How Trauma Therapy Works

You’re feeling stuck

You're feeling stuck and alone. You want to move forward, but the things you've tried are not working. Now, you do what you need to get through each day. You've been doing that for a while, but you want more. You want full life.

If your therapy is all "talk", it won't help. You could go around in circles for years and never take one step forward. In therapy you want more than just "insight", you want the ability to stop panic attacks, feel better about yourself, be more present, to be productive at work, and have healthy relationships. You want tools. Not just talk.

Combining talking + building skills can help

In trauma therapy with us, we'll combine tools and talk. Talking, especially about the past, is hard. That's why our first few sessions are devoted to building skills until you feel safe enough to share. Talking about the future can be difficult, too. That's why we spend time breaking down any impossible-sounding goals into small manageable steps.

We'll also think about the ways the trauma has lowered your self-confidence, your ability to focus, your work functioning, and trust of others. We'll provide tools and encouragement to raise them again. We'll practice; we'll role play. We'll go at your pace. Sometimes that means dropping the plan for the session altogether so we can focus on you feeling safe. Our goal is to equip you with the tools to work yourself through your struggles when you're out of the office.

Trauma tools we use

We use a number of techniques and tools to go beyond talk therapy to help you heal. We use somatic techniques to help you address the symptoms that show up out of nowhere sometimes to make it difficult to get through the day. We turn to Parts Work to help heal some of the deep hurts and relationship wounds, and at times we use brain-based techniques to help you process through past hurts more deeply.

If trauma therapy sounds like what you're looking for, then we can't wait to hear from you!

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions about how therapy works at Healing Well Counseling? Here are the most frequently asked questions that come up for our new clients. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask either our intake coordinator, admin staff, or your therapist in your first session.

Therapy Process Questions

How do I get started?

The fastest way to start is to add yourself directly to a clinician's calendar. You can also email us to get started. If there are no openings, you will have the option to join our waitlist instead.

Why don't you offer free initial consultations?

Free consultations are a common marketing tactic we choose not to use here to better care for our staff. Caring for our staff so they can be more present for you, is one of our core values. We do not offer free consultations as a way of ensuring our staff are paid for any time they are working.

In its place, we:

have answers to commonly asked questions by new clients about how therapy works on our FAQs page
share in detail about our therapy approaches throughout our website
have each therapist share a brief video of themselves on their profile page so it's a little easier to get a sense of the therapist before you meet.

We encourage you to look through our website, read our FAQ page, watch clinician videos, and then use your first full session to discuss any remaining questions and decide together if it might be a good fit.

How do I prepare for my first session?

After you've completed your intake paperwork (contact us to get started), you do not need to do much to prepare. You can, if you'd like, test your network connection to be sure it will be smooth, any have any questions ready you would like to ask.

During your first session, your therapist is likely to ask you follow-up questions about the items you have listed on your intake form. Note that with trauma histories, we typically only ask for brief details about your history, and more detail about how the trauma(s) is/are currently impacting you.

How often will we meet, and for how long?

You can generally expect to set aside 50-60 minutes for each meeting, although that will vary. Initial sessions can also sometimes run longer.

In terms of frequency, we typically meet with clients weekly, especially at first as we get to know each other. However the option is open for meeting every other week, or twice per month but it will depend on a number of factors. Finally, depending on your needs, we may meet for a total of a few weeks, months or years.

You will discuss the plan for session length, frequency, and the plan for how long you'll work together when you meet with your therapist.

How will I schedule appointments?

What does a typical session look like?

How your sessions will be structured depends. It depends on what is particularly going on for you, what you prefer, and where you are in your healing process.

Your first few sessions will likely have a lot more questions than normal from both you and your therapist so you can each get a sense of what is going on and how you will work together.

Ongoing sessions and how they are structured will vary. You might start check in on how previous week(s) have gone, a check in on any out-of-session tasks that may have been assigned. They may continue with practice of certain skills you are working on together, and/or a discussion on how you are meeting your goals.

But it is impossible to give a complete picture, as so much will depend on what you and your therapist are doing together. You and your therapist can decide on a session structure that works best for you when you meet.

Will my therapist give homework or out of session practice?

It depends. We are the types of therapists that tend to adjust our style based on each of our client's preferences and needs. You may love and really benefit from out-of-session practice, or you may not and we will adjust accordingly.

That said, we do tend to find that people get the most benefit out of therapy when there is some sort of practice outside the therapy room. The 80/20 rule often applies: 80% of the "work" of therapy is done outside of the office, and 20% is in the therapy session. If we do give homework it might range from more structured assignments such as worksheets, journaling, reading, and assessments, to the other end where we may simply recommend "items to pay attention to" during the week.

Overall, it depends!

Do you prescribe medication?

What if therapy doesn't help?

Just like any other relationship, some therapists will fit well, and others may not seem like the best personality match for you. That's okay! If you would like to meet with a different therapist, let us know. We'll do our best to find a better match for what you need.

If you are working with a therapist who seems like a good match, but you don't feel like you are improving, let your therapist know. We typically ask for feedback every so often, but if it's been a while, feel free to share feedback anytime. Feedback is important to making sure therapy works well for you. We can adjust the way we are doing therapy - more structured, less structured, etc - so that it's working for you.

Where will we meet?

Trauma Therapy Questions

What is a trauma counselor?

If you've been hurt deeply, sometimes that can keep you "stuck", in that it can interfere with your everyday life. You may have been in therapy for years, and you find "talk therapy" alone doesn't quite help. We specialize in trauma therapy - especially counseling with survivors of childhood abuse, sexual abuse, and intimate partner abuse. We use a variety of mind and body approaches to help you get "unstuck".

Does what happened to me count as abuse or trauma?

When we hear the words "abuse" or "trauma", we tend to think of things like war, airplane accidents, and sexual abuse. But the reality is there are many life situations that can be traumatic.

A toxic relationship, the death of a loved one, an unexpected illness, racism, poverty... all of these things can be traumatic in that they can change who you are and make you feel stuck, confused, or lost. If you aren't sure if what happened to you falls into this category, that's okay. We can talk about that together in our first meeting.

Can you still work with me if I haven't been through trauma or don't have PTSD?

Payment Questions

What are your fees and payment options?

Our usual fee is $125-150 per 50-60 minute session and $175 for the first session, unless you are using your Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance, Cigna/Evernoth, or for some of our clinicians, with your insurance "Out of Network" benefit.

If you are a victim of crime (sexual assault, trafficking, domestic violence, etc) and have police documentation, you may be able to have your counseling paid for through the Massachusetts Victim Compensation Fund. The process involves filling out their application. Even though it is a several-month wait, if you are accepted their program often reimburses for past counseling payments. You can find more information about this process on their website, and contact them with any questions.

Do you accept my insurance?

We currently hold the tension of contracting with insurance companies while acknowledging that doing so perpetuates an oppressive system for both our clients and our staff. We at this time have chosen to contract with insurance since it allows for mental health access for populations that would not otherwise afford it, and it provides consistent income for our staff.

We are thinking through how we can move away from this system over time. At present, that means we only contract with insurance companies that are the least invasive of our work with our clients, and those that allow our staff to maintain an appropriate work-life balance. We understand that means there are some insurances we cannot work with. If that is the case, we encourage you to seek out services like the OpenPath Collective, which provides sliding scale therapy services across the country.

Currently, we accept Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance (except federal plans) and Cigna/Evernorth. For other insurance companies, you may still be able to use your insurance benefit for counseling under "Out of Network Coverage", if the therapist you work with is independently licensed (most of our clinicians are not). Here is a pdf list of questions you can ask your insurance company about this benefit. We can provide receipts for you to send your insurance company for reimbursement.

I have insurance - how much will my copay be?

Your payment responsibility will depend entirely on your plan. Copays can range from $0 to $90 per session (or more). You may also instead have a deductible which means you are responsible for the full payment of therapy until your deductible amount has been reached.

We will check the insurance system for your specific payment responsibility before your first session. Note that regardless of what the systems we check say, the final say on what your payments are will be determined after they pay for your sessions.

If you would like to know what your payment responsibility is, please provide a copy of your photo ID and your insurance card to the admin staff member scheduling your intake session.

I have BCBS or Cigna but the therapist I am seeing is out of network. Will that change my payment responsibility?

If your therapist is a supervisee of a therapist who is in-network, your payment responsibility will not change. We are billing your insurance using your insurance's "Supervisory Billing Policy" (aka Incident-to Billing Policy) which means we will be using your therapist's supervisor's in-network status to bill your insurance.

For additional information about this, see the "Supervisory Notice" form in your client portal, or contact us with any questions.

What forms of payment do you accept?

When will I be charged for my therapy sessions?

What is your cancellation policy?

Questions about our therapists

Where can I learn more about my therapist?

What is the difference between an LICSW and an LCSW therapist?

LICSW stands for Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and LCSW stands for Licensed Certified Social Worker.

They are both licensed therapists that have Master's Degrees that enable them to provide therapy. LICSW therpaists have received their highest level of licensure and can practice independently or supervise LCSW therapists. LCSWs are therapists that are under supervision.

The benefit of working with LCSWs is that they often have the latest trainings and research. They are working with another senior clinician behind the scenes that can guide them through tough spots in counseling. This means you get the benefit of two clinicians working with you at once.

At HWC, all of our therapists have received training in trauma, work from a somatic and anti-oppression lens, and are supervised directly by Jocelyn St.Cyr, LICSW.

You can schedule a session with one of our LCSW therapists today.

Start your healing now.

You don't even have to call us! Schedule a session through our online calendar.

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