New Clients
How to Get Started
You can contact The Northampton Center for Couples Therapy via phone or email. When doing so, please be sure to leave times and days that are best to reach you, as well as both home and cell numbers if you have them. We return phone calls Monday-Friday and make a good faith effort to return all calls within 24 to 36 hours of receiving them. For initial inquiries, we can contact you in the evening if you are not available by phone during the day.
Policies
Office Hours and Days
NCCT is open Monday through Friday and sees clients for both day and evening appointments.
Appointments
For your initial appointment please download two copies (one for each partner) of the new patient paperwork and fill out prior to your session. Please bring this paperwork with you to your first session. If you are unable to access these forms online, please let us know and plan to come to your first session 5-10 minutes early to allow time to fill out paperwork.
Cancellation Policy
If you are unable to keep an appointment, NCCT requires that you give a minimum of 24 hours notice. If prior notice is not given you will be charged the full rate of the session.
If you are scheduled for marathon therapy, NCCT requires a minimum of two weeks notice if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment. Less than two weeks notice will result in being charged the full fee for the marathon therapy session.
Privacy
NCCT is HIPAA compliant. This means we adhere to "The Privacy Rule", a federal regulation under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which governs the protection of your healthcare information. More information regarding our Privacy Policy can be found in your intake paperwork, on the page titled "Notice of Privacy Practices".
Insurance & Fees
NCCT is contracted with a number of insurance panels including all Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans. If we are not contracted with your insurance, we may still be able to bill your insurance if you have a PPO or POS (Preferred Provider Plan) that allows you out-of-network benefits. When insurance coverage is in question, NCCT is able to run a benefit check and discuss fees and payment options with you.
Assessment Fee ~ All couples therapy clients are charged an initial one-time assessment fee of $250 for the review of their questionnaires and the creation of their personalized relationship treatment plan.
Payment
All fees, co-pays and deductibles are collected at the time of service. Payments can be made by cash or check. We accept all major credit cards, and ask that you make arrangements in advance if this is your preferred method of payment.
FAQ
Is there anything we can do before seeing you?
Yes. There are several excellent tools in both book and CD format that we strongly encourage people to look into as part the treatment. It isn't required that you use these materials, but a lot of our clients find them helpful, especially as a supplement to the work done in couples therapy. Please see my Resources page for additional information.
How long does couples therapy take?
This varies from couple to couple. We recommend that people make a commitment of doing at least 12 sessions (most people come for 15-20 sessions, with the frequency of meetings decreasing as things improve). All sessions are 90 minutes long. The reason for this is that 50 minutes is long enough to open "Pandora's Box" but not long enough to close it. You will be amazed at how much more can be accomplished with an extra 40 minutes in a session.