6 Things Your Therapist Wishes You Knew

Written By: Emily Beck

September 22, 2023

Therapy can be an overwhelming process. Every therapeutic relationship is different, every practice has different rules and policies, and no two sessions are entirely alike. Usually, when you begin therapy, there is a lot of paperwork to fill out. This paperwork can seem to take forever, and it’s easy to forget what you even read once you finish reading it. To help improve your therapy experience, we have come up with a list of some things that our therapists would like you to know about the therapy process at Champaign Counseling:

1. Why is there a cancellation fee?

   This is not meant to be a punishment, and we know that $110 is a lot of money. The reality is that when you schedule a therapy appointment, your therapist is planning on you coming in at that specific time on that date. If you cancel your appointment with less than 24 hours notice, your therapist does not have enough time to give that appointment to another client, and then is not able to be paid for the hour that they have already set aside for you. The cancellation fee is our way of protecting our therapists’ time. We understand that life happens, which is why we give you a free late cancellation once a year. Think about it like this: You reserve a private room at a restaurant, which means no one else can sit there during your reservation time. Then you don’t show up. The venue still needs to be paid for the room, since they couldn’t give it to another paying customer. 

2. What happens if I no call/no show or late cancel twice in a row?

   Not showing up for an appointment is something that happens from time to time. People forget or have emergencies. However, when this happens twice in a row, we have to make sure that we are doing what is best for our current and future clients, as well as your therapist. Two consecutive no shows or late cancellations tells us that therapy may not be able to be a priority right now, which is fine! We just need to make sure we have an idea of what happens next. If you’re not feeling connected to your therapist, let us know! We can help connect you with someone who might be a better fit, or help your therapist address the issue. 

3. Why is my session not a full 60 minutes?

   Our therapists often schedule clients back to back for several sessions. Therapy billing is set up so that a “full session” is 53-60 minutes. However, having a 60 minute session does not allow the therapist time to even go get their next client without being late, let alone take a few breaths, use the bathroom, get a drink, or anything else they may need to do between sessions. This is why we aim for 53-55 minutes. When you are late for a session, this impacts your therapist’s future sessions that day as well, which is why it is important to arrive on time. If you arrive early and start the session early, this does not mean that your session will be longer, it just means it will end earlier than if you arrived at the top of the hour.
   

4. I’m half an hour late, why can I not still have my session?

   First, Insurance tells us how long a session can be, down to the minute. Half an hour is not long enough to bill for a full session, and billing you for time you aren’t face to face with your therapist is insurance fraud. Second, 30 minutes is not long enough to safely have a session. The bottom line is, we need a full session with you to really know what’s going on, and provide you with the services that you need.
   

5. Why can’t my therapist be someone I already know?

   Part of the reason that therapy works is because of the therapeutic boundaries. Therapists are not legally allowed to discuss any information that identifies their clients without specific, written, permission to do so. Your therapy is based on your relationship with your therapist, and an important aspect of this is that your relationship does not exist outside of the therapy session. Therapists need these boundaries in order to remain objective. Picture this: Your therapist is someone you know socially. You go to dinner with some friends, and your therapist is there. How does this feel? Probably pretty uncomfortable. Therapeutic boundaries decrease the risk of situations like this, and improve therapeutic outcomes.
   

6. Why can’t I schedule the first appointment and then change my time slot?

   Every practice does this differently. At Champaign Counseling, when you schedule an appointment, we are giving you a consistent, weekly time slot. We don’t change our schedules every week, so we are saving that hour each week for you and you alone. It’s likely that the slot you were given is the only availability that your therapist has during the week.  If we have someone stop coming to therapy, it’s possible something else may open up in the future, but please make sure that you can consistently come at the time you are scheduled. Otherwise, we may not be able to accommodate what you’re looking for. 

Do you have other questions about why we do things the way we do? Please ask! We are not trying to make your lives harder, or charge you money unnecessarily. It can feel like there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get the help you need, and we understand that this can be frustrating. The more you know, the better your relationship with your therapist will be. 

Interested in learning more? Know someone who might be interested in therapy? Give us a call today at 217-203-2008 to start promoting peace from within!