Why I Don’t Take Insurance or Offer Free Consult Calls At Centering Healing

And Why That’s A Good Thing For The Work We’ll Do Together

If you’ve been looking for a trauma therapist, you’ve probably seen a lot of different options. Some therapists accept insurance. Some offer free consults. Others encourage you to try a few before choosing. So it may be a surprise to learn that I don’t offer any of that. And that’s intentional, because I want therapy to feel safe, contained, grounded, and focused on helping you meet your goals from the very beginning.

Why I Don’t Take Insurance

Most of the people I work with are carrying the long-term effects of complex trauma. This can include emotional neglect, sexual abuse, and attachment wounds that shaped how they feel in their bodies and how they relate to others. Many of my clients meet the criteria for what is commonly known as complex PTSD, even though it’s not formally recognized in the DSM-5. It is still a real and valid clinical experience, especially for survivors who have experienced multiple traumas across the lifespan.

Insurance companies often require a diagnosis after the first meeting, based only on what you’re able to share in that initial session. They may ask for clinical notes or treatment updates to continue coverage. They decide how long therapy should last, how often you can be seen, and whether what you’re working on is considered medically necessary. Copays can shift without notice. Superbills may be denied for small clerical issues. When this happens, therapy can be interrupted, and for many clients, that kind of disruption can feel destabilizing or even retraumatizing.

I don’t believe your healing should be determined by a company that has never met you. Private pay allows us to decide what needs attention, how often we meet, and how the work unfolds. As you begin to heal the deeper wounds and regain access to your full emotional range, you may find that our work evolves. We might move from managing hypervigilance or chronic dysregulation to setting clear boundaries in your relationships, working through grief, or finally feeling confident enough to make life decisions that once felt too risky. Insurance does not always allow for that kind of growth, and it often requires ongoing justification just to continue.

Why I Don’t Offer Free Consult Calls

I also don’t offer 15-minute consults or fit checks. That kind of brief conversation won’t tell you what therapy will actually feel like. It won’t show you how I’ll respond when things get hard, when silence settles in, or when shame rises to the surface. The work we do together starts from the first session, not after a preview.

In my experience, what clients initially come in with often shifts once there is safety and stability. When the nervous system feels more regulated, deeper material tends to surface. Grief, fear, relational wounds, and trauma that may have never been named often emerge once there is enough containment. That’s the real work, and it deserves to be met fully, not assessed in advance.

Over time, our field has normalized free labor in the name of accessibility. But therapy is not something to sample. It is a commitment. You deserve to be met by someone who is already fully in, not offering a preview of presence before deciding whether to engage.

What You Can Expect Instead

I do my best to be transparent about how I work. Throughout this website, in my blog, and on my YouTube channel, you’ll find reflections, clinical insights, and content that reflect my tone, values, and approach to trauma therapy. If you see yourself in what I describe, or if something in your body settles when you read it, that’s often a sign that the work may be a good fit.

From there, you’re welcome to book a full session. I work with adult clients in California, Florida, and Israel. Sessions are 50 minutes and cost $255 (600₪). No consult calls. No insurance forms. No unnecessary hoops. Just therapy that begins with care and presence from the start.