Frequently Asked Questions
at Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids
Contact
Monday – Thursday: 9-4:30pm (EST)
For new clients: Leave a voicemail with the front desk. We will return it in 2-3 business days.
If you have an urgent question then you may need to call the crisis line at 1-800-273-8255, dial 988, or dial 911 or go to the nearest Urgent Care or Emergency Room.
Either submit an [online form] or call us at 616-200-4433 dial 1. Based on your criteria for a therapist, we will either set up a free 15-Minute Consultation with you and one of our therapists, put you on a waiting list until the right therapist is available for you, or refer you for services elsewhere.
A meet and greet is a free, 15-minute phone call scheduled with you and the therapist to interview one another.
If it is known, you will be told your estimated co-pay.
This appointment ensures that scheduling, modalities, and vibes are right with you and the therapist.
At the end of the call, if both of you feel comfortable with one another, you may schedule an intake with the therapist.
NOTE: You are never required nor pressured to schedule an intake with the therapist you meet with, and vice versa.
If a therapist thinks they are not a good fit for you, it is not personal. Our therapists are bound by ethics to ensure to make a decision if they believe they have the skills to help you–if not, they will make a referral to someone who can. A therapist will not take it personally if you think they are not a good fit for you. It is important that the choice is yours and you feel comfortable.
Availability changes constantly! Call us at 616-200-4433 dial 1 to find out. If we cannot see you immediately, we will offer referrals and/or put you on our waiting list.
We have 2 locations and they are a 5-minute drive from each other. One is on Fulton and Forest Hills Dr in Ada, MI. The other is on Kenmoor and Cascade in Grand Rapids, MI. Scroll down to the bottom of the website for the addresses. We do have a few therapists co-located at the Holistic Health Collective in Grand Rapids, MI as well.
Contact your therapist directly as they do their own scheduling.
You must notify your therapist at least 24 hours before your appointment or it will be considered a late cancellation.
Medicaid: You cannot and will not be charged for a late cancellation/no show fee.
Non-Medicaid: The exact charge for a late cancellation is up to each therapist. This fee will be agreed upon signing intake documents with your therapist. It is explicitly discussed and signed in the paperwork
Contact them directly. If you don’t have their contact information anymore, ask the front desk. There is no guarantee they will still have availability for you, but we will do our best to accommodate you.
No. Our therapists can only see residents of the state of Michigan.
Insurance & Payment
We accept Cash, Check, Credit/Debit card, and HSA and Flexible Spending Accounts.
Insurance coverage and/or reimbursement depend on the plan you have purchased. Our clinicians will be happy to discuss payment options with you.
Each therapist takes different types of insurance. One therapist might take insurance that another therapist cannot. Click [here] for a list of every insurance we accept.
Yes. We will need your case manager’s contact information, as well as a billing address for claims.
For counseling you may get invoices for your insurance.
All of our licensed counselors can take out of network insurance. It all depends on your insurance plan and benefits. We will be happy to give you a bill and give you an invoice or what is called a “superbill” for you to submit to your insurance company. Or you may contact you insurance company and find out what the out of network benefits are and we will be glad to submit those claims to your insurance company. We will work with you and figure out what the best plan is for out of network claims.
We have developed a guide on utilizing insurance.
https://www.healthforlifegr.com/insurance-counseling-services/
Why yes we do! We are advocating for your health and this is a guide we wrote on utilizing insurance for counseling purposes.
https://www.healthforlifegr.com/insurance-counseling-services/
Some therapists will work with you on making a payment plan, but we have no official payment plan system in the works. We are working on this and hope to officially implement it in the future.
Each therapist’s cash pay rate is different, because they are all independent contractors. Typically, it will range between $80 to $130 a session for individual therapy. This price will differ for couples/family therapy.
If they are the ones who consent and sign up for therapy, and you wish to pay for them, they can sign a release form for you to discuss payment with us. They only need to talk to their therapist about it.
No. An adult individual must be able to consent to services and sign up for services of their own volition. You can request and give them information, but we will only set up appointments directly with them.
This includes your children over the age of 18.
If your loved one is in a state where they cannot sign up for services themselves, they may need a higher level of care than we can offer. In that case we recommend contacting Network 180 In Kent County, your local Community Mental Health Center, or dial 988 to learn more about resources in your area.
Services
Counseling is a collaborative relationship client and clinician also known as psychotherapy. Counseling can take on many different forms, from some solution-focused goal setting that helps someone with “self-improvement” to a deep healing process and overcoming anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, or chronic relationship problems. Counseling has been shown to lead to more effective long-term outcomes for anxiety and depression than for medication alone. Counselors work with clients to help identify goals and solutions for whatever circumstance, problem, or trauma is going on in their life. Counseling meet you where you are at and will not “tell you what to do.” Counselors use evidence-based practices and techniques to promote change–as much or as little as you want. Counselors believe and the science suggests that anyone can achieve their goals with the right amount of therapy and effort. Counseling can have a range of benefits–see our ABOUT page or HOME page for more details.
To learn more about what counseling is and what it is not, visit:
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a therapy that is very effective with trauma and has been empirically proven to help individuals with PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder recover. Multiple studies have also shown that EMDR can to be effective with anxiety and depression. Paul Krauss is a certified EMDR clinician has written several things about EMDR and trauma and you can read them at the following pages.
https://www.healthforlifegr.com/what-is-trauma-ptsd-emdr/
https://www.healthforlifegr.com/trauma-informed-care-neurobiology/
Most counselors will want to meet once a week. Especially if you are looking to work on EMDR or trauma work, it is important to stay consistent with therapy goals.
We understand that life gets in the way, as well as financial concerns, and so it is common to see your therapist every other week, or less frequently as well.]
We believe it is important to look at your entire picture as a person, your history, your relationships, what is going on in your life and your entire health from mental health to physical health and all things in between. We are a clinic that believes in a holistic approach and therefore we do our homework. We do not make assumptions about people, we want to read and try to study the person so that we can get to know you in a very deep way and help you have deep healing.
Our model is integrated in as much as that we are willing and able to collaborate with multiple practitioners based on anyone’s needs. If a client wants us to talk to their consultants to make custom plans, we can do so. This includes our Counselors.
Health For Life Grand Rapids has many community partners depending on your needs we can help you find community resources that work for you.
We are not a faith-based practice. Our therapists’ primary objective is to help you, no matter what your religious affiliations or non-religious affiliations are. We seek to honor people where they are at and their culture and belief systems. Many of our therapists have faith practices, but they will not reference this or impose any belief system onto you or their therapy. We are a non-judgmental practice that honors the culture of all people.
We currently have 2 male counselors that offer faith-based therapy if you request it.
Yes. Some are going to be a lot more knowledgeable about the community, transitioning, etc. and some are just going to be very accepting without a lot of knowledge. Our front desk can help find the best fit for you based on your situation.
We are unable to offer telehealth/ online therapy where our therapists cannot see and hear you. We recommend you find services elsewhere if you cannot do video calls.
Contact the front desk. Availability is always subject to change.
Typically, no. These would usually need to be different counselors so the counselor does not form a bias towards one party or another.
Culture
We, at Health for Life Counseling, are committed to providing an inclusive environment for all, regardless of gender, age, gender identity, race, health status, national origin, relationship status, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion. We aim to welcome ALL people without judgment. Thank you for being here.
More Information
- For more information on trauma, check out the trauma-informed counseling section of our website here.
- Did you know we have a free podcast about mental health, counseling, and philosophy?
- Check it out for free here: https://healthforlifegr.com/the-intentional-clinician/
- Did you know we have a health blog that covers a number of topics relevant to mental health and wellness?
- Check it out here: https://healthforlifegr.com/blog/
- Stay connected to our latest posts on social media and youtube.
Did you know?
- The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids is now located within Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids.
- All of our counselors are licensed through the State of Michigan, accept insurance, and are experts in their respective specialities.
- Our counselors are constantly getting the latest training such as EMDR and Somatic Experiencing Techniques, and more.
- Health for Life now offers Reiki services as well
- All counselors and consultants accept HSA cards
- Some counselors offer sand tray therapy
- All of our consultants and counselors are accepting new patients
Find Our Office!s
Grand Rapids Office
-
781 Kenmoor Ave, Suite C
Grand Rapids, MI 49546 - Phone: 616-200-4433
- Fax: 616-828-1936
