Individual Psychotherapy

An Excellent Approach To Counseling and Psychotherapy

Individual counseling or psychotherapy treatment involves listening and talking. It helps you develop insights, as you understand the relationship between you and others involved in your life and work.

Psychotherapy sessions will allow you to:

Find space to tell your story
See patterns of behavior
Treat symptoms
Get reality checks
Learn to see the inevitable limitations of self and others

Find acceptance for what has happened in the past
Improve current self-esteem
Find workable solutions
Make the changes that you desire to have a life that meets your goals

Counseling Silver Spring with LYNN GRODZKI, LCSW, MCC

A Trusted Professional

I establish a safe, healing environment so that you can discuss your issues and make progress. My cognitive approach will help you correct negative beliefs and develop clarity. It will let you be constructively proactive with yourself and the people around you.

Combining my experience in therapy and coaching, my goal is to provide you with a coaching-style solution.

Benefits of Psychotherapy

Clinical experience shows that if you are motivated and set realistic therapy goals, psychotherapy is likely to be of great benefit. You will feel clarity and initial relief of symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, even after the first session.

Helping the Worried Well

Adult women and men who are functioning well in many areas of their lives, but want to talk about inner concerns or relationships issues are called the “worried well”. I have been helping these individuals resolve their past problems and focus on the future.

Informed Consent Statement for Psychotherapy and Counseling

Therapy works in part because of clearly defined rights and responsibilities held by each person. As a psychotherapy client, you have certain rights that are important for you to know about. There are also certain limitations to those rights that you should be aware of. As a therapist, I have corresponding responsibilities to you, too.

My Responsibilities As Your Therapist

Confidentiality

With the exception of certain specific exceptions described below, you have the absolute right to the confidentiality of your therapy. I am not allowed to tell anyone about your therapy sessions without your prior written permission.

Under the provisions of the Health Care Information Act of 1992, I may legally speak to another healthcare provider or a family member about you without your prior consent. However, I will not do so unless the situation is an emergency.

I will always act to protect your privacy. You may direct her to share information with whomever you chose, but you can revoke that permission at any time.

You may request anyone you wish to attend a therapy session with you. In addition, you are protected under the provisions of the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

If you elect to communicate with me by email at some point in our work together, I am willing to respond briefly by return email. Please note that email and other electronic media are not completely confidential. I am not using an encrypted program at this time.

The following are legal exceptions to your right to confidentiality. I would inform you of any time when I have to put these into effect:

If I have good reason to believe that you will harm another person, I must attempt to inform that person and warn them of your intentions. I should also contact the police and ask them to protect your intended victim.
If I have good reason to believe that you are abusing or neglecting a child or vulnerable adult, or if you give her information about someone who is doing this, I must inform Child Protective Services within 48 hours and Adult Protective Services immediately.
If I believe that you are in imminent danger of harming yourself, I may legally break confidentiality and call the police or the county crisis team. I am not obligated to do this and will explore other options with you before proceeding.If at that point you were unwilling to take steps to guarantee your safety, I will call the crisis team.
If you and your partner decide to have some individual sessions as part of the couple’s therapy, what you say in those individual sessions will be considered to be part of the therapy.It will probably be discussed in joint sessions. Do not tell me anything you wish kept secret from your partner.

Record-Keeping

I keep brief records of each session noting the dates you meet, the topics you cover, progress reports from your perspective, interventions and impressions from the therapist, and next steps. My records are kept private in accordance with HIPPA requirements.

Diagnosis

If a third party, such as an insurance company, is paying for part of your bill, I am normally required to give a diagnosis to that third party in order to be paid.

Diagnoses are technical terms that describe the nature of your problems and something about whether they are short-term or long-term problems. If I do use a diagnosis, I will discuss it with you.

Other Rights

You have the right to ask questions about anything that happens in therapy. Feel free to ask me to try something that you think will be helpful.

In addition, you are free to leave therapy at any time, although I recommend finding a way to give me advance notice so that I can help you end the treatment well and consolidate gains.

Because I have a limited practice, I do not offer 24-hour emergency services or “on call” coverage. If you believe you will need a therapist with a 24-hour coverage, I will be happy to make a referral.

For a psychiatric emergency, you should call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room rather than waiting for me to call you back.

If I believe you need a therapist with a specialty I am not versed in, I will make a referral. If I am out of town for an extended period of time, I will give you the name of a colleague you can contact in case of an urgent need.

Fees

As of January 1, 2020, individual therapy or couples therapy is at $195 per 45 to 50 minutes. You will be asked to pay at the time of the session.

Payments can be by check, cash, or credit card. An email statement of the month’s sessions will be sent to you on the first of each month. The previous month’s sessions and payments will be sent as a .pdf attachment.

You can use the statement for tax purposes or for reimbursement. If you prefer to receive the statement in another way, let me know.

There is no direct billing with any insurance company, including Medicare. Clients work via a private contract and informed consent with me. You are liable for charges of my services without any limits that would otherwise be imposed by Medicare or any other insurance company.

Social Media

I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site. I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy.

It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.

Medicare Opt Out Policy

I do not participate with Medicare. I have an opt out policy, as shown below.
Please be advised that:

Client must agree to give up all Medicare coverage and payment for services furnished by the clinical social worker for two years. You will not bill Medicare nor ask the clinical social worker to bill Medicare.
Client is liable for charges of the clinical social worker without any limits that would otherwise be imposed by Medicare.
Client acknowledges that Medigap will not make payment for services and other supplementary insurers may not pay either. You must acknowledge that you have the right to receive services from a clinical social worker or other practitioner for whom Medicare coverage and payment would be available.

Client will receive a copy of the private contract that states the effective and expiration dates of the opt out period.
The contract will be retained by the clinical social worker and made available to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) upon request.
The clinical social worker will not submit any claims to Medicare during the two year period beginning on the date the affidavit is signed. They will not receive any Medicare payment for any services provided to Medicare beneficiaries.

Ending Therapy Well

I want to make your therapy as successful as possible. It works best to find a rhythm and structure to the beginning stages with sessions that meet regularly.

To support your leaving, I request several weeks of notice prior to your actual leaving to allow you to have an experience of leaving well, with a sense of completion.

If I initiate terminating you from our therapy, it will be because I feel that I am not able to be helpful to you any longer. My ethics and license requires that I offer quality service and prioritize my clients’ needs in my treatment planning.

I will offer referrals if I no longer feel that I am the right practitioner for you. However, I cannot guarantee that they will accept you for therapy.

My Training and Approach to Therapy

I have an MSW Clinical Social Work earned in 1988 at Maryland University in Baltimore. In addition, I am a Licensed Certified Clinical Social Worker in Maryland State. I follow the code of ethics for Maryland-licensed clinical social workers known as COMAR.

My areas of special training and expertise include psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavioral approaches, and the use of a coaching style and approach. I am also trained and certified in:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Psychological Interpretation
Therapy With a Coaching Edge
Cognitive Reframing
Self-Awareness Exercises
Self-Monitoring
Guided Visualization

I have a MCC (Master Coach Certification) which is the highest level of coach certification offered through the International Coach Federation. I have been in practice as a psychotherapist since 1988 and graduated with an MSW form University of Maryland. I have been working as a life and business coach since 1996.

I may suggest that you get involved in additional or adjunctive forms of support, such as additional counseling or a support group as part of your work with me.

If another healthcare professional is working with you, I may request a release of information from you so that I can communicate freely with that person about your care.

Please note that I am away from the office several times in the year for vacations or meetings. If I am not responding to phone messages during those times, I will have someone cover my practice. I will tell you well in advance of any anticipated lengthy absences.

Your Responsibilities as a Therapy Client

Attending Sessions

You are responsible for coming to your session at the scheduled time and date. Sessions last for 45 to 50 minutes. If you are late, we will end on time and not run over into the next person’s session.

Cancellation Policy

If you miss a session without canceling within 48 business hours (Monday to Friday), you will be charged for that session, unless I can reschedule with you within the same calendar week.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with what is happening in therapy, I hope you talk about it with me so that I can respond to your concerns. Please see sections on this page on ending therapy.

Client Consent to Psychotherapy

Starting therapy with me signals agreement with these policies. You may also be given an informed consent or additional policies to review and sign in the office.

Get in Touch

Contact me by email me at info@counselingsilverspring.com