Hello, dear clients.
Here's to 2021, huh? I want to start by saying that in this time that is so very challenging for so many, a real bright spot in my own life has been my work with each of my clients who continue to show up, be vulnerable, and do the work of curiosity, exploration, and healing. If you are reading this, I am deeply grateful for you.
As we transition from 2020 to 2021, I have a couple small updates to my practice:
A small but important ask: The twin pandemics of Covid-19 and racial/social injustice have increased need for therapy services for every therapist I know, including myself. My schedule is as busy as it's been in my nearly 9 years in private practice. This has led to some scheduling concerns that haven't historically been an issue for me. For example, I've always been able to accommodate a more random scheduling of individual appointments as needed. While this will still be possible, I'm asking for those who tend to schedule week-to-week or one appointment at a time to instead schedule at least 3-4 appointments at a time. This will help give me a better idea of what my caseload looks like month-to-month rather than week-to-week so that I can be more accommodating of new client requests. (It will also give me a better idea of when I need to pause accepting new clients). If this doesn't work for you, no worries but if you're able, it's greatly appreciated. For those who have ongoing/recurring weekly or bi-weekly appointments, no need to do anything differently. As a bonus, it will also take away the need to spend the last few minutes of each session on scheduling!
In that same vein, I’m running into the issue of folks emailing about appointment time availability and by the time they’ve emailed back claiming a time, the spot has filled. Again, this historically has not been an issue, but here we are! To prevent this from happening, the easiest and preferred way to see my current real-time availability and schedule is by logging in to the secure client portal. Of course clients can still email/text about session times but this does not guarantee availability. Just as a reminder, I see clients on Mondays and Thursdays with my earliest appointment of the day at 8am and my last appointment of the day at 4pm.
And speaking of the secure client portal, In the interest of data privacy, I'm hoping to transition primarily to the secure messaging option that is housed within Simple Practice (my electronic health records system). This option is available within the secure client portal that every client has access to. I'll still use my email and text but will use secure messaging through Simple Practice as my default way to send and receive electronic communication. When you get communication from me in the portal, an email will show up that says you have a new message but you’ll need to click in to the portal in order to read it. You can also communicate with me directly from the secure messaging system.
Finally, effective March 1, 2021, there will be the tiniest of rate increases. Current sessions are $118 for a 45-minute session and rates will go to $120/session. Intake sessions will remain unchanged at $135/session.
To end, I wanted to offer some of my favorite resources that I came across in 2020. Click here to see a separate blog post where I share some favorite books, podcasts, and articles that I found helpful and hope you may, too! If you end up reading/listening to any of these, I’d love to hear what you think in session!
With warmth and with hope for the year ahead,
Jess
Jess Helle-Morrissey, MA, MSW, LICSW, PMH-C, CLEC, CLD(CBI)