DR. SARAH GARDNER, PSYD, NCC
Empathic Understanding & Therapy You Can Trust
Have a particular life obstacle you’re trying to overcome? Sometimes, seeking help from a licensed and certified expert is the best way to put things into perspective. As a committed, professional Psychologist in Maryland, your well-being and mental strength is my number one priority. I’m happy to guide you through all of life’s challenges with the attention and care you deserve.
“Discussing positive experiences leads to heightened well-being, increased overall life satisfaction and even more energy”
Nathaniel Lambert
WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR VISIT
I implement effective psychotherapy methods to instill self-understanding among patients and encourage them to adopt new attitudes and feelings towards life situations. It is essential to keep in mind that therapy is not a magic pill or a quick fix: therapy is a healing process that necessitates participation and investment from the patient and caretaker alike. But in the end, making small changes to self-defeating behavior and coping with feelings of sadness, fear, and pain can bring life-altering results.
At the 1st visit, we will discuss your background and medical history and you will share what you are hoping to gain from therapy. We will begin to determine whether we are a good "fit" for each other.
1 hr 30 min
280 US dollars
1 hr
200 US dollars
6 hr
Between $3500-$4900
6 hr
Between $3800-$4900
6 hr
Between $3800-$4500
3 hr
$500 - $2000
6 hr
$3500-$4900
FAQS
You Ask - I Answer
HOW LONG DOES EACH THERAPY SESSION TAKE?
Therapy sessions are 60 minutes.
ARE AUTISM AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATIONS REALLY 6 HOURS LONG?
Sometimes, yes. The actual length of time for your child's evaluation will depend on your child's compliance with testing demands, your child's abilities, and what questions are looking to be answered by testing. Testing typically takes anywhere from 3 to 6 hours.
You are paying for quality services, diagnostic help based on standardized measures, consultation with your child's teacher(s) and medical providers, interpretation of tests, report writing time, and recommendations. Regardless of the actual time testing takes, you will be scheduled in for a 6 hour slot. This does include a lunch break.
Please make sure your child has eaten breakfast on the day of your child's appointment and bring snacks.
WHY DO YOU NOT ACCEPT INSURANCE?
Unfortunately, insurance providers can be difficult to work with and their billing process is often cumbersome. To ensure services are not delayed and to help make sure you are being provided quality care, payment can be provided as cash or through most major credit cards.
Personal checks are not accepted.
Superbills are provided to you to submit to your insurance company. For evaluations, superbills are provided shortly after your report has been sent to you. For therapy, superbills are provided at the end of each month.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO RECEIVE A REPORT AFTER MY CHILD HAS BEEN EVALUATED?
Autism or neuropsychological evaluation reports are typically provided after 2-4 weeks after completion of testing.
ARE THERE CANCELLATION FEES?
My time is limited. As such, payment is due before services are rendered.
Refunds are typically not granted, thus there are no cancellation fees. Waitlists in the area for evaluations are long, making it that much more important to keep your child's appointment, if at all possible.
However, life does happen and in the event your child is sick or something else happens, please contact Dr. Gardner (this does not mean that you will be granted a refund) if needing to cancel an evaluation. Although you will not be charged an additional fee, due to the demand needed for these kinds of evaluations, we want to make sure you are committed to having your child evaluated when scheduling.
If there is less than 48 hours notice when cancelling a mental health therapy appointment, you will be charged for the full session amount. Over 48 hours notice will result in no fee.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I DO NOT ATTEND MY APPOINTMENT?
If you do not attend your appointment without discussion with the doctor, you are considered a "no show." You will still be expected to pay for the time you reserved because, had enough notice been provided, your scheduled time could have been offered to another patient. You will be charged the full amount.
HOW MANY THERAPY SESSIONS DO I NEED?
This is a tricky question. The amount of services needed depends on several factors, including what you are hoping to have resolved, the form the therapy (ex., CPT for trauma is 12-15 sessions and CBT-I (insomnia treatment) is about 6 sessions), your engagement in the therapy process, among other factors. For most therapy questions, I will not be able to give you an estimate of the amount of sessions you will need. However, my aim is to have you feeling better as soon as is reasonable. I usually begin therapy on a weekly basis and then we can decrease to bi-weekly sessions once we both believe you are ready. After that, we will push you down to monthly sessions until you feel we both feel you do not need treatment anymore.
I do provide referrals to other providers if we both feel we are not a good therapeutic match.