FAQs

Greenline Psychological Services (GPS) was founded to create accessible internet-based therapy, counseling, and consultation services for clients across California, and to provide a flexible work environment for amazing mental health professionals. Our mission is to help individuals, couples, families, and organizations find new directions that will enhance their lives and relationships, and boost productivity and profits. We believe in self-care, and that therapists who lead happy, healthy lives are better able to help their clients to do the same.Telehealth services are convenient, safe, and effective, leaving room for self-care, getting a little more work done, or spending more time with your loved ones.

All GPS therapy and consultation services are provided through phone and video-conferencing platforms. We utilize the HIPAA compliant TherapyNotes/TherapyPortalplatform to safely and securely connect with therapy clients. This reliable organization has been around for several years and allows us to maintain streamlined services by combining our service delivery software with our electronic health records system. While no digital communications are ever guaranteed to be 100% secure, TherapyNotes/TherapyPortal has a strong track record of protecting client data and digital communications.

If you are already in therapy with someone else and are not satisfied with how things are going, we recommend that you first speak with that therapist about what may not be working to see if there is a solution to be reached before moving on to select a new therapist. The investment you have made with that therapist may be significant and sometimes working through a difficulty with your therapist can actually be one of the more helpful and transformative experiences you have in your work with that individual, even if you do ultimately decide to move on. Sometimes you may be seeing one therapist for a specific purpose, such as working through a difficulty at work, or a particular traumatic event. If that is the case, and you are interested in starting work with a GPS clinician for a different presenting problem, such as marriage counseling, we recommend signing up for a free 15-minute consultation with one of our therapists to discuss whether starting work with a GPS clinician would be helpful at this time.

The best indicator for successful therapy is a good fit between you and your therapist. Sometimes having someone of the same gender, race, age, marital status, religious background, etc. may be helpful, but ultimately the best indicator remains the working relationship you establish together. Every therapist has different amounts of information they choose to share about themselves in their professional role. We encourage you to take a few minutes to learn about our therapists to determine which of our skilled clinicians may be the best fit for you and your current needs. Check out our Staff and Articles/Videos pages to learn helpful information about various topics from our expert clinicians, as well as to get to know our therapists. When you’re ready just fill out the form below to set up a free consultation.

In the internet era, there is no excuse to not learn a bit about your therapist before you contact them for a consultation. We recommend reading about your therapist, checking out blogs/articles they have written, and watching videos they have posted. This will allow you to get a sense for what it will be like to talk with them in session, and even may give you an introduction to how they may approach helping you with your particular concerns. Check out ourStaff andArticles/Videos pages to learn helpful information about various topics from our expert clinicians, as well as to get to know our therapists. When you’re ready just fill out the form below to set up a free consultation.

Therapy services must be conducted by therapists licensed in the state in which the client is located at the time of service. Though there has been some movement in recent years toward adopting true cross-state licensure reciprocity (as is the case for marriage licenses), California therapists may only work with clients in the state of California unless also licenses in the state where the client is located at the time of service. If you travel outside of California, you will most likely need to wait until you return to California for your next session. If your therapist is also licensed in the state to which you are traveling, you may continue to receive services when in that state as well. See our Staff page to learn more about our clinicians and our Services page to learn about the therapy services offered at GPS. Consultation and coaching services, on the other hand, are not controlled by state licensing boards such as those regulating psychotherapy services. Thus, if you are seeking consultation or coaching, rather than psychotherapy, you can connect with your GPS consultant/coach from anywhere in the world where you have access to the internet. See our Consultation/Coaching page to learn more about these services.

See related articles on our Articles/Videos page for more detailed information. Though there are occasionally exceptions made for demonstrated temporary financial hardship, most GPS therapy services cost between $150-$200 per 50 minute session. Check out our individual therapists’ pages to see their rates for services. Therapy is an investment in yourself, your emotional well-being, your relationships, your career, essentially all the vital areas of your life. We have found that many GPS clients tend to make more money in their careers as a result of their work with GPS clinicians. Though this is certainly not a primary reason to consider going to therapy, as other services will more directly address financial well-being (e.g. business consultation/coaching, speaking with a certified fiduciary financial planner, etc.), getting yourself into a healthier state will often lead our clients to seek and negotiate long-deserved raises, successfully pursue higher paying positions, start or enhance their own businesses, and generally manage their finances more effectively. Though GPS clinicians are not qualified to give financial investment advice, enhancing your work life through becoming a psychologically sound employee, business owner, manager, or other business leader/influencer can often be accompanied by financial growth. Check out our Consultation/Coaching page for additional information about services related specifically to this area of growth.

After you have set up your intake session date/time with your therapist, s/he will create your account in TherapyNotes/TherapyPortal. You will then receive a welcome email which will take you to the portal. You will then set your password and have access to the forms needed by your therapist to complete your intake process. Some forms can be completed within the portal, while some must be downloaded, completed/signed, and then uploaded to the portal.

If you are the parent/legal guardian of a minor whom you would like to receive services, please feel free to reach out to one of our therapists to set up the initial appointment. If you are attempting to set up an intake session for an adult in your life for whom you are not a conservator (formal legal caretaker), you are welcome to speak with one of our therapists for an initial consultation to see if services seem appropriate, but the therapist will ultimately need to speak with the intended client directly before setting up a session. Too often the intended client does not actually wish to follow through on the appointment, which ends up taking away an appointment slot from another client who is actually interested in coming in.

Therapy sessions typically last 50 minutes. Consultation sessions typically last 30, 60, or 90 minutes, with the duration established at the time of booking.

Most clients are seen initially on a weekly basis. In rare circumstances a client may need to be seen twice per week to manage a temporary crisis. Many clients lessen the frequency of sessions to every other week or even monthly after significant progress has been made toward their treatment goals.

All fees are due at the time of service and therapy clients are required to have a debit, credit, or Health Savings Account (HSA) card on file. This is used to pay for services rendered, as well as to cover missed session and late cancellation fees. Your card will only be charged in accordance with your signed agreement with GPS. Clients fill out a payment authorization form prior to the first session along with the other intake forms.

Though GPS is a private pay practice (see “How do I pay for sessions?”), our licensed clinicians can provide you with a superbill (receipt) which can be submitted to your insurance provider for partial reimbursement for sessions in accordance with your specific plan. Most HMOs do not cover “out of network” services such as those provided by GPS. Many PPO insurance plans allow for out of network services. Contact your insurance provider to see if your specific plan covers out of network services, what your reimbursement rate is, and whether there are restrictions on number of sessions, diagnoses covered, etc. Most insurance plans require a qualifying mental health-related diagnosis to qualify for coverage/reimbursement. Not all individuals seeking therapy have a qualifying diagnosis, and an ethical therapist will not assign you a diagnosis for which you do not legitimately qualify. Your therapist will determine whether you qualify for a specific diagnosis during your initial session (sometimes more than one session is necessary to determine this). Our therapists will not be able to confirm whether you have a qualifying diagnosis during the 15-minute free consultation as formal diagnosis requires a diagnostic intake interview, which typically lasts an entire 50-minutesession.

We take your confidentiality and privacy quite seriously. Protecting your personal health information, including the fact that you are even contacting us for services, is a top priority for our clinicians. You can read all about how we manage your information and how we conduct ourselves online and how we interact with the public and therapy clients in the attached “Digital and Social Media Policy.” (link the Digital and Social Media Policy pdf document via download when clicking the document title).