FAQ

Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm

The initial intake assessment with a therapist, psychologist or nurse practitioner lasts one hour.

Follow-up sessions are 45 minutes with the therapist and 20 minutes with the nurse practitioner.  At times therapy sessions may go beyond 45 minutes which could result in a higher copay or coinsurance.

You know… we are therapists and have to know everything! So we take the initial intake assessment to gather all of the information we can, so we are able to help you the best we can. Having an accurate understanding of all of the information allows the therapist or psychiatric nurse practitioner to provide the most effective treatment. We want to know it all, so we can address everything we can for a happier, healthier you.

The initial assessment is not a therapy session and is used more to gather information and a thorough understanding of what is going on and personal history that may be contributing to your difficulties. This will guide us in the healing process and will help us to get to know each other.

There’s no reason to have anxiety for the initial assessment. The real therapy and hard work starts at the follow-up sessions. In reality, what brings you in has been going on long before you actually make it to one of our couches.

Initial intake assessment with a therapist: $200
Initial intake assessment with a nurse practitioner: $250
Follow-up sessions with a therapist: $150
Follow-up sessions with a nurse practitioner: $175
Group therapy: $30

If you have insurance your cost will depend on your insurance benefits, deductible, copay and/or co-insurance.  Your cost may also change depending on the length of your session.

Journey to New Beginnings takes several insurances.

Many insurances have a yearly deductible and either a copay or coinsurance and require payment at the time services are rendered. Be aware that insurance companies expect satisfactory documentation before they will pay (or reimburse) for your therapy sessions.

Also be aware that all therapists, counselors, and psychologists are directed by federal law to keep confidential records. However, when you make the decision to use your insurance company, you must be asked to sign a waiver that allows us to communicate this confidential information to your insurance company.

At a minimum, this confidential information includes dates of service and a mental health diagnosis. In the event your insurance company requires preauthorization for treatment and/or reviews your file, additional information, such as therapeutic session notes, must be provided to your insurance company.

Call our office and speak to one of our wonderful customer relations specialists, and they will give you all the information you need as well as get you an appointment with all of the required paperwork: (662) 349-2979

There is a lot of paperwork to be filled out before therapy, medication management or psychological evaluations+ can begin. All the legal stuff that nobody reads gives us permission to talk to you and treat you, as well as our agreement for insurance and payment.

There is also a Symptom Screener and Clinical History form. I know… there are a lot of questions. We just want to make sure that we are covering everything and we are able to get a clear picture of all that may be going on with you. We want to treat all of the issues and make sure we have it right – rather than just hoping we eventually get there.

Answering the questions before you get to us helps you have time to really think about all of your symptoms and give us a clear picture of what brought you to attend therapy.

You can cancel or reschedule your appointment with 24 business hours’ notice. If your appointment is not cancelled within 24 business hours or you do not show up for your appointment, you will be charged a $50 no-show or late-cancellation fee.

This is a common practice in this field for many reasons. Therapists allot one hour for each 45-minute appointment to allow for the session and writing clinical notes. Medical doctors can see 35 patients in a day, but therapists can only see one client per hour.

If a client cancels with less than a full 24 business hours’ notice, the therapist will lose an hour of their workday and another client has missed an opportunity for your appointment slot. If you no-show for three appointments, we will assume you do not want to continue therapy. Once you have missed your third session, any additional appointments will be cancelled, and you will be discharged.

We understand that you can suddenly become ill, have car trouble, or forget about an appointment. We are never upset with clients who miss appointments, but we want clients to understand that scheduling appointments with us is like buying tickets to a concert. If you miss a concert, no matter the reason, you will not be refunded. If you miss or do not cancel your session within 24 business hours, you will be charged $50 (which is not billable to insurance).

We completely understand that life happens: You left work late, there was a wreck on Goodman, the school took forever for you to check out your child… things happen.

We have a 10-minute grace period just in case. If you are going to be past the 10 minutes, call and let us know to see if you can still be seen or have to reschedule. We have to enforce the 10-minute rule out of respect for others. If everyone came 10 minutes late, we would quickly be an hour behind… and who wants to wait an hour for therapy?

There are rare times there may not be an appointment behind yours, so always check to see if you can still be seen.

The therapists, psychologist and psychiatric nurse practitioners see all ages, ranging from young children, adolescents, adults, and geriatric.

While none of us obtained Christian counseling degrees, we do have therapists that will incorporate Christian counseling if requested. We have chosen to help people regardless of their religious background.

Part of being unbiased is being accepting of people from all religions as well as those who practice no religion at all. However, if you would like your therapist to discuss religion and religious values, they can do that as well.

Although we love animals, a medical doctor or psychiatrist must sign and/or write a letter for an emotional support animal.

We cannot do this, but you can see our facility dog and therapy dog for emotional support.

We have a facility dog and therapy dog on site. Raven is our facility dog and Harper is our therapy dog.  Raven and Harper are available for therapy sessions but they are shared by therapists throughout the office and may not always be available for every session. 

All of the services provided by Journey to New Beginnings are conducted in-person in a comfortable office setting.  Telehealth is available in certain situations on a case-by-case basis.  Be aware that some insurances do not cover telehealth so you would be responsible for the full cost of the telehealth session.

Yes! And….we don’t have a year or longer wait list.  

We provide psychological evaluations for children, adolescents and adults.  Psychological evaluations are helpful and often necessary to diagnose ADHD, Autism, anxiety, learning disabilities and dyslexia.

Adults are able to have access to their records at the discretion of Journey to New Beginnings. Be aware that records released will have everything that was discussed during therapy sessions or medication management appointments.

Mental health records for minors are protected by statute in the State of Mississippi and will not be released. Journey to New Beginnings will file a motion to quash all subpoenas with the courts for records of minors at the expense of the responsible party.

Not necessarily. Most of the time, your child will attend sessions without a parent in order to have a safe and confidential space for therapy. Without your child’s right to confidentiality being respected, he or she would not likely feel comfortable freely sharing in therapy. If your child thought the therapist was telling you what he/she was saying in therapy, it would no longer be a safe place.

Therapists may meet with you without your child to discuss parenting-related issues that have an impact on your child, but the therapist will not share things your child has been discussing in therapy in order to preserve confidentiality.

Family therapy sessions with your child present are encouraged, but they’re not done unless your child is aware of the session and willing to participate. Conducting a family session with your child present when your child is not mentally ready is damaging to the rapport/trust between the therapist and child, and the session is unproductive.

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or disability paperwork can be completed for a fee at the discretion of the provider.

There must be an existing long-term relationship in which the client is involved in services and the provider feels FMLA or disability is absolutely necessary.

Therapy is always recommended because medications cannot “fix” everything. Therapeutic recommendations from Journey to New Beginnings are not required for medication management.

The psychiatric nurse practitioner will collaborate with therapists outside of Journey to New Beginnings if you are already seeking therapy services. There are usually underlying factors behind why we feel the way we do; if we cannot identify and help heal those issues, medication will only work to mask how we really feel. Medication therapy has a short-term treatment goal – intended only to keep us stable to receive the therapy and healing we need.

Everyone 16 and over has to take a drug test on their first visit. This is a Mississippi law and not something over which our office has any control.

After your first visit, you will be tested at least 4 times per year. Again… it’s the law.

Simple: Mississippi law requires that you PASS your drug test if you are prescribed controlled substances. Controlled substances are things like ADHD medication and some anxiety medications.

No pass… no meds. Sorry, guys.

There are extra safety guidelines in place for our little ones (anyone under 18). While there are a small handful of medications that are able to be given to a child under 6 years old, our practitioners will not prescribe to anyone younger than 6.

Why? Safety. Medication is not a “one size fits all” solution. What works for one person may not work well for someone else. Children under the age of 6 are severely limited on which medications have been proven safe and effective. For that reason, our practitioners will not prescribe medications outside of FDA recommendations for your children. We want everyone to be well AND safe.

Let’s be real: Years of drugs and/or alcohol does a lot of damage to the receptors in our brains, making medication management more of a challenge. Because of the dangers of combining psychotropic medications with drugs /alcohol, our practitioners require 60 days of sobriety up front.

We are in the business of HEALING. If you are continuing to drink and use drugs, you are not ready to start your journey yet.

In order to make your therapy session as comfortable as possible, tissues with lotion are provided, lying on the sofa and waterproof mascara are optional, not a requirement, but may enhance your therapy experience.

Sure! Light snacks, especially right after school or during your lunch break are okay with us. When doesn’t food make it better? We do not provide snacks onsite; but if you need a light snack, bring it on. As long as you can chew and talk, we are good!