There are numerous reasons counsellors and psychotherapists around the globe think that therapy paid for by insurance and/or Medicare for counsellors is not all that it is cracked up to be! Medicare and insurance are useful for those who require a psychiatric diagnosis, those who need short-term therapy and for people who cannot afford therapy at all (however UK Art Therapist Emma Cameron worked out at 35 sessions a year of Medicare versus private pay, private pay ends up less expensive. You can find her article in: 10 Amazing Therapists Tell You What Your Doctor Isn’t About How to Choose a Therapist

Adapted from my FAQ page, here are a few reasons why it is advantageous to invest in yourself via self-pay therapy:

As the L’Oréal ad says: Because you’re worth it!

Good therapy is life changing, worth its weight in gold and has life-long benefits. Investing in getting to know yourself on a deep level, is the ultimate act of self-care. Check out my two articles on Why Invest in Therapy? Part One and Part Two.

You want confidentiality and privacy

Whenever Medicare or private health insurance is used, your private information, psychiatric diagnosis (yes, you need a diagnosis to receive the rebate!), presenting issues, treatment plan and progress reports, are available to the insurance company, on MyHealthRecord.gov.au and at times, to employers, adoption agencies and when travelling abroad to some countries. Medicare, private health insurance and employee assistance programs often ask for detailed personal information about clients in order to make payment decisions. This review can undermine your sense of privacy and confidentiality necessary for effective counselling and psychotherapy. Once you have a ‘Mental Health Plan’ diagnosis, it becomes part of your health records forever. See how one woman lost her dream job due to her depression diagnosis!

You want to choose your own therapist and style of therapy

Medicare and insurance companies drastically limit your choice of therapist. Most “preferred providers” offer standardised treatment, keep your interests foremost and try to keep treatment brief without sacrificing quality. At times however, the insurance company may ask preferred providers to divide their loyalty between you and the insurance company. It is better to self-pay:

• if a therapist comes highly recommended but is not on the provider list
• if you would like to have unlimited choice regarding which modality of therapy you prefer
• if you wish to avoid seeing a therapist with a potential conflict of interest.

You want to choose the length of your treatment

As previously mentioned, Medicare, private health companies and employer assistance programs limit the choice in therapist and the modality that you are able to use – usually Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Due to cost effectiveness, they also limit the length of treatment. Medicare and other insurance companies provide ultra-brief therapy (3, 6 or 12 sessions). The majority of people require many more sessions than this to address the underlying issues and to provide you with life-long change. One of the major issues with time limited therapy is ‘revolving door syndrome’ – this is widely recognised within the Medicare Better Access Mental Health Plan system.  It is not that certain techniques such as CBT aren’t useful or necessary – they are at times – but they don’t address our innate wholeness and the whole story. Self-paying for therapy is preferable in order to receive the type and length of treatment required to suit your individual needs.

You don’t want Medicare, private health insurance companies or employee assistance programs making choices for you

When a third party is responsible for payment, they have the power to influence your treatment. A company employee may be required to evaluate your motivation, the severity of your problems, your progress, and make treatment recommendations. The therapist must take the company’s recommendations into consideration or risk losing a contract to work with the company altogether. It is preferable to pay for your own treatment to eliminate this outside influence.

You don’t want to be labelled sick

Whenever Medicare or insurance is used for counselling or psychotherapy, the treatment must be “medically necessary,” which means that your therapist must label you with a mental illness or mental disorder through diagnostic methods. There has been widespread criticism of the DSMIV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in that many psychiatrists are concerned that over diagnosis is leading to the pathologisation of everyday concerns. When you pay directly, you may seek consultation from a therapist for any reason you choose. People use counselling and psychotherapy for emotional, psychological and spiritual growth, for help coping with stressful life situations, for marriage and family difficulties, as well as for chronic and serious psychological problems. Having a psychiatric diagnosis on your health records can restrict your ability to qualify for future health and life insurance coverage as well as when applying for employment or to become an adoptive parent for example. For more information about the problems with labelling, check out my article on Stigma, Soul Sickness and Psychotherapy .

Insurance and Medicare are a major hassle for therapists

When I first returned to Australia from the UK, I panicked because I was starting up a new practice and I wasn’t able to get the Medicare rebate for my clients. I went back to university and trained in social work purely for this reason. Subsequently, I haven’t sought to be a part of the scheme and I don’t intend to for two main reasons:

a) In dialogue with many of my psychologist colleagues in Australia and therapist colleagues in the States, many of them are trying to get away from Medicare/insurance, not working towards it. Complaints range from clients not turning up for sessions (a lack of motivation perhaps if they aren’t full fee paying), clients often don’t commit to therapy beyond the sessions covered by insurance, the paperwork is out of control, therapists aren’t comfortable being tied down to using a certain style of therapy and most tend to work from a more holistic framework than that of the medically orientated model that is expected.

b) We can’t wait around for our associations or the government to recognise our worth. We all have unique gifts to offer clients. Read how to create your ideal practice in this article from Australia Counselling founder Clinton Power: Medicare Rebates:  5 Lessons in How to Create a Profitable Psychotherapy Practice Without Them

As part of the National Psychotherapy Day Blog Challenge, I wrote more about this topic

The Most Important Thing Your Doctor Doesn’t Tell You About How to Choose a Therapist

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