Frequently Asked Questions

No. You can pay by cash, Venmo, check, or credit card. Regardless of how you would like to pay, we require a credit card number to keep on file.

Why don’t we take insurance?
In order for sessions to be reimbursed by an insurance company, one member of the couple or family will require a mental health diagnosis. Because much of the work done here is relational in nature, we believe that diagnosing an individual simply for the purpose of insurance reimbursement is inappropriate. 

Moreover, insurance companies may require additional clinical information, such as treatment plans, clinical summaries, or copies of your entire clinical record. You must also be aware that submitting a mental health invoice for reimbursement carries a certain amount of risk to confidentiality, privacy, or future capacity to obtain health or life insurance, or even a job. The risk stems from the fact that mental health information is likely to be entered into insurance companies’ computers, and is likely to be reported to the National Medical Data Bank. Accessibility to companies’ computers or to the National Medical Data Bank is always in question, as users are inherently vulnerable to hacking and unauthorized access. Medical data can also be accessed by law enforcement and other agencies, which potentially puts you in a vulnerable position.

Limited Permit Marriage and Family Therapists $100/session

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs)  with less than 10 years of experience  $150/session

LMFTs with 10 or more years of experience  $200/session

Dr. Cramer $300/session

It’s up to both you and your therapists to decide how often you meet. Your therapist will make recommendations based on his or her clinical judgment, but you certainly are a part of making that decision. Most clients are seen weekly for the first few sessions, just to achieve some momentum, and then most are seen every other week or so. As time goes on, many clients choose to be seen on a “check-in” basis (every four to six weeks, or even quarterly or less frequently). 

You are always in charge of how often you see your therapist.

It depends on your therapist’s schedule. All therapists at MFTWNY have evening hours, though they may be limited. Talk with your therapist about his or her availability.

You can do that a few ways.

You will have your therapist’s email and phone number, so it’s always best to contact him or her first about schedule changes. Remember, you have to pay for the full session if you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, so do try to be planful. 

In addition, you can cancel through the Client Portal.

Sessions must be cancelled at least 24 hours in advance of the appointment time in order to avoid being charged the full session fee.

Online sessions are available.

Are they as good as in-person sessions? Great question! We think there are pros and cons.

On the pro side, it’s very convenient for clients to be able to see their therapist remotely. It eliminates the need for babysitters and commute time and expense. In addition, remote sessions often give your therapist a bit of a “peek behind the curtain” to see what things are really like in your world (for example, are you able to create private time for a session without interruption, and what impact might this have on what you are coming to see your therapist about?).

However, we prefer in-person sessions for several reasons:

• Having an in-person session requires you to carve time out of your day to attend to the health of your relationship. Much of the time, all relationships need in order to be more healthy is more time devoted to them.
• Many people add time together before or after sessions (e.g. going out for lunch or dinner, or taking a walk), which further enhances that together time we just mentioned.
• Unfortunately, therapists often need to interrupt couples and families when they start to get out of control, and this is much easier to do in person.
• Similarly, body language and other nuances are lost on video. We feel it’s significantly easier to connect with clients, and have them connect with one another, in person.

If you’re asking the question, it’s certainly worth exploring! 

Keep in mind that things don’t have to be in crisis to benefit from couples therapy. We pay more attention to the maintenance of our cars (oil changes, rotating the tires) than we do to the maintenance of the most important relationships in our lives. 

We believe that any couple can benefit from at least a once per year Relationship Check-Up to define what’s going well and what areas couples would like to focus on in the coming year to keep their relationship healthy and strong.

Often, once someone who is hesitant to come has a phone conversation with one of our therapists, they find that their worst fear – that they will be ganged up on by you and a therapist – won’t be realized. We recommend that your family member comes just for one session to meet the therapist, and to decide after that if they want to come back. Most of the time, people find that the therapist is genuinely interested in their point of view, and decide that it’s OK to continue.

But if the other person in your life really refuses, we can certainly work together with you to help you figure out how to be your best self and cope with the situation you have. And as systems theory teaches us, when you change your behavior, it’s more than likely that people around you will change their behavior, too.