Psychotherapy
Dr. Quinn is not currently providing psychotherapy services.
The only services currently provided are Health and Behavior Assessments for individuals seeking bariatric surgery, clinical supervision for other professionals, Coaching (primarily for Healthcare professionals), and Specialized Consultation Services in Autism and Developmental Disaabilities.
Psychotherapy is traditionally understood to be a medically necessary treatment for a Psychiatric Disorder that causes significant impairment in normal adaptive functioning. Psychiatric disorders are conditions defined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). Some health insurance plans with a Mental Health Benefit will cover the cost of treatment for designated DSM-IV disorders, but usually only when the treatment is required to prevent serious deterioration, immediate harm, or potentially permanent disability.
If you feel the need to use your health insurance to subsidize the cost of your psychotherapy, the best approach may be to contact your insurance company for providers.
My Therapy Approach
Behavioral Health is accepting new clients for therapy when Health related issues or personal growth are the focus of treatment.
I prefer to engage clients in what is called the Third Wave of Behavior Therapy. In the Third Wave, the therapist and the client are interactive. The therapy is contextually based and there is a high reliance on therapist-client relationship to effect change. Third Wave approaches are approaches like Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and some CBT+Mindfulness Based Approaches.
The Third Wave approaches are best for Psychotherapy (and Coaching) in which problems are broad, contextual, or even existential in nature. My Psychoherapy and Coaching style is based on Third Wave behavioral approaches in which achieving the client's target outcome is the most important goal.
Psychotherapy is only affective to the extent it meets the patient's needs. My therapy approach is to be active and engaged, giving you direct feedback, so you can determine what you should do next. If you need help developing the skills to do what you recognize you need to do, we will work on solving that problem with the same direct approach. I will request feedback from you as to how the therapy is working for you. If it is not working for you, I will be happy to help you locate another resource or approach that will help you. I use techniques from Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT) and other advanced Behavior Therapy Approaches that have been shown by research to be the most effective techniques. I can incorporate a wide range of therapy ideas, but the bottom line is always "how is this working for you to get you what you need to change your behavior."
Your Privacy
One of the advantages of this very small private practice is the inherent advantage the setting provides to your privacy. In addition, I am a strong advcate for personal privacy and freedom. (If you use your health insurance, we have to provide some information to them for them to pay the claim, but I am clear this is your information and treat it with the upmost respect. I provide to insurances only the minimum information required to pay your claim. For anyone else, your specific and informed consent is required for the release of any information. (I am required by law to report to the Department of Social Services if I become aware of immediate risk of harm to children or dependent elders. I don't freak out if you have considered suicide - we can talk about that. However, if you are irrationally considering harming yourself or others; you are at risk of being committed - as a last resort - for your safty and that of those around you. I will tell you up front, if we are entering that discussion, so you can rationally consider your options.)
Insurance Issues
Some problems may be significant, but still not meet an insurance policy's definition of a covered medical expense, for example Learning Disabilities, Marital Problems, etc. Some medical insurance policies only cover the most severe psychiatric disorders, and these severe conditions are the only ones protected by Mental Health Parity Laws. HIPAA regulations specifically allow your Health Insurance company to obtain and use information about your psychiatric diagnoses and treatments. (That's right, HIPAA was not designed primarily to simply protect your privacy. It was developed to protect your privacy during the release and transmission of your information between Health Providers and between Insurance and Health providers.)