counseling services

Welcome to Brooklyn Women & Family Counseling Services

Our goal is to help improve our clients lives by focusing on their strengths to create a positive, long lasting change. 

The effectiveness of counseling depends on your active participation and this requires time, effort and consistency.  Counseling works best when you attend all of your scheduled appointments.

 The benefits of counseling can be vast. Working on personal problems in  therapy can help bring added meaning to your life, help you to learn excellent   conflict resolution skills, and improve your relationships. You can be taught techniques to relieve stress and overcome depression and anxiety, as well as improve your self-esteem. 

 What to Expect on Your First Visit

We request that you arrive at our office 10 minutes prior to your appointment so that you may complete a new patient information form which will be available to you in our reception room. Upon your arrival please make yourself comfortable and complete the registration form. At your scheduled appointment time your therapist will come to the reception area to greet you. During the beginning of your first session your therapist will briefly review the new patient form to make sure we have all information required for our records. You will also be asked if you have any questions regarding confidentiality or our cancellation policy. If you do not have any questions, you can proceed with the purpose of your visit which is to allow your therapist to get to know you and to   answer any questions you may not have already asked about the counseling process.

Appointments

Services are by appointment only. The time for your appointment is reserved exclusively for you and cannot be given to someone else, so please be sure to inquire about our cancellation policy* when scheduling your initial appointment.

Repeated cancellations, without adequate notice, may result in not booking further appointments. If you call to cancel your appointment please ask for the name of the person you speak to.

*Cancellation Policy: Unless 24 hours notice is given you will be charged a fee of$ 75.00

 Insurance and Payment

We accept most major insurance plans, including HMO’s, PPO’s and Medicare.  Be sure to bring your insurance ID card to your appointment. To facilitate your insurance claims, we submit an itemized bill directly to your insurance plan.

For a list of insurances we accept, click here.

Co-payments & Deductible

All co-payments must be paid in full at time of service. Co-payments vary based upon your insurance provider.  If your plan requires a yearly deductible you are responsible for payment until the deductible is satisfied.  The charged fee will be in accordance to your plan.

Patients who do not make reasonable progress toward retiring outstanding debt to the practice may, at the sole discretion of the provider, be terminated from the practice.  Furthermore, the practice may give the account to a collection agency, may sell the debt to a 3^rd party, and may report the debt to credit reporting agencies.

We accept cash, personal checks, bank debit cards, American Express, Visa and MasterCard

Prescription Refills

Please do not wait until you are completely out of a medication before calling us for a refill or an appointment.  Controlled drugs cannot be prescribed by phone.  You must come to our office if you require a refill for a controlled drug. 

 Request for Filling out Disability/Medical Forms

We require a minimum of two weeks to fill out personal disability/medical forms.  Please do not wait until the last minute to request that a form be processed.

We will fill out a maximum of two forms per patient.  There will be a charge for additional forms.

 Emergency Calls

If you are experiencing a crisis and urgently need to contact your therapist, please call our primary phone line (718-748-1234). Our support staff answers our phones Monday - Thursday from 9am to 9pm. If you reach our answering service leave your name, phone number(s) and a message. Then, as much as possible, keep your phone line open unless you have a call-waiting feature. (Please note that it may take longer to contact you when your telephone line is in use.) If you do not receive a call back within a reasonable period of time (it takes longer to respond if your therapist is in session with another patient) dial again and leave another message, stating the nature of your emergency and, for clarity, state your phone number more than once. Please know that we will respond as quickly as possible.   If you are experiencing a psychiatric emergency please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

Notice of Privacy Practice Policies

The practice recognizes a patient’s right to receive adequate notice of the uses and disclosures of PHI that may be made by the practice, and of the patient’s rights and the practice’s legal duties with respect to PHI.  The practice provides each patient with a notice of the practice’s privacy policy that contains the elements required by HIPAA.  A copy of our Privacy Practice Policy will be given to the patient upon registration and is on display in the office.

 Change of Patient Information

It is important that we have your most current information on file.  If you change your address, telephone number  or insurance provider please be sure to provide your new information to our staff as soon as possible.