Catholic Charities: Counseling

The counseling program at Catholic Charities

At some points in life almost everyone believes that they need to 'talk to somebody' about a troubling situation. One may turn to trusted family or friends for the support to 'work it out'. But sometimes the difficulties one experiences are beyond the capabilities of even the best of personal relationships. Unreasonable anxieties; a betrayal of intimacy; violence and abuse; an inability to change with changing life circumstances – these and many other problems on the journey of one’s life may make the going very troublesome. At times like these a professional counseling relationship can help you when no one else seems able to do so.

Counseling is a process that occurs as part of a relationship. It is not magic. But it is a relationship unlike any other you’ve probably experienced. The goal of the counseling relationship is change, change that will promote your personal growth, health and well-being.

You are the expert at living your life. No therapist or counselor can take that away from you. At Catholic Charities knowledgeable and experienced therapists provide our counseling services in a manner that always respects your need and ability to live your own life in the best way you can.

You may be experiencing problems of some sort on a personal and individual basis, such as a profound loss, grief or fear. Your marriage may be stale or you may be wondering how you can remain in any committed relationship. Your family may be experiencing a difficult transition from one life cycle stage to another. Counseling is the process through which you meet with a professional therapist trained in one of the helping disciplines in order to discuss issues like these, to learn how they impact your life and to work out what you can do about them. The therapist brings his or her knowledge of psychology, human dynamics, individual and family development and problem-solving to the relationship with you. Whether you seek counseling as an individual; as a couple; or as a family, Catholic Charities’ therapists work with you to address your concerns and help you begin to build solutions that fit your life.

The Counseling Process

When you call Catholic Charities for a counseling appointment you will first speak with an intake therapist. This staff member will ask you for information about the reason for your call, along with basic items such as your address and phone number. The intake therapist will also ask about any insurance coverage you may have and discuss our sliding fee scale.

The intake therapist will complete the intake form based on the information you provide and will forward the information to the director of counseling services. The director will review the intake information and will decide which therapist will work with you. Assignment to a therapist will usually occur within 24 hours of your initial call.

The assigned therapist will then call you to set up an initial appointment. Every attempt will be made to schedule appointments at mutually convenient times. You can expect a call from the therapist who will work with you within 24 hours of his or her receiving the information from your initial call. Appointments can be scheduled at our office in Greensburg or at our offices in Belle Vernon, Ford City, Indiana, New Kensington or Uniontown.

When you meet with your therapist for the first time, you will have the opportunity to discuss your situation and what brings you into counseling. The therapist will ask further questions to help complete the picture of the problems or situations that concern you. The outcome of this assessment will be a goal plan. You and your therapist will work together on the development of this written plan. It will describe what you want to be different in your life as a result of counseling. It will also detail the steps that each person will take to achieve the goals. The goal plan may be revised as some goals are met or as new needs emerge.

The goal of counseling is to support your growth and development in ways that promote your interests and welfare and the interests and welfare of those you care about. The work of counseling involves collaboration between you and the therapist in order to enhance your growth and well-being. It is important that you participate to the best of your ability in the counseling relationship together with your therapist. The work of counseling is based on honest communication and a sincere desire to make the decisions that will improve your life. The therapist’s role is to assist and to facilitate the growth and decision-making in your life. Your role is to communicate your distress, your ideas, your fears and hopes and plans honestly and with courage.

The counseling relationship is a safe place from which to explore different ideas about your life, to try out new behavior, to experience a depth of feeling about your situation, and to develop the hope in the future that contributes to a healthier and happier life.

Therapists

All of the therapists who provide counseling services at Catholic Charities are committed to the highest professional standards of practice. Each therapist abides by the code of ethics of their profession. In addition, each one also agrees to adhere to the Catholic Charities’ code of ethics that requires not only professional competence but also a deep and abiding respect for anyone who seeks the services provided by our agency. The therapists are committed to being of help to you regardless of religious beliefs, race, age, gender, national origin, disability or any other factor.

All of our therapists are qualified masters level professionals in one of the helping fields such as counseling, social work, marriage therapy, family therapy or psychology. Several therapists hold licenses or certifications from their professional associations and/or from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Each therapist employed by Catholic Charities is an experienced professional with a minimum of several years’ experience in their respective disciplines. You can be assured of the highest quality of service when you meet with any of the therapists.

In addition to their professional qualifications and experience each therapist receives supervision of their counseling work from the director of counseling services.

Days and Hours of Operation

Counseling appointments are scheduled at the mutual convenience of you and the therapist. Catholic Charities’ normal business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Evening hours are available by appointment. In addition, Catholic Charities observes most general holidays and several agency holidays throughout the year.

Confidentiality

As a person participating in counseling through Catholic Charities, you have the right to privacy. This means that you can expect that any information you provide during the course of your work with a therapist will be held in the strictest confidence. No information will be released to any third party without your full, informed and written consent except in those circumstances mandated by law.

Complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed as a result of both federal and state statutes that require disclosure of information for specific purposes. The following exceptions to confidentiality are mandated by law:

When there is a court order requiring the release of information.
When a therapist is compelled by subpoena to provide sworn testimony in a court proceeding involving you.
When a person threatens to harm a named individual.
When a person threatens to harm himself or herself.
When child physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse or neglect is suspected.

Except for these circumstances, you can be assured of the highest standards of confidentiality during your work with Catholic Charities. Should you have any questions about confidentiality, please discuss them with your therapist.

Client rights and responsibilities

Rights

You have the right to respectful care by professionally trained therapists without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, source of payment or any other potentially discriminating factor.
You have the right to actively participate in an assessment of your needs and to have an explanation of the therapist’s recommendations for treatment in a language you can understand.
You have the right to participate in the formation of your plan for service and to understand your rights and responsibilities in the provision of services.
You have the right to know the professional qualifications of your therapist.
You have the right to terminate your agreement regarding the provision of services at any time unless mandated by a court of law.

Responsibilities

You have the responsibilityto make a commitment to the plan of services agreed upon by you and your therapist and to ask your therapist questions about these services so that you clearly understand your role in it.
You have the responsibility to provide, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and complete information about matters that pertain to your plan of service.
You have the responsibility to treat agency staff with respect and dignity and to take no action that may jeopardize their safety or that of other persons.
You have the responsibility to keep scheduled appointments. If an appointment needs to be cancelled you have the responsibility to call your therapist 24 hours in advance.
You have the responsibility for assuring that the financial obligation of these services is fulfilled as promptly as possible, either through third party payors (an insurance company) or by being personally responsible for payment for services not covered by insurance policies. Let your therapist know about difficulties paying fees.

Fees

Catholic Charities is committed to providing the highest quality of care to you. In using our services you will be given the time and the interest of experienced and professionally trained therapists to help you with your needs. It is important, therefore, that you know and understand the fees charged by the agency for counseling and the policies for fee payment.

The primary mission of Catholic Charities is service. No one pays the full cost of counseling. The Diocese of Greensburg subsidizes Catholic Charities’ counseling services. Catholic Charities is also a partner agency of all of the United Way agencies that serve the diocese. The agency is supported in its work of service through grants as well as private donations.

There are two basic means of payment for services: self-pay and insurance.

Self-pay

If you do not participate in a health insurance plan that covers the cost of counseling, or if you choose not to use your insurance coverage you may pay the cost of services yourself. The cost per one 50-minute counseling session is determined using a sliding scale based on gross yearly income and family size. At the intake interview your therapist will ask about your gross income and share with you the fee scale. You will be asked to sign a fee agreement that details the cost per session. If you choose the self-pay option payment is expected at the time services are rendered. You should also know that cancellations or missed appointments without 24 hours notice are billed at the prevailing rate for the session. Your therapist will review these policies with you at the initial interview and answer any questions you may have.

Insurance

Catholic Charities accepts third-party insurance payments from most major health insurance payors. If you have health insurance coverage and choose to use it the insurance usually pays the full cost of coverage. Catholic Charities accepts the insurance rate as payment in full in most instances. Your therapist will ask for your insurance coverage information and you will be asked to sign the necessary insurance forms and releases authorizing treatment and payment.

It is important that you understand that insurance carriers typically limit the amount of time and/or the number of sessions that you may have at the insurer’s expense. While these limits may or may not coincide with your getting all the assistance you may want or need please be assured that Catholic Charities therapists make every effort to successfully complete their work with you within the time frames or session limits dictated by the insurance companies. Should you elect to continue counseling without insurance coverage and bear the cost yourself you may of course do so. Be sure to talk about this option with your therapist should the need arise.

Types of Counseling

Counseling at Catholic Charities can take several different forms depending on your need and the concerns that prompt you to work with a therapist.

Individual Counseling

You may be concerned about personal issues and want to talk these over with a therapist. Problems such as job stress, anxiety, depression, coping with loss, physical or sexual abuse, unreasonable fears, stress related to health concerns, codependency, or other emotional difficulties are all problems that may be successfully addressed in individual counseling. Meeting regularly with a therapist to openly discuss your concerns helps lessen their effect on your life and improve your ability to manage the difficulty. Individual counseling encourages you to deal with your distress in constructive ways that promote greater satisfaction in your life.

Marital or Couples Counseling

Sometimes the issues that cause pain in your life are shared between you and your partner. Whether you are married, engaged, or in a committed relationship, the challenges of becoming and remaining a couple can lead to a variety of relationship difficulties. Couples may experience stress and conflict resulting from different expectations they each hold for their relationship. They may not communicate very well. ouples may experience some anxiety about their future, or they may experience difficulties going through transitions later in life. Some spouses or partners are victims of abuse and violence. The couple faced with these types of concerns can benefit greatly from a therapeutic relationship in which they can honestly sort out their differences, learn to communicate more effectively and learn new relationship skills.

Family Counseling

Everyone lives in a family. Whether your family is large or small, loving or not, families usually do the best that they can in raising and caring for their members. Sometimes what families can do is not enough. Sometimes family relationships may even be hurtful because individuals know of no other ways to behave. The emotionally intimate relationships in many families can confuse or hurt people, but they can also be healing and healthy. Appropriate issues for family counseling include relationships, parenting, coping with loss, addiction, violence and abuse. Family counseling may be the therapeutic choice when individual or couple issues have effects beyond the individual person. The therapist can meet with the whole family togetheror with any part of the family, to address these broader relationship concerns. As your family learns to interact differently with each other there is hope that the issues that prompted you to seek family counseling can be openly and effectively talked about in a way that promotes change.

Anger Groups

Group experience can be a helpful way of helping people with anger. Catholic Charities offers two groups for individuals whose experience of anger in their lives has become a problem. Therapists facilitate both groups, and group members contribute greatly to the groups’ positive effects.

The Men’s Anger Support Groupis an ongoing group that meets weekly. Group members discuss their anger-related concerns and learn more effective ways of dealing with their anger.
The Women’s Anger Groupis a 15-week group that meets weekly. Group members participate in discussions and learning activities designed to improve their ability to manage, control and express their anger.
The Men’s Anger Education Groupis a six-week group that focuses on various topics and issues in the identification, expression and management of anger.

Referral

Although Catholic Charities therapists can provide a wide variety of counseling services in the forms of individual, couple, family, and group counseling, there are times when your needs may be beyond what our therapists can competently do. For example, Catholic Charities is not a medical facility, so we cannot manage medications or any other medical problem. Catholic Charities is not a licensed drug and alcohol treatment facility and although our therapists are experienced in dealing with drug and alcohol problems and their consequences in individual and family life, our counseling does not substitute for rehabilitation services. If the initial assessment process indicates a problem for which other services may be necessary our therapists work with you to facilitate a referral to whatever other program or service that may be available to meet your need. Catholic Charities’ certified information and referral program is one of the most extensive referral programs in the four-county diocese. Our commitment to you is that our therapists will work to find the services you need if our counseling services are not what may be necessary to address your life situation.