Counseling Costa Mesa - Pathways to Wellness

Although our training is to treat you using sound therapeutic skills, there are times when a medication referral is warranted. If your therapist thinks that medication might be helpful, he/she will discuss a referral to a health professional who is trained in working with emotional and behavioral issues – most often, a psychiatrist. At other times, there may be medical issues your therapist believes should be addressed, since feeling good requires being physically as well as emotionally healthy. As with other aspects of treatment, whether or not you choose to accept your therapist’s recommendation is ultimately your decision.

There are many reasons why people do not want to come to therapy; they may feel that therapy means they are weak and cannot solve their own problems, they may fear being harshly criticized or they may not wish to make changes. If you and your partner/spouse/family member are able to discuss the reasons, it is a good idea to do so. Sometimes they will come in for a first appointment if they understand that it is an assessment and does not commit them to continuing in therapy. Sometimes, speaking to the therapist over the phone can dispel fears about the appointment. Also, partners/spouses/family members may feel more comfortable starting with individual therapy rather than couples or family therapy. Although any couples and family issues are best addressed with all people in the session, there are still benefits to coming in alone and exploring changes you can make which could positively impact your relationships.

Often, a person enters therapy with some specific goals in mind. One of the things you will do with your therapist is periodically review, clarify and, if desired, adjust your goals. When your goals are met to your satisfaction, you can decide to discontinue therapy, remain in therapy to make sure you maintain your progress, or set new goals. Remaining in therapy is always your choice.

Most of our therapists have evening hours. Be sure to state any scheduling requirements you may have up front so we can direct you to a therapist who can meet your needs.

We accept most major credit cards and health savings account cards.

Some clients have concerns about the degree of privacy that can be maintained once a claim makes its way to a huge managed care insurance company. Others do not wish to be given the mental illness diagnosis that all providers must assign them if they are filing an insurance claim. Many clients pay privately for therapy.

At Pathways to Wellness, we are out-of-network for all insurance companies, meaning none of our therapists are a preferred or contracted provider with any insurance company. We will gladly bill most major insurance companies, as a courtesy to you, if you have a PPO or a POS plan with out-of-network benefits. We cannot bill HMO plans as HMOs have their own providers and will not pay out-of-network providers. We do accept Medicare with supplemental insurance. The current therapist accepting Medicare with supplemental insurance is Stephenie Champlin LCSW.

Some people begin to feel better as soon as they make their appointment or at the time of their first session. There can be a sense of relief when you make the commitment to address an issue that is problematic. More often, however, people do not feel better immediately. Therapy is sometimes emotionally painful, because it involves an active effort to look at yourself and your life situations in a very deep and honest way, and to make some difficult changes. If the problems that bring you to therapy were easy to solve, you would have solved them without the guidance of a professional. Though the short-term distress of addressing problems and making changes may feel challenging, keep in mind that the potential long-term gains can feel well worth it. When therapy is successful, the positive gains in self-esteem, improved relationships and coping skills will far outweigh the distress of making changes.

Many people feel nervous before their first appointment, wondering what their therapist will ask, or what they should tell their therapist. Your therapist will primarily want to hear the reasons you made the appointment, what you have already done to try and solve the problem, and what you hope to accomplish in therapy. To better understand you, your therapist will likely want to know how things are going in the important parts of your life (relationships, work, school, etc.) as well as information about your background. If you and your therapist decide to continue working together, you will begin developing goals for therapy. If you do not feel comfortable with your therapist for any reason, please say so, and your therapist will be happy to provide you with a referral to another therapist.

We have many seasoned therapists at Pathways to Wellness and are pleased to state that our clients often remark on the warm and safe space they encounter. Many clients comment that they’ve been searching for a therapy practice like this – a place where they receive competent care and feel deeply connected to their therapist and to the practice. We strongly believe that we do therapy very well at Pathways to Wellness, and that our expertise is not only a product of our training, but the result of spending years listening to what clients really want out of a therapist and a practice.

Read our therapist’s profiles to determine which person’s approach and specialties feel right for you. Most people can tell after an initial session whether they feel comfortable with a therapist’s style. Please feel free to speak up if you do not feel comfortable with the therapist, it will not offend us whatsoever. We want you to feel that you can develop an alliance of trust with your therapist – that is when therapy works best. We want to help you get to the right therapist.

Self-help books contain generalizations, based on someone else’s story, or on a combination of stories. While self-help books play an important role in our culture, they don’t offer the flexible, individualized approach that is often needed to bring about lasting life changes. In addition, books do not offer the therapeutic relationship that can encourage us and hold us to a greater level of accountability.

Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is a way to help people with a broad variety of mental illnesses and emotional difficulties. Psychotherapy can help eliminate or control troubling symptoms so a person can function better and can increase well-being and healing. Problems helped by psychotherapy include difficulties in coping with daily life; the impact of trauma, medical illness or loss, like the death of a loved one; problems in relationships; and specific mental disorders, like depression or anxiety. There are several different types of psychotherapy and some types may work better with certain problems or issues. Psychotherapy may be used in combination with medication or other therapies.