Fees and Insurance
My Current Fees
$170 per 60-minute individual session
$190 per 60-minute couples session
I recommend the session lengths above for most clients, but I offer other session lengths, as well; fees for longer and shorter sessions are based on my regular full fee ($170 per hour for individual sessions and $190 per hour for conjoint couples/relationship sessions).
When I adjust my fees, I do so with at least 30 days notice of any fee increase. I often adjust my fees around January 1 and July 1 of each year.
I accept payment by credit card and debit card only (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club). A good faith estimate explaining these fees is available on request.
Insurance
I am not in-network with any insurance. If you want to seek out-of-network reimbursement from your insurance, I may be able to provide a monthly receipt/superbill you can submit to your insurance. I can do this if your treatment is medically necessary (meaning that you qualify for a mental health diagnosis and we are treating that diagnosis in your therapy). If you are interested in this option, please review your insurance coverage to find out whether out-of-network outpatient behavioral health treatment is covered, and let me know so we can discuss.
-
It may be better to avoid using insurance—even out-of-network—to help pay for your therapy, for a number of reasons:
Diagnoses required. Insurance companies require a mental health diagnosis to cover therapy; your diagnoses become part of your medical record. If you don’t use insurance, you can choose whether or not I diagnose you, and your diagnoses don’t need to be reported to your insurance company.
Incompatible goals. Using insurance forces us to fit your therapy into a medical model (in which your therapy must be medically necessary and the primary purpose of your therapy must be to treat and resolve mental disorders). If you have goals for therapy that fall outside the medical model (for instance, personal growth, wellness, or relationship goals), forcing your therapy into a medical model can take time and focus away from what's really important to you. Avoiding using insurance makes it possible for us to focus your therapy on your specific goals, without having to use a medical model or meet the requirements of insurance companies.
Limits on therapy. To reduce their expenses, insurance companies may try to control the type and length of treatment you receive. For instance, they may approve only certain types of therapy or require pre-authorization for continued sessions. Insurance often favors short-term therapy over longer-term, more in-depth therapy.
Audits and records. Increasingly, insurance companies have been using audits to reduce their expenses. If your insurance company chooses to audit your records, they may request all your treatment records, which could include session notes, treatment plans, progress reports, and more. If these records are not to their liking, they may withhold or retract their payments. Creating records to meet the needs of insurance companies takes a lot of time and effort on your part and mine, and there is no guarantee that those records will pass an audit.
For the above reasons, I prefer to avoid working with insurance, even out-of-network.
I’m Jacob Gotwals, MA, a licensed professional counselor in Tucson.
I work by video with individuals and couples in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and New Mexico. Looking for a male therapist?