Why I Don't Work With Insurance | Private Pay Therapy in Connecticut
Choosing a therapist is a deeply personal decision, and for many people, one of the first questions is whether insurance is accepted. While I understand that insurance can make therapy more financially accessible, I have intentionally chosen to operate as a private-pay practice because it allows me to provide the kind of therapy I believe creates meaningful, lasting change.
Therapy Is More Than Symptom Reduction
Insurance companies are designed to manage healthcare costs. Because of this, therapy is often viewed through a medical model that prioritizes diagnosing symptoms, reducing distress, and measuring progress according to predetermined criteria.
While symptom relief is important, my work goes beyond helping you feel less anxious, less overwhelmed, or less depressed.
Many of the clients I work with are carrying the impact of chronic stress, difficult relationships, attachment wounds, perfectionism, people-pleasing patterns, or experiences that have shaped how they move through the world. These struggles cannot always be captured by a diagnosis or treated through a standardized approach.
Healing often requires slowing down, understanding your story, exploring relational patterns, building nervous system safety, and creating new experiences over time.
A Relational Approach Doesn't Fit Inside Insurance Requirements
My approach to therapy is relational, attachment-focused, psychodynamic, and informed by nervous system science.
This means I pay close attention not only to what brings you to therapy, but also to how your experiences have shaped your relationships, your sense of self, and your ability to feel safe, connected, and authentic.
Insurance companies often require therapists to justify treatment through a diagnosis, medical necessity criteria, treatment plans, and ongoing documentation demonstrating measurable symptom reduction.
While these requirements may work well for short-term symptom-focused treatment, they often do not align with the deeper exploratory work that many clients seek.
Rather than focusing on what an insurance company requires us to discuss, our work can remain centered on what feels most important and meaningful to you.
Your Privacy Matters
In order to use insurance benefits, therapists are required to provide a mental health diagnosis and submit clinical information to insurance companies.
When you work with me, your treatment remains between us unless you choose otherwise or disclosure is required by law.
Many clients appreciate the increased privacy, autonomy, and freedom that comes with private-pay therapy.
Freedom to Personalize Therapy
Healing is rarely linear.
Some sessions may focus on processing a difficult experience. Others may involve exploring relationship patterns, understanding nervous system responses, practicing self-compassion, or simply making sense of emotions that have never felt safe to express.
Without insurance restrictions, I have greater flexibility to tailor therapy to your unique needs rather than fitting your experiences into a predefined treatment model.
An Investment in Lasting Change
Therapy is an investment in your relationship with yourself, your relationships with others, and your overall well-being.
My goal is not simply to help you manage symptoms, but to help you better understand yourself, develop a more regulated nervous system, build healthier relationships, and create lasting change that extends beyond the therapy room.
If you're looking for a collaborative, relational approach that honors the complexity of your experiences, private-pay therapy may be a good fit.