EMDR Intensives are 6 hours by design.

Some clients prefer to do everything in one day and thus one trip to the office.

Other clients prefer to meet for 3-hour blocks on two days in the same week. This is often better for long-standing issues as it allows time for other memories to surface between day 1 and day 2.

EMDR Intensives can be accomplished in one or two days. Follow-up processing sessions can be scheduled as needed.

The goal is to get you feeling better quickly so you don’t have to attend weekly or bi-weekly therapy appointments.

Each session is $250, with an additional $25 charge for the initial assessment session.

You may use an HSA/FSA debit card to pay for counseling even if your insurance company does not provide reimbursement.

You may be able to receive out-of-network reimbursement from your insurance plan but this varies greatly by insurance plan.

There is no specific billing code for EMDR intensives, but in some cases, medical necessity can be argued.

For the most accurate information:

Contact your insurance company and ask the following questions:

• Do I have any out of network benefits for in-office mental health services?

• Do I have an out-of-network deductible? If so, how much is that deductible and how much has already been met for the year?

• What is the maximum allowable amount for CPT code 90837 when provided by an LMFT (Master’s level clinician)?

• Is there a limit on the number of hours or units of 90837 that are billed on the same day? (This will tell you if they are willing to cover more than the first hour of an EMDR intensive).

• What percentage of the allowed amount will I be reimbursed?

This information should help you figure out how much therapy will cost you.

Additional information they might request:

Provider NPI: 1053639716

Diagnosis (here are common diagnoses that benefit from EMDR):

Reaction to severe stress: F43.9

PTSD: F43.1

Generalized Anxiety Disorder: F41.1

Prolonged Grief: F43.81

Angela works with individual adults.

EMDR clients must be located in DC, VA, TX, FL, LA, or SC.

Angela works primarily with clients who have challenges with interpersonal dynamics and/or have disturbing memories or thoughts or behavioral patterns that disrupt normal life. Most clients have symptoms of anxiety or PTSD.

Many clients have a primary therapist and choose to see Angela for a limited time for EMDR.

If EMDR is not the right fit, talk therapy and art therapy are also available.

No, you do not have to engage in EMDR therapy. Angela is trained in multiple modalities including family systems, CBT, parts work, art therapy, and Christian counseling. She is happy to create a unique blend of interventions that best suit your needs.

This depends on the issue being discussed. For some clients the faith component is exploring the barriers that prevent the client from inviting God into a particular area of life. For other clients the focus is on developing spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading, prayer, and community involvement. For yet others, it is about developing or re-establishing trust in God after being betrayed by people or feeling angry that God did not intervene in a particular situation.

Watch this video to learn more.

We can still work together. Spiritual matters are often an important part of how we view and cope with challenges in our lives, but not every counselor will ask about or invite that type of discussion. I am open to talking about spiritual matters regardless of your faith background. Similarly, if you do not want to talk about your spiritual beliefs, we can focus on other topics.

Angela has partnered with Thrizer for out of network claims processing. There is a nominal fee for utilizing this service. You may choose whether to pay in full and have Thrizer process your claims (1% service fee) or contract with Thrizer to only pay your estimated co-insurance and have them process the claims (5% service fee).

Each state and district has a process for licensing therapists. The licensing rules dictate what courses are required and how many hours of supervised experience the therapist must have before practicing independently.

In theory the licensing boards also make sure that each therapist has the required number of continuing education units but since this is largely an honor system it is often more helpful to ask what training and experience they have with your type of problem.

A web search of the mental health licensing boards in your state should provide you with either an online license search or a way to contact the appropriate licensing board to verify that the professional holds an active license in good standing. Keep in mind that in most states there are separate licensing boards for each profession: marriage and family therapists, licensed professional counselors, social workers, addictions counselors, and psychologists.

Most certifications are managed by a national or international association. For example, the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) is one of several certifying bodies for EMDR therapists. A search of the certifying association's website should yield a list of currently certified therapists for that specialty. Certification is an indicator that the therapist has completed a rigorous level of training in a particular specialty and has committed to ongoing training in that specialty.

While few therapists will give you free therapy time, you can usually ask a therapist in general terms how they work with people who have symptoms and concerns similar to yours and how often they work with those types of clients.

If you feel very comfortable with the therapist but have concerns about their lack of expertise on your issue, you might ask them how they would proceed if the therapy seems to be stuck. A good therapist will have a supervisor, mentor, or peer consultation group that can help them brainstorm how to proceed when therapy stalls.