Good Faith Estimate

Posted on by Sarah Claus

As of January 1st, 2022, you have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost.

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.

  • You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
  • Make sure your healthcare provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your healthcare provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.
  • If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
  • Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit http://www.cms.gov/nosurprises.

9 Reasons I Believe in You, My Client.

Posted on by Sarah Claus

1. I have yet to meet a single client who doesn’t have some remarkably badass qualities.  I love seeing and honoring those qualities.

2.  Sometimes folks haven’t experienced **Being Believed In** (from others or from themselves) in a really long time.  It’s nice refamiliarize them with what that can be like.

3.  You have done so much to get to this moment.  So much that I’m left just amazed by your journey.  I cannot and will not dismiss that.

4.  When someone says that they want to “start therapy,” to me they are saying, “I want to switch it up.”  It might be switching up their perspective, their relationships, their mindset, or even their brain/body patterns.  They’re coming in with a moment of hope, and I believe deeply in and honor hope.

5.  Sometimes it’s hard to believe in one’s self, so I *GET* to show up for you and hold hope for you when it may be hard for you to do that for yourself.

6.  Humans (and their brains and hearts) are incredibly strong, resilient, and brilliant.

7.  Because I believe humans are inherently connected.  I can’t believe in one person’s potential without believing in another’s.

8.  I know the magical, heart-squeezing, fire-lighting, life-changing impact that can happen because of times when people have believed in me.

9.  I have no reason not to.

Your therapist’s therapist.

Posted on by Sarah Claus

Has your therapist been in therapy?  And does it matter?  And why is going to therapy a taboo topic?

Let’s muse over this for a moment: What could that mean for you, for them, and for your work together?  For some folks, it might be a sign of a strength or health.

Could it mean that they’re weak or even flawed, though?  If they’re still doing their own work, does that mean they are not a good match for you?  Or, could I argue, this just mean that they are human?

To answer that, you have to consider what therapy means for anyone.  Is it the kind of care that flawed people seek?  Or it care that could enhance anyone’s life?  Of course, I believe it’s the latter.

There is a large school of thought within the psychotherapy community that it’s VITAL to “do your own work”–and to keep doing it.  We are often told that we can only help our clients get as far as we ourselves have reached.   I’d argue that that is not completely true, because that would give me way too much credit for what my clients do.  That being said, there are even articles that help people know what questions to ask a potential therapist that include: “Ask them if they’ve been in therapy and how recently.”  (Sources 1 and 2)

Many therapists I know (myself included) may take time to engage in therapy and then take some space away from it.  Like others, sometimes a person just needs a break for any number of reasons, and I honor that.  Being in therapy, though, can help us remember that we are still connecting with the life we want and with the world around us.  And of course, your doctor probably has a doctor, and your massage therapist has a massage therapist.  We belong to each other.

And when in therapy myself, I’m extra reminded of how freaking brave and intentional my clients are.  It humbles me and helps me consider what might feel more effective or ineffective.  It reminds me how exhausting and how exhilarating it can be.  And it reminds me that my clients are amazing.

The other day, my best friend reflected that they hope never to be a point where they close their mind to a new perspective.  

Yes.  That’s it.  

And gosh, I sure do hope the same for myself.

Yoga teachers are adamant that people are forever “practicing yoga” and never “doing yoga”.  This is a powerful way to frame what we do in therapy.  We are looking at how we think, feel, live, relate, and connect.  Does any person ever master and complete their personal work?  As life evolves and relationships start and stop, children are born, jobs are changed, health takes turns, goals shift, and society pivots, I find that more perspective and care helps us engage and grow and connect.  

What does it mean to know that your yoga teacher struggles in a pose at times or doesn’t fully live their practice “off their mat” 100% of the time?  Does it mean that they’re less qualified or that they are relatable and human? Therapists aren’t meant to be put on pedestals.  In the yoga community, there is a long history of particular people reaching “guru status” falling from grace with scandals and hypocrisy.   It happens in many other communities, too.  As people in a helping profession, we are meant to be in healthy, intentional relationship with our clients to honor our clients’ needs with a true positive regard.  And to do that, we must do our work, too.

So, folks, on that note, I’m going to see if I find a therapist who I click with myself today.  Because life is happening, it’s a beautiful day, and growth and exploration feels damn good.