Frequently Asked Questions

Teletherapy is the same as in-office therapy, just brought to you in the comfort of your own home. This accommodates your schedule, as it allows more flexibility. Many people work during the day, making it difficult to attend a noon appointment across town. Guidance Teletherapy clinicians can meet with you during your lunch hour, between kids’ extracurricular actives, or after the baby is napping.

Research indicates that teletherapy is just as effective as in-office therapy, with the benefit of not dealing with traffic, babysitting concerns, or limited scheduling options. It also lowers the cost of treatment, as there are no fees applied for office space.

Though it makes mental health treatment more accessible and affordable, it is not ideal for all people. Online therapy is not appropriate for those who have active suicidal ideation, active self-harm, active drug or alcohol abuse, or suffering from serious psychiatric conditions, such as auditory or visual hallucinations.

Teletherapy can be provided to individuals across state boarders, as long as the therapist is licensed in the state you live in, and you are aware that you are working with someone who is not living in your state. The treating therapist will still need to abide by mandate laws of your state and their governing license for your state.

When completing the Intake Form, Guidance Teletherapy will assign you to a therapist that is licensed in your state (or you can choose to review clinicians’ bios and choose one that is licensed in your state). If we do not have a clinician licensed in your state, you can refer to the “Resources” page for referrals on how to find one.

You will need access to working wifi. We encourage clients to use a computer or a large tablet, rather than a smartphone, as it makes it easier to see each other’s expressions.

You will also need access to a safe, private, and quiet space to conduct the session. Ideally the place you choose will offer you confidentiality, or the ease to speak openly and freely, without the fear of others “overhearing”.

An initial intake assessment to determine needs and treatment plan:

Initial Intake: $150

Follow up treatment:

Follow Up Session: $100
Crisis Intervention: $125
Report and Letter Writing: $90
Request of Records: $125

We currently only accept adults for individual therapy at the moment. If you’re interested in couples, families, child, or group therapy, you can check out the clinicians’ bios to see if they offer it in their individual private practice.

Each of our clinicians accept a variety of insurances. You can read their bios to see which they accept. Please be aware that all costs may very, and a co-pay may be obtained, depending on each individual’s insurance coverage. Also, clients with out-of-network benefits can be offered an invoice of all sessions rendered, so they can submit a superbill to their insurance company.

Currently we accept the following payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

You will be charged through a HIPPA compliant system called Ivy Pay. Your phone number will be typed into the app, where an invoice will be texted to you. Click on the link and input your credit or debit card. It will charge your card and send the payment to Guidance Teletherapy. Your card information will be kept on file, separate from Guidance Teletherapy so that we do not have access to this information.

If you are unable to attend a session, please make sure you cancel at least 24 hours beforehand. You can do this by calling or texting your Guidance Teletherapy clinician (do not email). Otherwise, you may be charged for the full rate of the session.

An emotional support animal (ESA), not to be confused with a service animal, is an animal that is specifically designated to assist an individual with their emotional or psychological disability.

This animal is an individuals’s pet that has been prescribed by their licensed therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist (any licensed mental health professional), to provide them treatment through emotional support. The animal is part of the treatment program for this individual, and is designed to bring comfort and minimize the negative symptoms of that individual’s emotional/psychological disability.

All types of domesticated animals can be an ESA (cats, dogs, and birds). They can be any age (young puppies or kittens, to senior animals). These animals do not need any specific task-training because their very presence mitigates the symptoms associated with a person’s psychological/emotional disability, unlike a working service dog. They must still abide by leash laws and cannot cause a nuisance in the public or home setting.

It should be noted that currently Guidance Teletherapy does not prescribed ESAs who are not cats or dogs, as their clinicians have not received specialized training around other animal-human therapeutic bonding.

For a person to legally qualify for an emotional support animal (ESA), they must be considered emotionally disabled by a licensed mental health professional and this disability must limit at least one major life function/activity. For a person’s pet to legally qualify as their ESA, they need their treating mental health professional to prescribed the pet as treatment through the means of a certification letter.

If you are currently not being treated by a mental health professional, or your treating mental health professional referred you to find individuals trained in ESA assessment and treatment, Guidance Teletherapy can assist you through the process. We contract with a team of mental health professionals who are licensed in multiple states. All of our clinicians are active with established practices, conducting reviews of the mental health assessments assigned to them. They are able to prescribe ESA treatment and provide the certification letter (digitally only), after approval of a qualifying assessment.

An initial intake assessment to determine need and treatment plan:

One ESA:
Housing: $150
Flying: $150
Both: $175

Two ESAs:
Housing: $170
Flying: $170
Both: $195

Clients wishing to continue ESA treatment and renewal their letters:

One ESA:
Housing Renewal: $85
Flying Renewal: $85
Both Renewal: $90
Housing Renewal adding Flying: $110
Flying Renewal adding Housing: $110

Two ESAs:
Housing Renewal: $95
Flying Renewal: $95
Both Renewal: $100
Housing Renewal adding Flying: $120
Flying Renewal adding Housing: $120

Unfortunately, due to the difficult nature of being reimbursed by insurance companies for emotional support animal exams, we regret that we are not able to accept medical insurance at this time. All costs for an ESA assessment and treatment alone are out-of-pocket costs.

After completing and submitting your assessment, it will take at minimum 3 business days to assign your assessment to a Guidance Teletherapy clinician, have them review it, and approve, clarify, or deny it.

If they approve it, the letter will be sent to your digitally via the email you used to complete the assessment with. Currently, we do not provide “wet” signatures on letters, and do not mail out hardcopies of letters. You will be expected to print your digital copy and provide it to the appropriate parties (landlord/property manager or airline). You will also be fully charged for the treatment after approval.

If they need clarification on your assessment answers, the clinician may call you or email you. This will of course, extend the time for approval or denial. The clinician will make three attempts to contact you, and if they do not hear from you, will automatically deny the letter due to insufficient data to meet clinical criteria for ESA treatment. You will then be charged a $25 fee for the clinician’s review and determination.

If they deny it, you will be charged a $25 fee for the clinician’s review and determination. Please note that for in-person treatment, if requesting an ESA assessment by a clinician and denied after intake, the full intake amount would be charged to you. Though it maybe frustrating to not meet clinical criteria for ESA treatment, it is a lot more affordable to do assessments digitally then in-person.

Your landlord/property manager can email or call the clinician who is treating you. This information can be found on the letter. Please be aware that the clinician may take up to 3 business days to respond, especially if they have not received written information from you that it is okay for them to speak to your landlord/propriety manager.

Please sign a Release of Information, either one obtained from your landlord/property manager, or the form from Guidance Teletherapy. Without a release, the clinician may attempt to contact you, via email, to ensure they have authority to speak to your landlord/propriety manger (and have corresponding documentation that you allowed them to), before calling or emailing them back.

If you are not satisfied with your letter, we do provide a refund, while retaining a $25 fee for the clinician’s review and determination. It will take up to 5-10 banking business days to be seen on your account.

Please note that if you need assistance talking to a landlord/property manager about your letter, a clinician can help you with this as part of the treatment process, for no additional fee. Often landlords/property managers will make their tenants jump through unnecessary (bordering illegal) hoops before approving their letter. They may need some psychoeducation on the importance of the ESA provided by the clinician, or they may simply want to ensure that the clinician who provided the letter is real, accessible, and treating the patient the letter was written for.