What To Expect

Your first visit will be a 60 minutes session and Dr Burgio will collect a detailed medical and psychological history from you in order to evaluate your symptoms, how did you cope with them up to now, any medications you are taking, prior psychological treatment or counseling, history of alcohol abuse, marijuana or other substances, family, occupational and academic history.

The purpose of this initial assessment is to have a comprehensive view of any condition that is affecting you or what is called a bio-psychosocial approach. What this term means? It means the focus is not only on the presenting issues or condition that led you to make this first call, but other factors as well that might be exacerbating and/ or interfering with your emotional well-being per example: situational stressors, unresolved traumatic experiences, work place conflicts or bullying, family conflicts, any disability, current abuse or domestic violence. These are some of the stressors I use to help you understand fully what psychotherapy therapy is about.

Through this initial assessment I will help you determine what target goals to set in therapy and the treatment plan that would be most suitable to accomplish these goals. This is the time for you to ask any questions or concerns you might have and decide if you feel comfortable to proceed with therapy. This is also the time for me to consider if I can be helpful or effective with you and/or assist you if possible to find another provider.

Follow-up sessions are 45 minutes usually once a week but frequency depends on your condition and severity of your symptoms. Throughout the process of therapy I will regularly seek feedback from you to make sure treatment is working as expected. I will measure your progress weekly and expect you to feel comfortable to let me know what is working and what you think need improvement. I encourage my clients to communicate openly with me this way I can modify and/or change/add goals as needed to keep you moving forward. My goal is to keep you focused, goal- oriented in order to achieve results in a time efficient manner.

Once you achieved the goals set in the treatment plan you are expected to reduce the frequency of sessions to bi-weekly sessions and later on monthly visits.

What are the benefits and risks of psychotherapy?

Therapy can result in a number of benefits to you; this includes improved interpersonal relationships, resolution of specific symptoms that led you to seek services. However, improvement also depends on your own efforts since therapy requires a commitment on your part, honesty, active participation and having an open mind to change your feelings, thoughts and behaviors.

This is one side of the therapeutic process. You should also consider that remembering unpleasant or traumatic experiences may cause considerable discomfort to you, strong feelings, anxiety, depression or insomnia these are some of the experiences initially expected during the therapeutic process.

At certain point in our work together I may challenge your thoughts, feelings or actual behaviors. I may prove or test your perceptions or assumptions and propose a different way of thinking or responding and it might lead you to feel upset, angry or disappointed. Let me assure you this is part of the process of therapy.

Another factor that you should be aware: attempting to solve issues in therapy may result in significant changes in some areas of your life that you were not intending to change when you started therapy. Changes after psychotherapy could also lead to termination of relationships, changing specific behaviors, changes in employment, terminating substance abuse, housing or relocation to pursue your goals, going to a different school to name a few depending on your individual needs and expectations.

Interestingly, changes and growth you experience in therapy sometimes may face strong opposition from significant others, spouses, partners, family members and/or friends. Moreover, changes can sometimes be quick and easy, but more often it can be gradual and sometimes very hard. In other words, there is no guarantee that psychotherapy will always yield positive results or the outcome that you expected at the beginning but, we know that by engaging in psychological treatment with motivation and making a strong commitment to follow through your goals has definitely a better chance of becoming a rewarding experience.

Payments and Insurance Accepted

Recent changes from ACA (Affordable Care Act) and health care changes allowed more people to access medical care through the ‘health exchange markets’ . Sometimes people assume they have similar coverage to both physical and behavioral issues however that is not the case. Before scheduling your first appointment for psychotherapy I recommend to verify the terms of your medical plan, if you chose a lower premium (and high deductible) then most likely you are financially responsibly for the total contractual fee that I have with your insurance at the time of service. As a normal procedure I will always verify your coverage before the first session and contact you immediately.

Currently I accept the following insurances:

MEDICARE
CIGNA
TRICARE (VALUE OPTIONS)
AETNA
United Health

Fees and Cancellation Policy

In those cases when I am not a participating provider for your insurance or when a person does not want to use his/her insurance for privacy/confidentiality issues my standard fee for individual therapy is $ 150.00 for the first 60 minutes initial assessment and $ 140.00 for the follow-up sessions. Couples therapy or family therapy a 60 minutes session is $ 160.00.

I usually keep some slots available each month with reduced fees that I can negotiate based upon your needs.

Cancellations

When you make an appointment it implies the reservations of a slot of time specifically for you. I require a minimum of 24 hours notice to cancel or to reschedule your appointment. If you missed a session without a prior 24 hrs. notification then you will be responsible for the total amount of the session unless it was the result of an emergency. You need to be aware that non-compliance with treatment recommendations and/or frequent cancellations may be a reason for early termination of services.