We have a brick and mortar office in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago, IL where we offer in-person services.  Additionally, we provide telehealth via Psypact, as well as licenses we hold in other states. Intensives for couples, families and other relationships are offered in person in Howard County, Maryland as well as virtually. 

Our fees are as follows: 

• Couple/Family - $300/session

• Individual Therapy - $260/session

Fees for therapy intensives and groups vary by program. We are in network with BCBS and Aetna PPOs for individual services. We don’t work with insurance for couple or family services.

If you are a new client, contact us using the contact form on this site or email us directly at info@bluesagepsychotherapy.com to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with one of our clinicians to assess your needs and determine if we are a good fit. At the end of that call, the clinician will explain next steps.

Feeling comfortable and like it's a good fit is the most important element in starting therapy, whether this is your first time starting therapy or you have experience. You will get a better sense of your therapist as your relationship develops, but you should feel pretty immediately like this is someone you can talk to who will listen and try to understand you from your unique perspective. Even though it will take time for your therapist to get to know you well and to learn your story, they should be able to respond to things you say in a way that makes you feel cared for, heard, and seen. They may simply rephrase something you’ve said or ask a question to make sure they are getting it, but if it’s a good fit, you will likely feel like they are trying to enter your world and are invested in making you feel comfortable.

Prior to scheduling your first appointment, you will receive an email asking you to set up your confidential account in our client portal. The portal is a tool to communicate with your therapist, complete assessment tools to measure progress, review or share documents, make payments for services, and more. When you enter the portal to set up your account, your therapist will have shared some paperwork for you to complete. Once the paperwork is completed, your therapist will reach out to set up your initial appointment.  In this first appointment, your therapist will want to learn about the issues that have brought you to therapy and to gather important information about the history of the problem you are facing. Your therapist will mostly listen, but will also ask questions to learn more about what you are experiencing, what you have tried before to address the issues, and why those efforts may not have been successful. At the end of this first session, your therapist will likely ask you how you have felt about the conversation and whether you are feeling comfortable so far. In this and any session, it is important for you to be honest with your therapist about anything that doesn’t seem to be working so that you can make adjustments. After all, this therapy is for you and should feel helpful to you!

Friends or family can provide critical support through a hard time. And self-help books often show us a new perspective or offer tools to cope. Therapy is different in key ways:

• We bring expertise in creating change - customizing a plan to improve your life. Our team is genuinely encouraging, warm, caring, and supportive - while you may sometimes just need a pep talk or to vent, our ultimate goal is lasting change that will feel better to you.

• Our only agenda is helping you achieve your goals. Even the friends who know us best have opinions about what we should or shouldn’t do. Your therapist’s opinion is based on what is most important, meaningful, or helpful to you - not what has worked for us.

• The therapy relationship itself is a place to try out new ways of feeling, thinking, and behaving. Sometimes this is called a “corrective experience.” While we form a real, authentic relationship, it’s unique in that it allows you to try something different and then bring your new skills or perspectives into your other relationships.

• Our extensive training helps us to see fully how your struggles may impact different areas in your life - and to support you in addressing these patterns.

Many exceptional apps provide tools to augment your therapy journey. Your therapist can help you choose based on research, proven effectiveness, and best fit for you.

Apps and AI are not substitutes for therapy. Your relationship with your therapist is not like any other - the relationship itself promotes change.

AI does not know how it feels to feel. Your therapist may have different life experiences than you, but they know exactly what grief, sadness, anxiety, guilt, joy, and love feel like. This allows for an authentic connection - the foundation for change - and the springboard to bring those changes into your life.

Right now, conversations with AI are not HIPAA-compliant. In fact, AI uses your conversations to feed its algorithm - so it stores and accesses your information for its own purposes. While AI corporations describe their services as confidential, the interactions are not “privileged,” like with a therapist, who is bound to follow specific laws and ethical guidelines to protect your information.

Because AI “therapy” is not regulated by laws or professional codes, it is not accountable for its actions. It has no personal investment in your care (because it’s not a person, of course), and there are no repercussions or actions for you to take if it makes mistakes.

With time, advocacy efforts, and legislation, AI may become a well-regulated, responsibly provided tool to offer supplemental support between therapy sessions; however, it is not a tool we recommend right now.

Psychologists (PhD or PsyD), marriage and family therapists (ALMFT, LMFT), social workers (LCSW) and counselors (LPC, LCPC, or LMHC) are all mental health professionals or “therapists” who can provide support when someone is struggling with life’s challenges, but they differ in their education, training, and approach to their work. Licensed psychologists complete a 5 year doctoral degree, 5 years of hands-on training, and must pass a licensure exam. Marriage and family therapists complete a 2 year masters program, 2 years of hands-on training for their initial license, 2 additional years of training for licensure that allows full, autonomous practice, and a licensure exam. Licensed social workers typically complete a 2 year masters program and 4 years of hands-on training prior to their exam. Licensed counselors complete a 2 year masters degree, 1 year of hands-on training, and an exam. While some requirements vary by state, these are the differences overall. Counselors typically provide shorter-term, solution-focused services that can center on a single goal or outcome. Psychologists tend to delve more deeply into the source or root of a problem and bring knowledge about the science and research of mental health issues and how people change - this type of therapy may lead to longer-lasting or broader change. Psychologists are able to do psychological testing, and they often teach or conduct research in addition to being clinicians. Marriage and family therapists are trained to provide both problem-focused therapy, as well as deeper therapy, and they typically focus on patterns and incorporate a contextual or systemic view of problems, even when working with an individual. Lastly, social workers may provide therapy, which can be solution-oriented or, if they gain additional training, deeper work. They also may help people access resources or tools to improve their lives, working in communities or organizations to connect people to resources and supporting whole communities.

Psychiatrists (MD) are medical doctors who have completed medical school and the associated residency and fellowship requirements. They prescribe medication and often collaborate with a psychologist or counselor who is providing therapy. Some psychiatrists seek additional focused training in therapy as well so that they can provide both services. Psychology, counseling, and psychiatry are all professions regulated and governed by laws and professional codes of conduct. Coaching is not regulated by law or a governing organization. While some therapists may provide specific forms of coaching (such as the career, dating, and parent coaching we provide), coaches are not able to provide mental health services unless they are also licensed mental health professionals. Coaching assists with very specific, goal-oriented issues and can help people with managing or organizing concrete tasks, or identifying and planning priorities. Because coaches are not regulated, it is especially important to learn about their credentials, training, and certification.

While medication can be an important and even crucial element of managing some mental health concerns, research has consistently demonstrated that for most mental health challenges that do require medication, therapy and medication together work better than medication alone. While medication can support improvements in mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, or other issues, therapy helps you to develop new tools, strategies, and perspectives so that you can make lasting changes in your life. While some psychiatrists do provide therapy, most do not, and we like to work closely with psychiatrists or other medical professionals to ensure that your care is coordinated and of the highest quality. Beyond psychiatrists, we may collaborate with primary care doctors, nutritionists, OB/GYNs, physical or occupational therapists, or any other provider who plays an important role in your care. The need for collaboration is determined on an individual basis and is a decision that you and your clinician will make together.

Because we do not have staff immediately available around the clock, we are not able to provide crisis intervention services directly. If you are in need of crisis intervention services, dial 988 (or visit https://988helpline.org/). 988 is a free and confidential centralized crisis line that provides emergency emotional support services to anyone in need. If you believe you are having a mental health emergency, you may also  go to your nearest hospital emergency room. In either of these cases, we request that you also send your clinician a message to let them know that you have contacted 988 or gone to the hospital emergency room.. Your clinician will follow up as soon as they can to support coordination of your care. While your clinician will work to respond to any contact within the same day, they may require up to 48 hours to reply to a non-urgent message. As you search for a therapist, if you believe that you are likely to need crisis services as part of your treatment, our team may not be able to provide the full range of services that will support your wellbeing. If you reach out to us and we determine that we are not a fit, we are available to help you identify providers or facilities that would be a better fit for your needs.

We understand that things come up, and you might need to change an appointment. Therapy works best when you meet regularly with your therapist - it is sometimes hard to get momentum if we meet too infrequently. You and your therapist will determine together what is the best meeting schedule to achieve your personal goals. If an appointment is canceled with less than 24 hours notice or a client fails to attend an appointment without any notice, the client is responsible for the full session fee. If an appointment needs to be rescheduled, we always aim to reschedule within the same week if we are able.

It is important for your therapist to be someone you trust and with whom you can share personal feelings and experiences. Therapist/client communications are protected by law, meaning that without your written authorization, your provider is not allowed to share information about you or your treatment, with a few exceptions. At the beginning of therapy, your clinician will explain the laws related to confidentiality and the exceptions in detail. Therapists are mandated reporters, which means that we are required to report child or elder abuse if reported to us and that we must also disclose if we learn that you or someone else may imminently be harmed. In any of these cases, your provider will make every reasonable effort to inform you and involve you in whatever action is required.

All medical professionals and facilities are required by law to provide a Good Faith Estimate for anyone paying for medical services out of pocket. If relevant for you, your clinician will provide this document prior to beginning therapy to show you what the expected charges are for the services you will be receiving.