Discernment Counseling Process
If you have decided to pursue Discernment Counseling, here is what you can expect when you call in to make an appointment.
- The screener will take your basic information to set you up in our system and make your initial appointments. Both you and your spouse will be asked to make a 30-minute phone appointment with the therapist who will make sure Discernment Counseling is appropriate for your situation. If your spouse is not available at the time of the call, she or he can call in to schedule their 30-minute phone appointment separately. Due to high demand for services, we request that the following 5 sessions of Discernment Counseling be scheduled up front. Cancellation of those future sessions is not a problem at any time during the process should they not be needed. Waiting to schedule each as you go along could result in 2-4 week gaps between sessions.
- The first face-to-face session will be 2 hours. It will consist of an opening session with both of you followed by roughly 30 minute sessions with each of you alone and ending with a closing session with both of you again. At the closing session, we will determine if the next scheduled appointment is wanted.
- Follow up sessions are generally 90 minutes long and follow the same basic approach of an opening joint session, individual time, and closing joint session. 2 hours will be blocked for these sessions because sometimes more time is needed. You will only be billed for the time you use and the target is 90 minutes.
- Although the expected maximum length of the process is 5 sessions, we recognize that each couple is unique. In some rare instances where there are significant complications, it can run to more sessions. This will always be at the discretion and full understanding of the couple.
- The hourly rate for Discernment Counseling is $200 and is generally not covered by insurance.