I’m Rebecca Sotero, LCSW. I run a virtual therapy practice based in Jacksonville and I work with clients all over Florida, and one of the first things I want you to be able to find on my website is what a session costs.
I know how the search usually goes. You click through a few pages, land on an FAQ that says to contact the office for rates, and end up on a phone call before you have any idea whether this is something you can actually afford. If you are already tired and already second-guessing whether you should be doing this at all, that extra step is often the thing that ends the search.
So let me save you the trouble, and let me also explain the thinking behind how I have things set up, because the cost of therapy makes a lot more sense when you understand what is shaping it.
What I Charge
Individual sessions are $150 and couples sessions are $250. Sessions run about fifty minutes, and most clients begin by meeting weekly.
Before any of that, there is a free fifteen minute consultation. That call costs you nothing and there is nothing attached to it. It exists so you can hear how I work, ask whatever you want to ask, and decide from there. You should get to make that decision before any money changes hands, and I would rather you take your time with it.
If you would like everything in one place, the full breakdown of fees, session types, and credentials lives on my practice information page.
Where That Falls in the Florida Market
It helps to have some context for that number. Across Florida, private pay therapy with a licensed clinical social worker or a licensed mental health counselor generally falls somewhere between $100 and $200 a session. Doctoral level psychologists usually start a bit higher, often in the $150 to $300 range, and couples work tends to run between $150 and $300 as well. Rates in the South Florida metro areas sit toward the top of those ranges, while Jacksonville and the rest of North Florida tend to land closer to the middle.
So $150 puts me right around the middle of the market. I am not the least expensive option in the state and I have made peace with that. I have been licensed in Florida for more than fourteen years, I serve as a Qualified Supervisor for registered social work interns, and the work I do is fairly specific rather than general. That is what the rate reflects.
Why I Lead With Private Pay
This part rarely gets explained, and I think it should be, because it affects you more than it affects me.
When insurance pays for therapy, your insurance company becomes a quiet third party in the room. In order to pay a claim, they need a mental health diagnosis. Not something general like feeling overextended or having a hard time saying no, but a specific billable diagnostic code that becomes part of your medical record and stays there. They also have the ability to review your treatment, to decide how many sessions are considered medically necessary, and to determine that you have improved enough to stop, regardless of whether you or I agree.
Working privately keeps all of that out of it. You do not need a diagnosis to work with me. No one outside of this practice is reading your file or deciding when you are finished. We get to focus on what actually brought you here, for as long as it is helpful, and we wrap up when you feel ready.
There is a practical piece too. A lot of what I work on does not fit neatly into a diagnostic category. The chronic over-functioning that comes from being the dependable one. The people-pleasing that slowly turns into resentment you do not feel allowed to name. Anxiety that never quite becomes a crisis but also never fully switches off. These are real and they are worth working on, and an insurance company will not always agree to cover them.
All of that said, I know cost is a genuine consideration for most people. That is exactly why insurance is still an option here.
What You Are Actually Paying For
The rate is not for an hour of company. Plenty of people can offer you that, and some of them are already in your life.
What you are paying for is someone who will gently tell you what she is noticing rather than nodding along while you talk. Clients often tell me they chose me because I am real, easy to talk to, and not inclined to overcomplicate things. We look at what is actually happening, we look at the patterns underneath it, and we figure out together what needs to shift. There is usually some laughing in there too, which surprises people.
You are also paying for work that comes home with you. I draw on cognitive behavioral therapy, polyvagal theory, mindfulness, and a fair amount of teaching you how your own brain and nervous system are responding to pressure, because understanding what is happening in your body is usually what makes a new skill actually stick. You should be leaving sessions with something you can use on a Tuesday afternoon, not just a sense of having gotten things off your chest.
And you are paying for something that has an ending. My goal has never been to keep you in therapy indefinitely. It is to help you get to a place where you no longer need me.
If You Would Rather Use Insurance
I am credentialed through Headway, which handles insurance billing on my behalf. Sessions can be processed through Headway with Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and Evernorth, UnitedHealthcare, Oscar Health, and Oxford.
The process is fairly simple on your end. You create a Headway account, enter your insurance information, and Headway checks your benefits before your first session, so you see your estimated cost per session upfront rather than opening a surprising bill six weeks later.
Two things are worth understanding before you assume insurance will be the less expensive route. The first is your deductible. If you are on a high deductible plan and have not met it yet, you will likely be responsible for the full contracted rate until you do, which for some plans means paying close to full price for several months. It is worth checking your specific benefits rather than assuming your copay applies starting with the first session. The second is that coverage shifts over time, since plans get renegotiated and employers change carriers, so it helps to verify again at the start of each calendar year.
If you are not sure whether your plan is covered, Headway can look into it for you before you commit to anything.
Out of Network Benefits and Superbills
If your plan includes out of network mental health benefits, you may be able to get reimbursed for part of what you pay me directly. In that case you would pay my rate at the time of session, and I would provide a superbill, which is an itemized receipt with the codes your insurer needs. You submit that to your insurance company and they reimburse you according to your out of network benefit.
How much comes back varies quite a bit. Some plans cover half to eighty percent of the session fee once an out of network deductible has been met, while others cover very little. The fastest way to find out is to call the member services number on the back of your card and ask three things: whether you have out of network outpatient mental health benefits, what your out of network deductible is and how much of it you have met, and what percentage of the fee is reimbursed once you get there.
One thing to keep in mind is that a superbill still requires a diagnosis, since your insurer needs one to process the claim. If keeping a diagnosis out of your record is part of what drew you to private pay in the first place, then paying directly without submitting a superbill is the option that accomplishes that.
The Math I Would Want You to Consider
At $150 a week, therapy is a real line item in a budget, and I am not going to talk around that.
What I would offer is a slightly different frame. Most of my clients are not with me indefinitely. The usual arc is a stretch of consistent weekly work while we are building something, then a move to every other week as things start to hold, and then wrapping up. So the question is less about whether you can afford this forever and more about whether you can afford a defined period of focused work that changes how you move through your life.
The other half of that math is what the current situation is already costing you, which is easy to overlook because it never arrives as a bill. The hours lost replaying conversations. The sleep you are not getting. The work you are doing at seventy percent because your attention is somewhere else. The people in your life who keep getting the leftover version of you. That is a real expense too.
If My Rate Is Not Realistic Right Now
If cost is what is standing in the way, I would much rather you find support somewhere than go without it. Open Path Collective connects clients with therapists offering significantly reduced rates. Community mental health centers throughout Duval County work on income based sliding scales. University training clinics offer low cost sessions with graduate clinicians who are closely supervised. Many employers include a set number of free sessions through an Employee Assistance Program, which is worth asking your HR department about. And if you are a student, your campus counseling center is very likely covered by fees you have already paid.
None of these are a lesser version of therapy. They are simply funded differently, and there are good clinicians working in all of them.
When You Are Ready
If the number works and this sounds like the kind of support you have been looking for, the next step is a free fifteen minute consultation. We will talk about what has been going on, I will tell you how I work, and together we will figure out whether it makes sense to keep going. There is no pressure and no commitment attached to that call.
Get in touch whenever you are ready and we will find a time.
Common Questions About Therapy Costs
How much does therapy cost in Florida?
Across the state, private pay sessions with a licensed clinical social worker or licensed mental health counselor usually run somewhere between $100 and $200. Doctoral level psychologists tend to start higher, often between $150 and $300, and couples work generally falls in that same upper range. Where a particular therapist lands within those numbers has a lot to do with their license, their training, their overhead, and where in the state they practice. South Florida runs higher than most of the state, while Jacksonville and North Florida tend to sit closer to the middle.
What do you charge for a session?
Individual sessions are $150 and couples sessions are $250, and sessions run about fifty minutes. Every new client starts with a free fifteen minute consultation so you can get a feel for how I work before you commit to anything.
Do you take insurance?
Yes. Sessions can be scheduled through Headway, which processes Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and Evernorth, UnitedHealthcare, Oscar Health, and Oxford. Headway will verify your benefits before your first session so you know your estimated cost upfront. If you are not sure whether your plan is included, they can check that for you before you book anything.
Why is your practice private pay first?
Because insurance requires a mental health diagnosis in order to pay a claim, and that diagnosis becomes part of your permanent medical record. It also gives your insurance company the ability to review your treatment and decide how many sessions are considered medically necessary. Paying privately keeps those decisions between the two of us. It also means we can work on things like boundaries, over-functioning, and people-pleasing, which matter enormously in someone’s life but do not always fit the categories an insurer will cover.
Can I use my out of network benefits?
Often, yes. You would pay my rate at the time of session and I would provide a superbill, which is an itemized receipt with the codes your insurer needs in order to reimburse you. How much comes back depends entirely on your plan, so it is worth calling the member services number on your card and asking what your out of network mental health benefits actually cover. One thing to keep in mind is that a superbill still requires a diagnosis, since your insurer needs one to process the claim.
What if I cannot afford $150 a session right now?
Then I would still rather you find support somewhere than wait. Open Path Collective offers reduced rate sessions, community mental health centers in Duval County work on income based sliding scales, and university training clinics offer low cost sessions with supervised graduate clinicians. Many employers also include several free sessions through an Employee Assistance Program, and students can usually use their campus counseling center at no additional cost. None of those are a lesser version of therapy. They are simply funded differently.