Offering therapy in-office in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, and via telehealth across the state
wes@gfcounseling.com | 586-576-6523

Mon: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm Tue: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Wed: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm Thur: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Defining "Therapy" Therapy at Growing Forward – also referred to as its full term "psychotherapy" or as "talk therapy" – simply means the treatment that is used to heal or alleviate problems that a client is having. This treatment almost always involves a dialogue – talking together. Another main way of implementing therapy is putting techniques into practice. These techniques can vary widely, depending on the specific person and their goal. The client might practice the agreed-upon technique in the office with the therapist, or out in their daily lives, whether within their own mind or while interacting with others. Please note that this definition is extremely broad, which is necessary when defining a treatment that can look so different from one client to the next. The goal of therapy generally has to do with changing or reframing how a client approaches something within their mind. Counseling Compared to Other Therapeutic Disciplines In the state of Michigan, there are basically four types of professionals who can legally work as and call themselves psychotherapists: Counselors, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Psychiatrists. Professionals within any of these four backgrounds have extensive training, including a master's degree or higher, and should be more than sufficiently qualified to work as therapists. However, the education of each type of professional has an area on which they focus more than other disciplines. Psychologists usually have the most training on the scientific study of the mind and individual behavior. Social Workers generally have the broadest training, with a strong focus on social services and connecting clients with resources. Psychiatrists are trained as medical doctors as well as therapists, and, because their profession is in such high demand, the vast majority end up focusing most of their efforts on prescribing psychotropic medications. Counselors, of the four, receive an education with the most specific focus as therapists. While any of these four may be very adept at being therapists, at scientific study, and at utilizing social resources – and while individual practitioners within any of the disciplines will have a unique passion and set of skills – it can help to be aware of the "specialty" that professionals in each discipline have learned so that you can connect with someone whose background best suits your needs.

I do not accept insurance at Growing Forward. There are six big reasons why I believe this model is best both for me and for the clients I see. The most direct reason is that when my payment comes from you, my primary incentive is not to do work that will satisfy an insurance company, but to do work that will be most effective at helping you meet your goals. Taking insurance would require me to give you a diagnosis, which I would then need to report to your insurance company. If you do not seem to qualify for a mental disorder, that would lead either to your insurance refusing to cover counseling or me being forced to be dishonest about the content of our session. Getting paid directly by my clients allows everyone involved to avoid that whole mess. Getting paid by you is the only way I can provide you with therapy that is fully private and confidential. Insurance companies can demand at any time to see my clinical notes for the sessions they are paying for. You and I will decide together how many sessions you will have and how frequent they will be. Getting paid by insurance companies would only allow me to see clients for as long as and as often as insurance dictates. If I as your therapist were beholden to insurance companies, I would need to document and report on our sessions in very specific ways, and would be under the constant threat of being audited and having to pay the insurance back for not dotting an "i" or crossing a "t." Not taking insurance alleviates that stress, which benefits both me and my clients. Setting a private pay rate at my own discretion allows me have balance in my own life and be at my very best when I'm doing my work! If you have out-of-network insurance benefits you would like to use, many PPO insurance plans can reimburse you for part or all of the session cost. There are two ways to do this: I can send you what’s called a Superbill, which is basically an invoice that you can file to your insurance. If they pay for out-of-network mental health services, they’ll process your claim and reimburse you. We can go through a company I work with called Mentaya. If your insurance covers out-of-network services, Mentaya can file claims and handle the insurance paperwork for you. They charge a 5% fee per claim, but it’s a lot simpler on your end. Please note that payment for services is due on the date of the appointment. ​ Intake session = $50 (70 minutes) All sessions after that = $130 (50 minutes) ​ The value you will get for investing in therapy is much higher than many other things that we spend money on throughout our lives. Getting good therapy can lead to dramatic improvements to your mental wellbeing, which can also affect your physical wellbeing and other areas across your life. The things you take with you from your therapy sessions can help you navigate life's challenges for many years to come.

Before we get to the first session, we will have been in touch to schedule the appointment, and I will have sent you the intake paperwork to look over. This paperwork details important policies for you to know about. When we meet for the initial session, after introductions, I will review the paperwork with you and answer any questions that you have to make sure you understand everything and agree to those policies. Besides ensuring that you feel informed about counseling at Growing Forward, my primary goals for the first session are for me to have a foundational understanding of the problem(s) or goal(s) you're bringing to counseling, and for us to agree on the direction in which we will head to work on fixing the problem(s) or meet the goal(s). Because of the extra time it takes to go over policies and to get that initial understanding of your challenges and your counseling goals, the first session is 70 minutes long, as opposed to 50 minutes that other sessions will last.

At the core of my counseling approach is the therapeutic relationship that you and I have. The primary things that I will bring to that relationship – besides my experience and training and the things I've learned from those – are: I will always be real with you. You can expect to never feel that I'm pretending to be someone who I'm really not. I will always seek to see your best, true self so that you can see and feel that reflected in me as we work together. While I'm not perfect and there are moments in which I do not succeed in this effort, most of the time I will. I mean this regardless of what you have done or how you present outwardly. I will often draw on my well-built muscle of empathy, doing what I can to put myself in your shoes and sit with you in whatever place you find yourself in this season of life. Additional ideas that I will almost always draw from with clients are: – Mindfulness. Concepts related to mindfulness are an important part of who I am, both personally and professionally, and I may bring up a practice or concept that relates to it. – Pragmatism. If something is not realistic, it is not useful. I am less interested in adhering to ideals, any particular philosophy, or even rational thought than I am in using interventions that realistically work for you. – Mind-body connection. I strongly believe that our minds and bodies are fundamentally connected to one another, so I may bring up ways that acknowledging that relationship can benefit you, depending on your situation. Outside of what I described above, you can expect me to be very flexible to who you are and what works for you, so my approach could look very different from client to client. My specialties as a counselor are addressing grief and trauma. You can learn more about specific ways that I approach grief by clicking here. You can learn about my approach to trauma by clicking here.

I'd be happy to! These are two other services that I'm happy to make myself available for. Click Here to check out my page about these services.