"Do you take insurance?" is often the very first question a family asks us, and it's a good one. Therapy costs real money, and money matters. So we want to explain, openly and without any fine print, why Olive Branch Laine Therapy is a private-pay practice, and why we believe this choice protects the very things you come to therapy for.
The short version: therapy works best when the only people making decisions about your care are the two people in the room.
You shouldn't need a diagnosis to deserve support
For insurance to pay for therapy, a therapist must give you a mental health diagnosis after your initial intake, and that diagnosis must show the care is "medically necessary." It then becomes part of your permanent medical record.
To be clear: a diagnosis is nothing to be ashamed of. When one fits, it can bring real relief (a name for what's been happening and a clearer path forward), and we'll always talk about it together, openly. But plenty of people who benefit from therapy don't meet criteria for any diagnosis: a parent who wants coaching, a kid building coping skills ahead of a big transition, an adult who simply wants to understand themselves better. Insurance often calls that kind of care unnecessary. We call it some of the most important work we do.
Either way, you are more than a label, and you should never have to be "sick enough" to be worthy of support.
Fewer clients, more presence
Here's a part of the story most people never hear: the number of clients a therapist sees each week shapes the care every one of them receives. Good therapy takes more than the hour in the room: thoughtful treatment planning, consultation, continued training, and arriving to each session rested and fully present.
Private-pay rates let us build caseloads around that reality: full schedules without the heavy volume that lower reimbursement rates often require. When your therapist isn't stretched thin, you get their best: more preparation, more attention, more warmth. We would rather serve fewer families deeply than many families thinly.
What happens in therapy should stay in therapy
When insurance is billed, the insurance company has the right to review your records (session notes, treatment plans, goals, symptoms) to decide whether your care meets their standards. That information becomes part of a record that can follow you.
Therapy only works when you feel safe enough to be honest. It's hard to be fully open when a third party may be reading over your shoulder. As a private-pay practice, nothing is filed with an insurance company. Your story stays in the room, between you and your therapist, where it belongs.
Your goals set the pace, not a benefits policy
Insurance plans can limit how many sessions are covered, how often you can be seen, and when care "should" end. Claims can be denied after the fact, coverage can change mid-year, and a session you believed was covered can come back as a surprise bill months later. We've seen people doing brave, meaningful work have the rug pulled out from under them by a coverage decision, and it's heartbreaking every time.
In our practice, those decisions belong to you and your therapist. Together you decide what you're working toward, how often to meet, and when you're ready to step down or finish, based on your life and your goals, not a policy document. And because our rates are transparent, you always know exactly what a session costs before it begins.
Your therapist stays your therapist
Research says it over and over: the relationship between you and your therapist is one of the strongest predictors of how helpful therapy will be.
Finding the right fit is precious. But when care runs through insurance, a job change or a new plan can suddenly decide who you're allowed to see, and a relationship built over months can end because of a network list.
Private pay means that relationship belongs to you. No network change can take it away.
And the full menu of care stays open
Some of the most valuable support we offer (parenting coaching, preventive care, personal growth work) doesn't fit neatly into a diagnosis code, so insurance rarely covers it at all. Working outside the insurance system lets us offer the full range of what helps, and tailor it freely to your family.
Will you ever accept insurance?
Possibly, and we want to be upfront about that. As our team grows, some of our clinicians may join insurance panels, and if that happens, we'll be clear about who's in-network and what it means for your care. What won't change is how we practice: transparent rates, honest communication about cost, and therapy guided by your goals rather than a claims department.
We still help you use your benefits
Choosing private pay doesn't mean your insurance is useless here. Many PPO plans reimburse a portion of therapy costs through out-of-network benefits, and we provide monthly superbills to make submitting for reimbursement simple. We also accept HSA and FSA cards, and our Cost page lays out every rate clearly, along with the exact question to ask your insurance company about out-of-network coverage.
If cost is a concern, please say so. We'd rather have that conversation together than have it keep you from reaching out.