicing under the supervision of a fully licensed clinician while they complete the final practicum/internship requirement for their master’s degree.

Not typically. Counselor interns may need to record or have their supervisor sit in a few sessions during their internship, but this only happens with consent of the client. Unless you consent, you will meet with your counselor one-on-one.

“Supervision” refers to counselor interns and associate-level clinicians consulting on cases with their supervisors who can help ensure that you are getting the best possible care and assess the counselor’s clinical skills.

Chill Counseling is an inclusive practice that respects and affirms all clients, and is especially passionate about supporting clients from marginalized and minority identities. Our clinicians often have marginalized identities themselves and have experience serving those communities.

You may voice any concerns about your therapist’s understanding of your identities during your consultation, and if there is not a clinician at Chill Counseling that is a good fit for you, we will reach out to our extended network to send you referrals that may be a better match.

Finding a therapist you connect with is important–and a priority for us! We put a lot of thought into our bios to help you get a sense of who we are to help you along your search. For those still unsure, our therapists offer a free 15-minute consultation to help you get a feel for the therapist before committing.

We also provide a consultation guide to help you consider various questions to ask the counselor you have selected, and questions to ask yourself ahead of your consultation. You may decide on a therapist based on a number of factors (their fee, their experience, shared identity, your intuition, etc.). If you determine our none of our therapists are a fit, we will try to connect you with other therapists in our network.

If you have already attempted to book in the online scheduler, there are some things to keep in mind.

1. Clinicians’ schedules vary. While some are available evenings and weekends, others may only be available weekday afternoons. We will request this information when you book your initial consultation.
2. We only book up to two weeks out. This is to ensure current clients are able to maintain consistent appointment schedules and to ensure we accept new clients who are ready to get started.
3. Availability changes sporadically. Clients occasionally reschedule or graduate from therapy. You can request to be placed on the waitlist for a time with a specific clinician.
4. Some clinicians may be full. You can request to be added the therapist’s waitlist or request a referral to another clinician within or outside Chill Counseling.

This varies by clinician. Some clients wish to use their benefits due to costs, while others enjoy the benefits of self-pay (no diagnosis, no oversight by the insurance company).

At this time, our fully-licensed therapists accept Aetna, Optum, Oscar, Oxford, and United Healthcare. Some of our fully licensed therapists also accept BCBS and Cigna.

Our associate clinicians accept Aetna only. 

Our counselor interns are not in network with any insurance companies. However, their self-pay rates are often lower and some reduced fees are available for those with financial challenges and counselor interns can match most insurance co-pays as low as $35.

We also happy to provide you with documentation to help you seek reimbursement from your insurance company, but we encourage you to check your benefits first by calling the member services number on your insurance card. You will want to know about coverage for mental health outpatient services.

If you plan to use your insurance benefits, we will verify them prior to your consultation or first appointment

**Please note that we do not accept insurance for couples, family, or group services. We do not diagnose in these modalities and therefore cannot support the idea of “medical necessity” required for insurance companies**

At this time, our clinicians are not contracted with many EAP programs. You can contact the EAP program to ask if they will extend your benefits to services here. Keep in mind many EAP programs usually limit the number of sessions they will cover (typically 4-8 sessions) and session length (typically about 45 minutes).

Yes, typically you can use your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA). 

Many of these programs require that items covered are “medically necessary” which may mean we will need to diagnose you with a mental health condition in order to validate the purpose of your services should you need to provide confirmation to your benefit provider.

Please note that these programs generally do not allow you to use the benefits for couples and family therapy and you should check with your individual plan.

If you are certain you want to work with a specific clinician but they do not currently have the availability that you need, we will offer to place you on their waitlist.

We will need fully completed paperwork before you can be scheduled. Since openings can happen unexpectedly, we ask that you complete the paperwork as soon as possible. We offer openings to the first available person on the waitlist who has paperwork completed.

In this section, we have answered just a few general FAQs relevant to selecting a therapist. 

Feel free to visit our FAQ page for more questions. If you don’t find it there, you can always send us an email at hello@chillcounseling.com