FAQ

What Areas Do You Service?

If you find a good match in a therapist it is worth a journey to make your journey,or  have a consultation, with that professional. Sykpe is  an option for a GLOBAL match. Remember, the right counselor can give the rest of your life new and enhanced meaning!  My local clientele comes from all over the Greater Philadelphia Area and Main Line including:

Conshohocken, Lafayette Hill, East Falls, Fairmount Area, Northern Liberties, Old City,Bella Vista, Queen Village, Society Hill, South Philly (yo!),Rittenhouse Square, Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown,Bala Cynwyd, Conshohocken, Havertown (hometown), Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Radnor, and All South Jersey including Haddonfield and Cherry Hill!

Must a couple be married to have therapy?

Absolutely not! As soon as there is an idea about the future it is appropriate for a couple to decide upon counseling. Remember, you are two people attempting to put separate lives together.Couples Counseling is an intelligent tool for partners to use as early in a relationship as possible. Remember, counseling with me is about growth; and learning about each other and growing together is the objective. Many couples choose to come before they hit any bumps in the road….because we all know those bumps will come! However, once a bit of conflict emerges please don’t wait until it becomes too big for you to handle alone. Connect to counseling to navigate your course together earlier whenever possible!

Do you take insurance?

Jody Miller MFT  is not an in-network provider for any health insurance companies. This means I only accept payment in cash or checks or cards for every session and do not accept health insurance as an up-front payment. Depending upon your health insurance you may be able to use an “out-of network” provider such as myself and be reimbursed for it. This is entirely up to your insurance company but I can provide receipts and full documentation needed for reimbursement for sessions. Many health insurers do not provide mental health services or will not reimburse for specific issues such as couples’ counseling or addiction. Also, you may find that between your deductible and your co-pay my services will come in at a lower cost then it will be to actually use a provider in your network! So please be sure to check with your insurance policy before making an appointment. I will make every attempt to get you reimbursed but you must get your “out of network provider form” for us to do that.

LGBT Therapy, Individual & Couples…What is the Difference?

As a trained couples and family therapist it is remarkable to me how people misunderstand the similarities and parallels of working with the Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Transgender population are to working with the mainstream population. What I observe is that the  most highly misunderstood dynamic has to do with the feminine/ masculine dynamic in couples that is present no matter what the sexual orientation or gender is. For instance in a heterosexual couple , the male component (for all intents and purposes we can call it The Yang energy) often is more embedded in the female and the Yin energy or feminine energy (again, by now we all know the Yin-Yang concept that describes the feminine-masculine duality, right?!) can be more embedded in the male person in the couple. In fact, statistically and based very loosely on my own practice, it is about a 50/50 shot as to which partner emulates which energy!

What does this mean in terms of the behavior of a couple? In about 50% of couples the male runs the finances, initiates sex, drives the car,holds the primary vision of the future and is the generally more proactive member. About 50% of the time it is the woman is steering the ship. The results are not better or worse, good or bad…as long as each member is in general comfortable with their relatives role; the results seem to be approximately the same.

The way this ties in to therapy with the LGBT population follows….gender and/or sexual orientation tend to mean very little in terms of the dynamics of relationship or even for an individual in therapy….it is the Yin and Yang of it that really counts. In other words, each of us is more proactive or passive by nature and take on relationship and our worlds from that vantage point.  I do not mean to simplify what can be a very complicated situation for many people; especially in terms of coming out, transgender issues,and same sex couples. But i do mean to submit that it is more about the energy a person exudes than it is about anything else. Our true nature needs to be discovered via the therapeutic process, an authentic place to come from as we tackle our life. In the end, this is what a good LGBT developed therapist can offer…it is more the Yin and the Yang of it then any assigned roles, values or expectations.