A Treatment Team Approach
Reedy River Counseling Associates believe that eating disorders are best treated from a holistic approach. Our clinicians utilize best practice treatment models which include a multidisciplinary approach to recovery. These experts work closely with medical and clinical professionals in other disciplines that include but are not limited to physicians, therapists, psychiatrists, dietitians, family therapists, and treatment centers. This approach ensures the safety and well being of our clients, and is also necessary when treating issues as complex as an eating disorder.
Please know that appropriate referrals may be recommended at your assessment or throughout your services at Reedy River Counseling Associates. At times we may need a medical doctor to clear a client for treatment in the outpatient setting and aid in providing necessary lab work. We are equipped to aid in these referrals and the steps to ensure you receive the complete care that you need.
A Health At Every Size (HAES) Approach
The Health At Every Size® Principles are:
Weight Inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealizing or pathologizing of specific weights.
Health Enhancement: Support health policies that improve and equalize access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being, including attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional, and other needs.
Respectful Care: Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma, and support environments that address these inequities.
Eating for Well-being: Promote flexible, individualized eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control.
Life-Enhancing Movement: Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree that they choose.
First Appointment
The first appointment is an initial therapy and/or nutrition assessment where we consider all medical and mental health history. In order to receive our services, we require you to sign our intake paperwork before the start of your first appointment. These forms will be sent to you electronically through our electronic health record system (Healthie).
If you are seeking services for an eating or feeding disorder, we will ask for a consent to speak to your primary care physician/family doctor upon admission. In certain cases, we may require you to get a preliminary set of lab work immediately, as eating disorders come with many medical complications and can be life threatening. Your provider will let you know their clinical recommendation as far as frequency of therapy needed and if your level of disordered eating can be managed at the outpatient level of care. This is not definitive and may be subject to change at a later appointment date. We follow the American Psychiatric Association Level of Care Guidelines for Eating Disorders. An explanation of those guidelines can be found here.
The comprehensive initial assessment is 1 hour in length for adults and 2 hours in length for adolescents. We believe in a family-based treatment approach for adolescents and that recovery from an eating disorder is most possible when the entire family is involved. We understand that this is a financial and time investment for the whole family, but we believe this length of assessment gives us the greatest opportunity to create a treatment and action plan to best meet our client and family’s needs. The length of the adolescent assessment will allow time for both client and parents (guardian or loved one) to spend with the clinician.
Subsequent Sessions
Subsequent sessions are typically scheduled for 50 minute increments. At your initial assessment your provider will discuss with you what frequency of services would be appropriate and helpful. This can range from weekly to monthly, on average.
Fees
Initial assessment (1 hour): $165
Initial adolescent (18 and under) assessment (2 hours): $290
Subsequent sessions (50 minutes): $125
Parent/Loved One Consultation (1 hour): $140
We accept debit, credit, HSA, and FSA cards. Your card(s) information is kept securely in our electronic health record system, Healthie.
Insurance
We are not in-network with any insurance providers. We can provide you with a suitable receipt called a superbill for you to submit to your insurance company. All charges are your responsibility on the date service is rendered. Not all services are covered by all insurance policies. Some companies select certain services that they will not cover. Please contact your insurance company directly for further information regarding your specific coverage.
We know insurance coverage can be confusing and frustrating. Insurance navigation guides are available for free from Project Heal. Also the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has resources on insurance and legal issues.
Specifically for nutrition services, please check both your medical and mental/behavioral health benefits. Depending on your insurance plan, It is possible to receive reimbursement from either department for "medical nutrition therapy".
Cancellation / No-Show Policy
A cancelled or no-show appointment affects three people: you, your clinician, and another client who could have potentially utilized your time slot. Appointments are scheduled in advance and are a time reserved exclusively for our clients. We see a limited number of clients so we can give you the focus and attention you deserve. When a session is cancelled without adequate notice, we are unable to fill this time slot by offering it to another current client, a client on the wait-list, or a client with a clinical emergency.
In order to provide the highest level of care possible to our clients, we require 48 hours advanced notice to cancel or reschedule an appointment. If you no-show or do not cancel within 48 hours advanced notice, you will be charged the full session fee which is not reimbursable by insurance. A credit card is required to be kept on file and will be charged in the event of a no-show or late cancellation. Your clinician reserves the right to charge the card on file for no-shows or late cancellations.
You can cancel your appointment by calling, emailing, or sending a secure messaging through Healthie to your specific clinician. Weekends and holidays are not considered within 48 hours notice as voicemails and emails are not checked due to the office being closed. Our office is closed on the following holidays: New Year's Day, MLK, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), December 24-26, and New Year's Eve.
Additionally, please understand that your therapy and/or nutrition appointments should be viewed as important as any other medical appointment would be viewed. While a medical doctor can see 35 patients in a day, clinicians like us generally see a maximum of 6 or 7. We reserve for you, and all our clients, a full hour of our time for the session and clinical notes. If a client cancels with less than a full 48-hour notice, we likely won’t be able to fill that time slot, and we’ll lose an entire hour from our work schedule.
While appointments are a time commitment, this is for your personal betterment and consistency is key in order to achieve this. That being said, two consecutive missed appointments without first reaching out to the clinician, attempting to reschedule, or otherwise indicating clear commitment to treatment, can result in termination of the therapeutic relationship. Cancellations, lateness, frequent rescheduling, and missed appointments can be detrimental to the therapeutic process. The work of therapy is sometimes challenging and when we start approaching difficult topics it can feel easier to want to avoid coming in for treatment. We would prefer we speak about this in session rather than you canceling sessions.