We charge $275 for an initial evaluation, which typically runs between 60 and 90 minutes. For ongoing psychotherapy we charge $225 for 53-55 minute follow-up sessions and $200 for 45 minute follow-up sessions. A sliding fee scale is possible in certain specific financial circumstances.
**Please see the About ISTDP tab for ISTDP-specific information about treatment, fees, and insurance, as they differ from standard therapy fees**
Insurance only covers costs related to the assessment and treatment of mental health conditions, and typically does not cover any administrative costs or non-patient-care costs.
Obtaining Records: We can print paper copies of your records for you if necessary. The cost of this service is $18.
Completing paperwork: Therapists will complete requested paperwork for patients who are currently undergoing therapy or who have previously completed therapy with them, if they are permitted to, and capable of doing so, based on the nature of their relationship with their therapist, their role in your care, and their clinical abilities.
Court and Other Legal-related Fees: In the event disclosure of your records or testimony (or other court-related activities) is required by law, you will be responsible for all costs involved. These costs include, but are not limited to: producing/preparing the records, time spent giving testimony, time spent waiting to provide services, and travel time. Our fees are billed to you for each hour block of time where the therapist could otherwise be providing psychological services (e.g., therapy, evaluation). For instance, if one of our therapists were required to be in court in San Antonio from 8:30am until 12:30pm, the time billed would likely begin at 8am and go until 2pm since that therapist would not be able to book a 1pm patient. Billing is at the hourly rate (i.e., the same cost per hour as a 53-55 minute therapy session). Payments are to be made at the time of, or prior to the time the services are rendered.
Dr. Howells is in-Network with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medicare, TRICARE(certified)/Humana Military East, and United Healthcare.
Dr. Corpuz is awaiting TRICARE certification and final in-network approval for BCBS.
We can create a superbill for you to submit to your insurance company if one of the therapists is not in network with your insurance provider. Please check with your insurance provider if you need a referral for services.
Please note the following:
For cancellations / no-shows that occur with less than 24 hours notice, we charge a missed session fee ($100 for each hour block of time you are booked for) directly to you. The only exceptions to this are significant illness/injury to you of a family emergency. If we are able to re-schedule the full session for a time later in the same week (Monday-Friday), however, you will not be charged the cancellation fee.
Please note, you are paying for the therapy block of time we established when we discussed your treatment plan.
For ISTDP sessions, the cancellation costs are different. If your ISTDP session is 90 minutes, your cancellation/no-show fee is for 2 hour-long blocks of time (i.e., $200). If it for is an initial ISTDP session, you are paying for 3 hour-long blocks of time ($300). For those who use their insurance, please note that insurance companies only pay for the time a patient is receiving treatment, and it does not cover missed sessions. We require 48-hours notice to cancel an ISTDP session.
We provide in-person treatment as well as video-based tele-therapy. Tele-therapy can be a great way to receive treatment if you live a signifiant distance from the San Antonio area, but you would like to receive care with us (*please note that not all therapists can see patients out of state), or if the logistics of in-person care may interfere too much for ongoing in-person care to be possible (e.g., a teenager receiving video therapy between classes while at school to minimize time out-of-class). There are also times when video-based online therapy can be an effective substitute when coming in person is not possible on a particular day (e.g., a sick child requiring you to remain at home on the day of your session, a car that will not start, disease precautions recommending against extended in-person contact). Of note: we do not provide telephonic therapy (i.e., audio only voice calls); all tele-therapy is combined video and audio-based.
Tele-therapy must be discussed with your provider first before using it in treatment. If you plan to use insurance, please also check with your insurance provider first as they may limit or modify your coverage for tele-therapy (e.g., different co-pays for in-person versus video-therapy), they may require specific prior authorization, and/or specify steps you need to take for video-based therapy.
**Dr. Howells can provide ongoing video-based online therapy to residents of PsyPact participating states/locales as long as you are physically located there at the time of the services rendered**
Please complete the required new patient forms on the Forms page PRIOR to the first appointment. Doing so ahead of time not only allows us to more quickly begin the therapy process (e.g., greatly reducing the chance for the initial evaluation to span multiple appointments), but also it helps prevent avoidable problems related to billing and/or insurance reimbursement. See the For Patients page for more details.
Please note, additional details of the therapy, fees, confidentiality, etc. can be found in the Informed Consent document on the Forms Page
In addition to the initial forms, below is a link to an online diagnostic screening tool (for adults only) that can greatly aid the therapy process with Dr. Howells. While it is does not produce a formal diagnosis and must be paired with a comprehensive evaluation with a licensed therapy provider to be considered valid, it can provide a wealth of supplemental information that can help identify areas of difficulty and targets of treatment during the intake and therapy processes.
The measure was designed and empirically validated against the SCID-2, a research-backed assessment of common psychological symptoms and conditions. It was developed by Jonathan Shedler, Ph.D., who is considered a world-renowned expert in the theory and the practice of clinical psychology.
Disclaimer: Although the screening measure asks basic questions about sometimes-reported psychological symptoms, occasionally even thinking about one's symptoms can be upsetting or distressing. Please note this, and that in completing this evaluation you are doing so with this in mind. Additionally, completion of this assessment does not constitute a therapeutic relationship, and may not be a secure method of communication especially with respect to Protected Identifying Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI).
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