Frequently Asked Questions
Do you accept insurance?
Yes, we do accept insurance. We accept United Healthcare and Aetna. We do not accept insurance for parenting or co-parenting sessions. If you are interested in these sessions, please see the rates below. Once Tucker has completed his certification for AAT, we will not accept insurance for AAT sessions. If we do not accept your insurance or you would like to meet for a session that we do not accept insurance for, please consider using Sun Valley Family Therapy as an “out-of-network provider”. Your insurance may cover some of the cost you may incur for sessions. For more information, please look at this article or visit your insurance carrier for other resources.
How much do therapy sessions cost?
Therapy sessions range in cost depending on your income and the fee scale. Individual/youth sessions range from $165 to $185 and couples’ sessions range in cost from $175-$195, and parenting sessions range from $180-$200. Official AAT sessions will not be offered until after October of 2025 when Tucker has completed all certification work. Insurance will not be accepted for AAT sessions. If you are not certain if Tucker has been fully certified or AAT sessions are available, please feel free to contact me to follow up on pricing or session availability. Session length can be extended for an additional rate depending on need. For more information on the fee scale and other additional costs, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.
How can I schedule a session?
You can reach out to me through email at heidi@sunvalleyft.com or call me at 916-316-7118. I return calls within 24-48 hours Monday-Friday excluding weekends and holidays. If you would rather talk before we schedule our first intake appointment, you can schedule a 15 minute consultation call free of charge. When you do schedule your first session, you will be asked to use a credit card to hold the appointment time and charged a $100 fee. If you choose not to keep your appointment you must cancel prior to 24 hours and the $100 fee will be returned to you.
Once I schedule my session, what do I do?
Once you set your appointment time, and you’ve paid the $100 deposit to hold your session time, I collect a small amount of information including your name, phone number, and an email address. This allows me to send an email requesting you open a client portal. Your client portal IS IMPORTANT! Once you establish your client portal, forms are sent for you to sign, complete, and return. This is how you receive text and email notification reminders for your appointment times. Your client portal is easy to access but if you do need help, you can attend your initial session and we can complete this together.
How can therapy really help me and my family?
The benefits of individual counseling can include achieving identified goals, learning to cope with mood dysregulation, gaining insight and self-awareness, improving empathy, changing negative behaviors to healthier ones, addressing past trauma, and increasing self-esteem. In couples therapy, I work to educate couples on skills sets to help to improve communication and empathy within the relationship, manage stressors and conflict associated with life stressors, and increase intimacy and connectedness.
How will I measure my therapeutic progress?
Every person has a different experience in therapy. During scheduled session times, we will discuss your stressors, challenges, relationship difficulties or other topics you feel are important. Together we will establish therapeutic goals that we will spend our time focused on. These goals will help you measure your own progress and determine when we no longer need to meet for therapeutic services. There may be times when together we will meet to establish new goals or update treatment approaches in current goals to help you in therapy. Therapy is most successful when you fully participate in treatment sessions and engage in activities and skills practiced outside of our sessions time and in between your next appointment.
If you have a child in treatment you have an active role in establishing goals with your child that you both think will be helpful in improving their mental health. Therapy is most successful for your child when you take an active role in supporting the treatment process. I help keep a collaborative approach and ensure you are aware of the progress your child is making, skills they learn, and help you support your child outside of therapy; sometimes this means scheduling collateral or family sessions if all parties agree this will help the child.
Is my therapy confidential?
The law prohibits me from sharing your confidential information from our therapy session with anyone else outside of the following exceptions (and all of these exceptions apply to children and adolescents as well as couples):
- Suspected or disclosure of child or dependent elder abuse by the client; I am required to disclose abuse.
- Disclosure or seriously threatened physical harm to another identified individual by the client; I am required to make a police report and warn any identified victims of potential harm.
- If the client identifies the intent to end their own life, I will work directly with the client or support team the client identifies to ensure the clients safety but there may be more intensive steps which are required for me to take in order to keep the client safe.
- If the client signs a release of information providing me with permission to share specific types of information with another person they identify on the release for information to be shared. This will be something we discuss prior to your signature on a release of information and you may always terminate a release of information if you decide at a later date you no longer wish to have the release of information on file.
- If a court of law subpoenas my records I could be required to share certain information which you would have knowledge of; this type of confidentiality breach usually requires you have some involvement with a court system.
What is a cognitive and or structural theoretical framework? What is Animal Assisted Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Theory, also known as CBT, is a researched based therapy practice which centers around the key ideas that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all connected and working to change one of these impacts all of them. This type of therapy approach has been used to help different mental health issues including anxiety, trauma related disorders, mood disorders, and relationship difficulties. The Structural theory is most often used in family counseling to help individuals better understand their family system. I apply key concepts outside of family counseling to explore past family relationships, family roles and values, and the impact these themes play in your current life. This helps to provide a better understanding of learned traits and behaviors and can provide some understanding around attachment and parenting styles and their impact in your own value system.
To learn more about this treatment approach visit the websites below.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
What Is Structural Family Therapy Used For?
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), once commonly known as pet therapy, is a documented, structured, treatment approach between a mental health clinician who is trained in AAT to meet specific therapeutic goals working with a trained animal. AAT is often used with a variety of mental health disorders including PTSD, Autism, different trauma disorders, ADHD, depression, anxiety, ODD, and attachment issues with the purposes of alleviating the client’s stressors or increasing a specific type of coping skills.
To learn more about this treatment approach visit the websites below.
Sun Valley Family Therapy Fee Scale
Individuals
Couples
Parenting/Co-Parenting
Private Pay Parenting & Co-Parenting sessions run 90-95 minutes in length at $265
Additional Fees
The full amount of your missed session with less than a 48 hour cancelation notice outside of an emergency or unforeseen circumstances. Your credit card will be billed for this missed session.
Contact Sun Valley Family Therapy for quote cost
Paper work completion (FMLA, Disability, ect) – billed in 30 minute units.
Copy of Records – $40
Telephone/Consult time or email response:
First scheduled 15 minute telephone consult fee = $0.00.
Additional 15 minute phone consults/sessions or email response fee (up to 30 minutes) is billed at a $60 fee cost.
Note: Sun Valley reserves the right to charge additional fees not noted here, however, no service fees will ever be charged to you without your knowledge or understanding prior to billing.