Archives for March 2016

NRC is self-pay and offers a sliding scale fee in place of directly accepting insurance. As a courtesy, NRC is willing to provide you a receipt so you can submit it to your insurance company and be reimbursed. If you are relying on insurance to pay for counseling, we recommend you call your insurance company to learn how much your benefits will pay towards NRC's services. Benefits of Self-Pay Clients who pay directly for their counseling needs gain the following benefits: You gain … [Read more...]

Completing the initial diagnostic assessment can take one to three sessions depending on how many people are involved and the complexity of the situation presented. After the assessment is completed your counselor should have a clear picture of where you are at and what you want to achieve. In some cases you may want to develop a formal treatment plan that describes how you are going to get where you want to be. Most of the time this is handled from session to session as you give feedback to … [Read more...]

Before your first session, expect to arrive about 30 minutes early to complete initial paperwork. The self-report questions provide your counselor with a context for the reason(s) that are bringing you to counseling. One of the primary goals of the first session is to orient you to the counseling process. You can take as much time as needed to make sure you understand the counseling process. Starting with your first session, your counselor will go through with you a fairly structured interview. … [Read more...]

Ideally, as a client you will bring issues, thoughts, desires, and emotions out to the open over time. Exactly how this happens varies because everyone is unique and appreciates a different path to greater wholeness. When you are stuck or do not know what to do next, the counselor is there to provide encouragement, insight, feedback, and direction. Sometimes the simple process of sharing is therapeutic for clients. Other clients appreciate more direct feedback and suggestions. Still other … [Read more...]

Counseling is designed to focus exclusively on the client’s concerns and needs. This allows the client to enter into an objective, supportive relationship that is ideally free of the emotional biases typically present in the client’s familiar relationships (with family and friends). For example, a client’s parents might not support the client setting healthy limits because it might mean they will not get to see their grandchildren as often. But, a counselor can give the client appropriate and … [Read more...]

Deciding whether to seek professional care is usually a personal decision. What is considered an inconvenience by one person could be a crisis to another. Different people tolerate levels of pain differently. But, there are times when professional counseling should always be considered. These involve life-threatening situations such as severe depression and suicide. At times other than personal crises, whether or not to seek counseling is entirely a personal decision. Counseling involves both … [Read more...]