Anxiety Archives - Louisville Health and Healing

Navigating Therapy Costs: Using Insurance vs. Private Pay

March 19, 2024/in Addiction Treatment, Adolescence, Anxiety, child therapy, Creativity, depression/by Louisville Health and Healing

Seeking therapy is a significant step toward prioritizing your mental health and well-being. However, the financial aspect of therapy can be a concern for many individuals. Fortunately, there are options available to help offset the cost of therapy, including using insurance or paying out of pocket (private pay). In this blog post, we’ll explore how to use insurance for therapy, compare the benefits of using insurance versus private pay, and offer insights to help you make an informed decision.

Using Insurance for Therapy:

Check Your Coverage:
Before scheduling a therapy session, it’s essential to review your insurance policy to understand what mental health services are covered. Contact your insurance provider or check their website to find out about your mental health benefits, including copayments, deductibles, and coverage limits.

Find an In-Network Provider:
Insurance companies typically have a network of providers with whom they have negotiated rates. To maximize your benefits and minimize out-of-pocket costs, look for therapists who are in-network with your insurance plan. You can usually find a list of in-network providers on your insurance company’s website or by calling their customer service hotline.

Obtain Prior Authorization if Necessary:
Some insurance plans require prior authorization for mental health services. This means you’ll need approval from your insurance company before starting therapy. Your therapist can help you navigate the authorization process and provide any necessary documentation to facilitate approval.

Understand Your Financial Responsibility:
Even if you have insurance coverage for therapy, you may still be responsible for certain costs, such as copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles. Be sure to clarify your financial responsibility with your therapist and insurance provider to avoid unexpected expenses.

Benefits of Using Insurance for Therapy:

Cost Savings:
One of the primary benefits of using insurance for therapy is cost savings. Insurance coverage can significantly reduce the out-of-pocket expenses associated with therapy, making it more affordable and accessible for many individuals.

Access to a Wide Network of Providers:
Insurance plans often have a network of providers, giving you access to a diverse range of therapists with different specialties and expertise. This can increase your chances of finding a therapist who meets your specific needs and preferences.

Financial Protection:
Insurance provides a layer of financial protection in case of unexpected or catastrophic events. If you experience a sudden illness or crisis that requires intensive therapy or hospitalization, insurance can help cover the costs and alleviate the financial burden on you and your family.

Private Pay for Therapy:

No Insurance Restrictions:
When paying out of pocket for therapy, you have the freedom to choose any therapist you want, regardless of whether they are in-network with your insurance plan. This can be advantageous if you prefer to work with a therapist who specializes in a particular approach or has specific qualifications.

Greater Privacy and Confidentiality:
Private pay clients often enjoy greater privacy and confidentiality compared to those using insurance. Because insurance companies require documentation and may request information about your treatment, paying privately can help you maintain greater control over your personal information.

Flexibility in Treatment Options:
Private pay therapy offers flexibility in treatment options, such as the frequency and duration of sessions, as well as the types of therapy offered. You and your therapist can collaboratively decide on the most effective treatment plan without being constrained by insurance regulations or limitations.

Choosing between using insurance and private pay for therapy depends on your individual circumstances, preferences, and financial considerations. While insurance can provide cost savings and access to a wide network of providers, private pay offers greater flexibility, privacy, and control over your treatment. Ultimately, the most important factor is finding a therapist who is a good fit for your needs and who can help you achieve your therapy goals, whether you choose to use insurance or pay privately. By weighing the benefits and considerations of each option, you can make an informed decision that supports your journey toward mental health and well-being.

We accept all insurances and have private pay and sliding scale options.

Let’s Talk Codependency

October 19, 2022/0 Comments/in Addiction Treatment, Anxiety, depression, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Recovery, Relationship Advice/by Louisville Health and Healing

Codependency is a term that refers to a type of imbalanced relationship, specifically when one or more people in a relationship over-rely on each other’s thoughts and feelings to define their own thoughts and feelings.

To understand why codependency occurs, we have to first start by looking at self-regulation. Self-regulation skills are various strategies we have learned to understand and manage our behaviors and reactions to feelings and things happening around us – essentially, how you emotionally regulate your own nervous system.

When we struggle to self-regulate, understandably, our body and mind seeks out something to help manage our emotions. Some people can become overly reliant on others in their efforts to manage their emotions, leading to codependency in their relationships.

So, how can we help each other in a healthy way, in times of distress?

Co-regulation is when a person is able to emotionally self-regulate enough to be able to help another person emotionally regulate – how your nervous system can affect another person’s nervous system. This is often characterized by warm and responsive interactions that provide support to another person.

Co-regulation is highly effective and can look many different ways, but it requires that each person involved knows how to self-regulate. Otherwise, the partnership is imbalanced. The good news is that self-regulation skills can continually be learned and bettered!

If you notice that you often over-rely on others and you would like to improve your self-regulation skills, speak to your therapist! That is a space where your therapist can help you learn new skills and explore what works best for you or what might be inhibiting your ability to use certain self-regulation skills. We are here to support you!

How Your Nervous System Impacts Your Experiences

October 1, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, depression, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health/by Louisville Health and Healing

Your nervous system is constantly seeking to assess and understand the world around you. It prioritizes keeping you protected.

According to Polyvagal Theory, the nervous system has three pathways – or three states – that each serve different functions to protect us:
1. The Ventral Vagal
2. The Sympathetic
3. The Dorsal Vagal

We move between these three nervous system states throughout our day-to-day life, but getting stuck in any one state can hinder us and result in difficulties. Finding yourself stuck in the sympathetic or dorsal vagal states (the defensive states) can leave us feeling especially disconnected from our goals and the things we enjoy in life.

Let’s take a look at each state and what they do:

The Ventral Vagal State is also known as the Social Engagement system. In this state, we are able to engage socially and coregulate with one another. We are able to operate out of this state when we feel safe, stable, and secure. When we are in this state, we read others’ facial expressions more positively, we hear other human voices better, and we can react – switching between action and calm – more quickly, allowing us to function from a place of flexibility and even creativity!
● When we are in our ventral vagal state, we often feel grounded, curious, calm, connected, and safe.

The Sympathetic State kicks on when the body starts to feel unsafe. This state is a defensive state that mobilizes the body in response to a perceived threat. This mobilization might look like the fight-or-flight response, or an attack/cry-for-help response. Once in this state, it can take our bodies 10-20 minutes to return to balance or our pre-sympathetic state.
● When we are in this state (especially if we find ourselves stuck in this state), we might feel fear, panic, irritation, sensitivity, anger, or rage.

The Dorsal Vagal State is also a defensive state, but unlike the sympathetic state, it seeks to protect the body from a threat through immobilization. This might seem counter-productive. Why stop moving when there’s a threat? This state is utilized to conserve energy and is often the body’s last resort when extreme danger is perceived. This response comes from an old part of the human brain – the dorsal vagus is shared by most animals. We see this state in action when animals “feign death” when attacked or pursued by predators.
● When in this state, we often feel numb, frozen, lethargic, ashamed, and/or dissociative.

It’s important to note that when a person carries a history of trauma, their body has likely learned to operate from its defensive systems, rather than its social engagement system as a means of protecting itself and surviving.

This means someone who has experienced trauma might struggle to connect with others in the ways they would like, might struggle to be curious, engaged, grounded, or calm. They might find themselves hypervigilant and always expecting a threat. Or quickly moving into a complete shut-down, or extreme anic or rage when triggered.

Learning to recognize these different states and responses in yourself and your loved ones can be helpful and healing. Your therapist can help you as you work on identifying what these states look like in your life, when they are triggered, and what strategies are helpful to calm and ground you.

Make use of a classic body hack – your breathing! Through your breath, you can change the activation of your nervous system. Slow deep breathing communicates to our brain that we are safe, which in turn, tells our nervous system to begin to switch to our ventral vagal state.

Try box breathing! Imagine a square…

Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, breathe out for 4 counts, and hold for 4 counts. Then repeat as needed.

Recovering from Perfectionism

September 2, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, Mental Health/by Louisville Health and Healing

Let’s talk about perfectionism. Perfectionism is the refusal to accept any standard short of perfection. It’s a term many of us are familiar with – I know I am. To some of us, perfectionism might feel like a positive thing. We often associate it with traits such as being high-achieving, hard-working, detail-oriented, and having high goals or expectations.

That might all seem very positive and desirable, but this understanding of perfectionism does not recognize the lack of flexibility that comes with being perfectionistic. Rigidity is notoriously related to unhealthy and/or maladaptive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, because being rigid makes it hard to adapt and react in healthy ways.

It’s important to acknowledge that the true core of perfectionism is not positive, it is full of fear, shame, and insecurity.

There is an important difference between feeling like you have to “be the best” and wanting to “try your best”. When we hold ourselves to the rigid, unrealistic, and frankly unkind belief that we must be the best, we don’t make space for our own vulnerability – we reject the rather human, imperfect parts of ourselves.

Having imperfections – spaces for growth, aspects of uniqueness, sources of wisdom – is a universal part of being a person.

We tolerate and often love these parts of many of the people in our lives. So, why is that understanding and acceptance not shared inwardly, with ourselves? This lack of acceptance of ourselves can result in anxiety, depression, burn-out, and fatigue. As we grow accustomed to only accepting the “perfect” parts of ourselves, we throw away the crucial, vulnerable parts of the self.

Perfectionism redefines how we interact with ourselves and how we expect others to value us – “I am only worthy of love if I am perfect”.

Many people with unprocessed trauma struggle with perfectionism. You might have learned that any “imperfection” was unsafe in your home or relationship. You might have only been given attention or love when you “succeeded”. You might have learned to be “emotionally perfect” – to exhibit only “perfect” okay-ness, because caregivers could not handle your genuine emotions.

There can be a variety of reasons we develop perfectionistic thoughts and behaviors, many of which are complicated and tied to core beliefs about ourselves and our value. As you begin to challenge and change your perfectionism, remember to be patient and gently loving with yourself. Healing takes time, but you can do it. And we are here to support you. Never hesitate to reach out and talk to your therapist about this – they will help you make a plan!

The BIG tasks in healing your perfectionism:
● Accepting your vulnerable parts.
● Accepting that you ARE good enough, as is.
● Understanding that a perfection expectation is based in shaming and is a rejection of the self – this is the opposite of love and healing.

What small steps could you take to start this process of self-acceptance and growth?

Traveling Life’s Journey

August 2, 2022/0 Comments/in Addiction Treatment, Anxiety, depression, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Relationship Advice, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

We are excited to host a weekend long retreat that targets trauma. Our retreat, Traveling Life’s Journey – Overcoming Traumatic Experiences – From Surviving to Thriving, is a 48 hour educational and experiential retreat led by licensed and certified clinicians and healers. Many of us have experienced traumatic events to varying degrees and traditional approaches can hinder progress. We have curated a culmination of rapid and effective processes to target trauma to get relief.

After experiencing one or more traumatic events, it is normal to feel a wide range of emotions and have trouble processing those feelings. Traumatized individuals can isolate and withdraw, experience emotional outbursts disproportionate to the situation, and have flashbacks of their traumatic experience(s). In addition to the psychological impact, physical symptoms are also common. These include sleep problems like insomnia and nightmares, digestive issues, chronic headaches, and a state of hyperarousal, or being unable to relax, as well as many others. Regardless of the cause, trauma can be treated most effectively through a holistic approach to recovery.

The retreat will consist of two overnight stays at Valaterra Retreat Center in Prospect, Kentucky. All food and lodging are covered through payment for retreat. Participants will experience education about trauma and learn skills to regulate emotions and promote internal safety while creating a Target Sequence Plan. Each participant will can experience 3-5 hours of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) with a trained clinician. Art Therapy, Meditation, breathwork, trauma-informed yoga, and nature walks will also be incorporated throughout the retreat. Participants will have time to socialize with others and time to reflect and journal about their experience.

Before the retreat, participants will have a 45-minute phone call or in-person consultation with a licensed clinician. During this call, we will discuss limitations, risk factors and potential goals to be achieved. Additionally, after the retreat, participants will have a 1-hour group follow up to discuss life after the retreat. If participants are in therapy, have concerned family members, or have supportive employers, then those people can be notified as support with appropriate consents.
We are excited to host this retreat to the greater community. If you are interested please reach out to Jenifer Jimison, jenifer@louisvillehealthandhealing.com.

Being Consciously Grateful

May 10, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, Creativity, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Recovery, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

None of us like to think of ourselves as an ungrateful person. You probably often feel
thankfulness and appreciation for rain after many hot summer days, for help from your
friend when you needed a ride, or even towards yourself and the skills or insight you
used in a specific situation. Feeling thankfulness or gratitude indicates that we
acknowledge the positive impact of something or someone – but the important step we
often forget is actually taking a conscious moment to acknowledge and express that
gratitude.

Many of us feel thankfulness, but let that feeling pass quickly without doing much of
anything with it. To those in our life, and even to our own subconscious self, this can
begin to convey that we do not acknowledge or appreciate the things that have been
done to help us. The good news is it’s an easy fix! This easy fix has two parts:

1. Take an internal moment to pause and truly recognize the appreciation or
thankfulness you are feeling.
2. Take a moment to actively express that thankfulness.

Taking an internal moment to recognize your feelings of gratitude is an exercise in
mindfulness. You may have worked previously on increasing your awareness of internal
negative thoughts or feelings you have, to help change your behaviors or challenge
your negative self-talk – but the awareness can’t stop there. It’s just as important to
acknowledge the positive thoughts and feelings we have too!

Taking a moment to actively express your thankfulness may look different depending on
who you feel grateful towards or what you are grateful for – but that’s a beautiful space
to flex your creativity and love!

Maybe you feel grateful towards yourself for staying patient and calm in a situation you
would have previously blown-up during. You could say to yourself, “I’m really proud of
myself for acting this way and grateful that I chose to be patient in this situation”. Taking
a moment to note our self-gratitude is easy to forget, but also easy to start doing. Doing
so can help build positive self-talk and encourage our own strengths. Doing something
similar out loud for those in your life that you feel grateful towards can similarly build
them up. Our loved ones need to hear we are thankful for their specific strengths,
actions, and ideas, too!

Some people find it uncomfortable to express their feelings out loud to others, especially
gracious and loving feelings. But remember – it’s not uncommon that the things that are
hardest for us to do, show us the spaces we have for growth in our life. It’s also
important to remind yourself that something uncomfortable may only be uncomfortable
because it is unfamiliar – practice makes us comfortable!

Try making a goal for yourself this week to actively and specifically express your
gratitude at least one time a day! Even if it’s about something small. You may find that it
not only makes those in your life feel more valued and genuinely seen, but that you may
also start to see the love and growth in your life more clearly – and who wouldn’t want
that.

What is EMDR Therapy?

May 3, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, depression, Mental Health, Recovery/by Louisville Health and Healing

You may have heard of the term ‘EMDR’, but may not really know what it is or even if
you have the letters in the correct order. That’s okay! It’s a rather new but remarkably
helpful therapeutic tool.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. It is a
rather new, innovative approach that therapists can use to help clients process trauma
or distressing experiences, especially distressing beliefs or memories that are buried
deep but that continue to impact the client’s mental health. Even though it is a newer
approach, EMDR is extensively researched, and is shown to be effective in
reprocessing trauma and distressing experiences. This makes it a powerful tool in a
therapist’s toolbelt!

Therapists that are trained and certified in EMDR can use it with children and adults of
all ages. EMDR can be helpful to address a variety of concerns that individuals may be
experiencing, such as: depression, anxiety disorders, chronic illnesses or conditions,
eating disorders, grief, personality disorders, PTSD or other trauma or stress disorders,
sexual assault, substance abuse or addiction, and violence and abuse. And more!
Maybe you have experienced traditional talk therapy before and find yourself
wondering, “Well, how is this different from traditional therapy and what does it even
do?”.

As an approach in therapy, EMDR does not seek to change the negative thoughts or
feelings that result from a trauma or distressing life event, but works to allow the brain to
reprocess the traumatic event itself. This allows the brain’s natural healing process to
resume again.

Our brain naturally will manage and respond to a traumatic event – the ways we adapt
and continue to ‘manage’ that distress/trauma may look different for every person, but
often it can play a role in the development of negative thoughts, feelings, and/or
behaviors in our life. Though our brain and body will naturally respond to trauma, our
brain does not always get an opportunity to truly process the trauma. EMDR helps our
brain reprocess these traumatic or distressing events, to allow for healing to take place
where it may not have been able to happen previously.

If you are interested in EMDR, make sure to seek out a therapist that is trained and
certified in EMDR. You should not go to a clinician that has not received proper training
– it could end up being more harmful than helpful to you. The good news is that here, at
Louisville Health & Healing, we have multiple therapists that are trained and certified to practice
EMDR with you! Give us a call or ask your therapist to learn more!

What is art therapy?

April 19, 2022/0 Comments/in Addiction Treatment, Adolescence, Anxiety, art therapy, depression, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Psychedelic Support, Recovery, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

Art therapy is a true gift to the service of healing and does not require any artistic skill whatsoever; art therapy focuses on the process, not the product. The quality of a client’s art is not the focus, as the experiences and insight gained through the exercise is what informs progress.

Art therapy has been proven to be an extremely effective modality for individuals of all ages, with varying presenting issues. Some issues that art therapy works to treat include, but are not limited to, those actively processing trauma, behavioral/emotional issues, anger/aggression, addiction, grief/loss, depression, anxiety, and ADHD. A major benefit to this expressive modality is that it will often elicit responses that have been challenging to obtain independently or through other therapeutic techniques. An art therapy session can look many different ways. Whether it be painting, wood-working, drawing, sculpting, or any other media used, the creative process offers new perspectives and catharsis that can be paramount to an individual’s treatment.

We have a licensed art therapist that works with children, teens and adults. If your tired of traditional talk therapy, then give art therapy a try! Reach out today. 502.208.9927; alyssa@louisvillehealthandhealing.com .

The Very Big Question of “Who am I and who do I want to be?”

April 3, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, Creativity, depression, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Spirituality/by Louisville Health and Healing

By calling attention to this question, by no means do I want to encourage any feelings of “I’m not
good enough”. The fact that any of us has space to grow is not a bad thing in and of itself. If
anything, identifying space for change can be a great thing. Being aware of who you are, how
you act, and how you want to change can be helpful in giving new thoughtfulness and purpose
to your days. Awareness is key to change and change can be good, but change can also be
slow and tiring at times – and that’s okay.

I have been thinking a lot about this idea of how my self, my self perception, and who I want
to be align or maybe don’t align – trying to find room for growth and space to understand myself
better. I recently saw a post on social media where someone said “Be the person you needed
when you were younger”. Wow – what an interesting thing to consider.

Thinking about what our child self or younger self needed from others but didn’t receive, can be
a difficult or even painful thing to recall and think about. But maybe it’s something you’ve never
really thought about in a concrete way before or allowed yourself to consider. I know I hadn’t.
Thinking about this, I have found that the answer has not come to me easily and may take time
for me to truly understand – but I feel like it’s worth it. My child self / younger self deserves that
consideration. And yours does too!

So what about you? What did younger you need? What kind of person would have made a
difference for them? Maybe start by listing words, or thinking about feelings that come up for
you. Once you start to have an image of this “person”, start to consider what needs to change
for you to reflect that “person” better in your life. Maybe the change necessary requires some
healing on your part, first. Maybe it requires some playfulness that you feel out of touch with.
Maybe it requires a community or some structure. Whatever space for change and growth you
see, know that making that change happen is a process and give yourself compassion. Being
patient and encouraging with ourselves can be hard. But we have the ability to grow within us!
All of these things may be easier to consider and work on with some extra support.

Whether that’s from family, friends, a bigger community – or your therapist! Make sure to let your therapist know what your goals are – we are here to support you through your healing and growth!

“I Want To Be More Creative, But I’m Just Not…”

February 26, 2022/0 Comments/in Anxiety, art therapy, Creativity, Louisville Health and Healing News, Mental Health, Spirituality, Uncategorized/by Louisville Health and Healing

Feeling intimidated by the idea of trying to be “creative” can be hard for many people, especially adults. As we get older, it can become harder for some of us to get in touch with that joyful, curious, less judgemental part of ourselves – our inner, free child. To some, this inner child may be seen as ‘not appropriate’, or for others it may be perceived as a long-gone fond memory that “I’ll just never be able to go back to”. This inner child is our first source of creativity.

Culturally, we value efficiency, production, and profit, which shapes the way we engage with self-care, fun, and with this idea of creativity or art. It can be hard to take the time to do these things or value them without some ‘perfect’ and concrete ‘end-product’. We deny ourselves the opportunity for fun or growth, when we avoid doing something purely on the grounds of thinking that it’s only worth doing if it ends up being ‘perfect’ or ‘good enough’.

How many times have you said or heard someone say, “Oh, I can’t make art, I’m just not good at it”. But, I ask, good at what exactly? Creativity can be so many things – kids know that so well! Our child self was so good at just scribbling lines for the joy of the movement. We once loved the feeling of squeezing playdough and making strange blob-forms out of the colors, with no expectations or worries about the end result. Viewing art-making as having to look a certain way creates a divide between us and the very natural part of our human self that wants to make, be curious, and explore! The making-of-things, or art-making, is one of the oldest human activities and defining human traits that we all share. We are separated from many other animals for our ability to make tools – to create and be creative!

You do not need to make things for others, you can make things for yourself, just because it feels good to do so. So, let yourself make strange things! Or ugly things! Or boring things! Or beautiful, lovely things! I find it helpful to focus on the joy of the process, and then when you are eventually faced with your product, try to look at it with curiosity instead of judgment. Be curious about yourself and be patient with yourself. Getting comfortable with making things can be a process, but you can do it!

Here’s an art directive that may be helpful to start with:

Go to the store and buy a notebook (or make one), ideally one that you like to look at. Cheap ones are okay, but finding one that you really like helps instill worth and sincerity in what you put into it.
Warm-up to your relationship with your notebook by collecting things you like to look at. Experiment! Tape in fabric scraps, leaves, cut outs from the newspaper or magazines. Maybe step on a page and leave a boot print. Dribble some coffee on a page and see what shapes it makes.
Find what you enjoy and play! After this experimentation, you may have found something you liked doing or seeing. Make more of it! Maybe you liked the shapes you saw in your coffee dribbles and want to make more – drawing faces and places into them, like staring up at clouds. Perhaps you liked the repetitiveness of cutting out images from magazines and finding interesting ways to tape them onto a page together – making collages!
You can always take this a step farther and start to fill the pages of your sketchbook day by day – almost like a journal to reflect on what’s happened or what’s been felt that day. I find this to be calming and grounding. Your visual journal can even be a tool to help notice things about yourself over time. Following up with your therapist can be helpful!

I hope you’re able to find some courage and start experimenting with your art-making! If you find art-making and creating to be interesting or fun you may even want to look into expressive therapies in the future – specifically Art Therapy!