Helping Christian Couples
Increase Intimacy

First, decide where you need the most work. Is it your marriage or are there specific concerns about your intimacy?

If you find that you’re both feeling pretty disconnected from one another, finding that you can’t seem to communicate well, or that most of your “communication” ends with you arguing; you’ll want to focus on the marriage as a whole. Marriage counseling with Dr. McCleese or with her student will be your best option. This is an option that is only available to people living in the state of Virginia.

If your marriage feels pretty strong but your sexual relationship has been difficult or the source of your frustrations, you’ll want to make your intimate relationship your primary focus. For those in the state of Virginia, you have the option of counseling services with Dr. McCleese or one of her students, or to complete our e-course, Becoming One.

Counseling sessions are just under an hour and most couples find that two times a month seems to be the most effective frequency if they are not in crisis. Online courses are available on demand and bring you all of the education that you would typically experience in a counseling session. In fact, you actually get more training and access to helpful skills than you would receive in the process of therapy.

To get a better understanding of each of these services, please see our separate pages for sex therapy and e-courses.

The most important question, right?!

Sessions with Dr. McCleese are $300 an hour and that fee is due at the time of service. Sessions last for 50 minutes.

My students see clients at $100 a session. They are under my direct supervision and work with a variety of relationship and personal concerns. My students have a Master’s degree and several hours of direct face-to-face client care prior to working in my practice and they are currently working on their doctorate degrees.

There is certainly a significant difference in the pricing structure between Dr. McCleese and her students. This is because there is a significant difference in the level of training and experience between Dr. McCleese and her students. One of the benefits of seeing a student is that your student will be working directly under Dr. McCleese and has therefore benefited from the one-on-one training that Dr. McCleese provides. For those that cannot afford sessions with Dr. McCleese, this can be an acceptable option because it allows you to see a student that can ask Dr. McCleese directly for input on your particular case and can then bring back helpful suggestions.

If you are interested in learning more about working with my students, set up a consultation call, and note that you are interested in working with a student.

People sometimes wonder what we will talk about during that 20-minute call and why we need to do that first. There are a couple of reasons why I do this. First of all, I want to make sure that I am the best choice for you based on your need. On that call, I’ll ask for a brief description of what your reason is for seeking counseling. This is not an interview, so I will not be asking you why you want to work with me. I will simply get a 5-10 minute explanation of your concerns. I will then tell you if I work with similar concerns and how I would move forward with treatment. You then have several minutes to ask me any questions you have that have not already been answered. You are under no obligation to commit to services after that call and if I feel that someone else may be a better fit for you, I will offer a referral for that therapist.

The other reason that I require the 20-minute phone call is because I know from research that one of the most powerful factors involved in helping you meet your goals has to do with if our personalities mesh well or not. If you feel a connection to me and feel like I’m a good fit for you, you are much more likely to meet your goals. On the other hand, if you do not like my approach or if you feel I can’t relate to you, you are much less likely to get what you need from counseling. If you can’t get what you need, you end up wasting time, money, and energy. I want this to be a positive experience for you. From my work with people, I’ve seen that we are often able to determine if this is a good fit within that initial phone consultation. If you’re ready, you can schedule that initial call here.

Counseling is certainly a difficult process. It requires a commitment to meeting with your therapist, time outside of the session to practice the new skills you are learning, a good amount of energy to practice making changes, and a fee every time you come to session. Though the cost can be high, the cost for not seeking services is typically much greater and felt for a longer amount of time. Not seeking services could mean the loss of your marriage, less time with your children, greater financial stress, loss of your home, or even loss of important friendships and community. For some, there can even be a loss of job if personal concerns are starting to affect them outside of the session. In deciding if you are ready to commit to the process of counseling, it can be helpful to assess the cost of not going along with the cost of engaging in services.

If the financial burden seems overwhelming right now or if you’re looking for a less time-consuming approach, check out this article.

I have chosen to operate as a cash-pay practice only. I have two main reasons for doing so:

(1) Working with insurance companies means that I have to plan my treatment around what insurance companies believe is the quickest and most effective form of treatment. Unfortunately, insurance companies have no education or training regarding mental health concerns and their primary goal is to spend less, not provide you with more time. For this reason, insurance companies cannot possibly be aware of what services you need or how many sessions it will take for you to reach your goals.

(2) Unfortunately, insurance companies reimburse very little for services and it takes a great deal of time to complete necessary paperwork for reimbursement. This means that I would need to load up my schedule with clients to keep my business open. If I were to do that, my clients would suffer the consequences because I would not be able to give them appropriate attention they need.

Insurance may partially reimburse you for these services. If you are interested in knowing if insurance will reimburse, call them and ask them the following: “Do you provide reimbursement for out of network providers?” If yes, ask them: “What is the reimbursement rate per unit for 90791 (this is your first intake session), for 90834 (individual sessions), and for 90847 (couple sessions).” Also find out if they reimburse for the diagnostic code Z63.0. This code simply means that you will be working on relationship concerns.

Once your insurance company gives you their “reimbursement rate per unit” you will know how much you can expect to receive from them for each session that you attend. Please keep in mind that all fees are due up front and insurance will provide reimbursement (if they’ve agreed to do so) to you after you file all paperwork.

Many people prefer to use their insurance to seek counseling services which limits them to the providers that accept their insurance. This could potentially mean that they work with someone who has some experience in a large array of situations instead of someone who specializes in a specific area of concern. This is one reason that some people choose to see service providers outside of their insurance benefits. In doing this, they are allowed to choose their provider based on areas of specialty for the provider and a personality match between them and their potential provider.

With the changes in managed care, many people are finding that deductibles are so high that they cannot actually meet them in the span of one year or they find that counseling services are not reimbursable through their insurance. This is particularly true of people seeking marriage counseling or sex therapy as these services are not typically deemed “medically necessary” and therefore not paid for by some insurance companies.

People who choose to see providers in fee-for-service private practice often appreciate the higher level of privacy afforded by those not on insurance panels. For example, since I am not on panels, my notes will not be audited. This means that you will not have to worry about insurance companies looking at the notes I keep regarding your care. Your information (including diagnosis and treatment) stays 100% private, unless I’m required by law to release them. My treatment notes are only accessible to me (and you if you request them). Even when I have students working under me, my notes are secured in locked file cabinets that my students have no access to.

E-Courses are amazing…but they’re not for everyone.
You’ll need a touch of self-discipline and time management to complete the course. You’re not going to have the accountability that you would have in the counseling office where a therapist sets a date and time for you to meet. This means that you must be disciplined on your own to get the most benefit from an e-course.

But if you have the necessary discipline, e-courses can be beneficial in the following ways:

• You’ll save (lots of) money.
  Typically, my couples work with me for about a year to a year and a half. At twice monthly sessions and $300 an hour, couples can easily pay over $7K before they wrap up.
• You’ll save time and energy.
  With traditional counseling, quite a bit of time can be lost in the actual session with going through the details of your last disagreement or big concern. This eats up precious time for actually working toward a solution.

Want to know even more of the benefits? Reach out to us and ask. 🙂