About Neuropsychologically-Based Psychotherapy and Consultations

All neuropsychologically-based psychotherapy and consultations must be pre-scheduled with Dr. Griffith by telephoning her at (315) 210-6475. All psychotherapy and consultation requests must also be accompanied by a primary care provider’s (MD, RPA, NP) referral, faxed to Dr. Griffith at her phone/fax number 315-210-6475. All initial neuropsychologically-based psychotherapy and consultations must be done in person, at Dr. Griffith’s Ogdensburg, N.Y. office, which has a handicapped ramp exterior access, but stairs up to her second floor office. Wheelchair clients may be able to be seen in a first floor conference room, but extra time is needed to schedule this. Dr. Griffith will consider seeing clients from Canada, given that her office is directly at the U.S.-Canadian border in Ogdensburg, N.Y., but potential clients must be able to cross the border legally to see her in New York State and pay her in U.S. dollars. Dr. Griffith does not conduct any psychotherapy or consultations on line or by video conferencing methods such as Skype.

Adults must book their own psychotherapy/consultation times themselves; another adult cannot schedule a psychotherapy/consultation session for them. They are responsible for paying insurance co-pays at the time of their psychotherapy/consultation session, as required by law or, if they are private pay clients, they are responsible for paying for each hour of psychotherapy/consultation at each scheduled session. Appointments for psychotherapy/consultation for minor children or adults with legal guardians must be made by their parents or legal guardians, one of whom must also attend all scheduled psychotherapy/consultation sessions. In the case of minor age (under 18 years of age) children of divorce, the parent whose insurance covers the child, or the parent who is paying privately for psychotherapy/consultation sessions, must accompany the child. In the case of majority age children (those 18 years and older) who intend to use parental insurance to cover the cost of their psychotherapy/consultation session, the child must sign a release to allow Dr. Griffith and her practice management service to be able to contact their parent(s) and bill their parental insurance to cover the costs of their psychotherapy/consultation. The majority age child, then, is responsible for bringing any co-pays required by insurances to each scheduled psychotherapy/consultation session, as required by law. In the case of majority age children who intend to have their parent(s) pay privately for their psychotherapy/consultation, the child must sign a release to allow Dr. Griffith to be able to contact their parent(s) and bill them for the child’s psychotherapy/consultation costs. In these cases, the majority age child will then be responsible for paying for each hour of assessment scheduled, per session, by cash or parent signed check. In the case of guardianships, the guardian must bring legal guardianship papers to the initial psychotherapy/consultation session for them to be held and, if insurance is to cover the cost of psychotherapy/consultation, the guardian must sign a release to allow Dr. Griffith and her practice management service to bill for psychotherapy/consultation services, and must pay all required co-pays at the time of sessions, as required by law. Clients are advised that, for insurance coverage, a primary care provider’s or medical specialist’s referral is required by Dr. Griffith prior to her being able to see a client, as most insurances she participates with require physician approval/authorization in order for her to proceed with psychotherapy or consultation.

Neuropsychologically-based psychotherapy and consultation with Dr. Griffith are available for individual clients, schools, and agencies, provided appropriate releases are sent to Dr. Griffith, prior to appointments being scheduled, to allow for the communication of information between Dr. Griffith and other schools or agencies involved. If a school or agency is requesting neuropsychologically-based consultation, Dr. Griffith will require the school or agency involved to send her a letter indicating their intent to pay for the consultation services they are requesting prior to her being able to schedule a consultation appointment. If a school or agency wishes to have their consultation conducted on site, rather than at Dr. Griffith’s office, she will assess an additional hourly fee, based on her transportation time and costs to and from the off-site location. Dr. Griffith does not conduct consultations in individual’s or family’s homes. Dr. Griffith also only provides psychotherapy to individuals and families, not to couples, organizations, or schools, and does this on a time-limited, non-crisis basis, with usually no more than a maximum of ten therapy sessions being scheduled at a time. Prospective clients should note that, as a psychologist, Dr. Griffith does not prescribe medications, as psychologists cannot legally prescribe medications in N.Y. State.

Following Dr. Griffith’s accepting a phone call requesting neuropsychologically-based psychotherapy or consultation, and a faxed PCP referral, she will send out a face sheet, information releases, and a billing sheet to be completed by the individual(s) or agency(ies) requesting the therapy or consultation, to allow her to provide the requested clinical services. If insurance is to be used to pay for the psychotherapy/consultation, she will also send out a release of information to allow her practice management service to bill the client’s insurance. Once Dr. Griffith receives a client’s primary care provider or medical specialist referral, her initial information and releases back, and her billing service release, she and her practice management service will determine whether psychotherapy/consultation can be covered by insurance, or will need to be paid for by a client or agency privately, on a fee for service basis. She will accept, as payment in full, the insurance psychotherapy/consultation reimbursement rates for insurance plans she is a provider with. For clients whose insurance is not one she participates with, she will consider providing services at her standard rate of $150.00 per hour, which is also her hourly rate for those clients paying out of pocket. Some fee adjustments may be possible for individuals with limited incomes, starting at $50 per hour. In the case of “out of network” clients, these clients, as well as those who pay out of pocket, must pay for services themselves at the time of their psychotherapy/consultation session. Out of network clients must then be directly reimbursed themselves for services after the fact, with payments sent directly to them, not Dr. Griffith, as required by law. For consultation to a school or agency, Dr. Griffith requires that a letter stating the district’s or agency’s intent to pay be received by her with her consultation packet before a consultation is scheduled. She does accept school/agency payment vouchers as payment for consultations.

Once Dr. Griffith has determined whether a requested service will be covered by insurance (including the number of sessions covered, required co-pays, any deductibles and co-insurance payments needed, and the time frame sessions can be offered in), or by a client out of pocket, she will review her psychotherapy or consultation initial information received, in advance of scheduling a session. Psychotherapy and consultation sessions will only be scheduled after Dr. Griffith receives her initial information packet back. This is to ensure that Dr. Griffith will have the necessary expertise and time to address a client’s or school’s/agency’s concerns. Dr. Griffith must receive her initial packet at least two days prior to her scheduling a psychotherapy/consultation session, to ensure optimum use of the minimum one hour time allotted per initial session. Therefore, psychotherapy and consultations cannot be done on an “emergency” basis. Prospective clients are advised to seek hospital emergency room care for psychiatric emergencies and behaviors which imminently place their health, or the health of others, at risk. Payment (and any required insurance co-payments) for psychotherapy/consultation is due at the start of each session. Dr. Griffith’s general psychotherapy/consultation private pay rate is $150 U.S. dollars per hour (or the rate payable by a client’s insurance plan), and is payable by cash or check for individuals and families, and by school/agency voucher for organizations. Cash or check payments must be in the exact amount owed, as Dr. Griffith does not have change at her office. Insurance copayments and co-insurance payments for individuals with deductibles is also payable by cash (exact amount) or by check for individuals and families.

The number of hours scheduled for psychotherapy/consultation varies based on the number of questions to be addressed and the complexity of a client’s situation, but a minimum of one hour’s time is required to be scheduled for all initial psychotherapy/consultation sessions provided. For psychotherapy/consultation to be held, the client or school/agency seeking consultation/therapy must be present for the entire session hour, and the psychotherapy/consultation will be cancelled if the client cannot attend for the full time. Children and adults with legal guardians will be seen with their parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and psychotherapy/consultations are designed for only one client to be seen per scheduled session. Dr. Griffith has a “no waiting” policy, due to her limited waiting area space, so no other individuals, including siblings and family members other than parents/guardians, can be present at a client’s psychotherapy/consultation session. Schools/agencies must indicate who will be attending their scheduled consultation sessions, to ensure Dr. Griffith has adequate space available at the time of their appointment.

Neuropsychologically-Based Psychotherapy and Consultations are offered for:

- Concerns about Management of Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, OCD, Schizophrenia, PTSD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder (all ages)

- Concerns about the Effects/Side Effects of Medications on Behaviors (all ages, specially trained to consult on preschoolers and school age children)

- Concerns about ABA programming, Functional Analyses of Behavior, Generalization of Skills from home to school/work for Autism Spectrum individuals and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders (all ages)

- Concerns about Management of ADD/ADHD or Learning Disabilities behaviors at home/school/work (all ages)

- Concerns about Parent Management of Oppositional Behaviors at home/school (preschoolers, school age children, adolescents)

- Concerns about Stress Management and Coping (all ages, including those with diagnosed mental illnesses)

- Concerns about Memory Loss and Senior Care Challenges and what Types of Home-Based or Assisted Living Placements would best meet a senior’s needs (seniors and their caregivers)

Dr. Griffith’s neuropsychologically-based psychotherapy and consultations are offered on an insurance payment basis or available on a fee for service basis. She accepts only some insurance, but does not accept Medicaid, unless it is a PPO or HMO managed care component of insurance plans she accepts. She is officially “opted out” of Medicare, but does offer “senior rates” to individuals 65 years of age and older, starting at $35.00 per hour session up to $100.00 per hour session, based on income. However, individuals who have Medicare can only see Dr. Griffith if they agreed to not bill Medicare or any other supplemental or Medigap insurance plans for the costs of their care, and pay her exclusively out of pocket. Dr. Griffith will consider signing insurance forms to provide diagnostic/consultative information for client reimbursement, but she must be paid directly by clients, and reimbursement must then go to clients themselves. Preschoolers, school age children, adolescent minors, and adults under the guardianship of another, must be accompanied to all appointments by their parents or legal guardians, with appropriate releases signed to communicate information to other professionals, should consultation results need to be communicated to a school or institution.

Psychotherapy/consultations can be scheduled Mondays through Saturdays, and a limited number of evening hours are available for scheduling. It should be noted that Dr. Griffith does not conduct consultations as a substitute for needed, lengthier clinical psychotherapy, or psychological and/or neuropsychological assessments, but she will offer consultation on whether such psychotherapy/assessments are needed. She does not perform forensic, court-involved, court “ordered” or child protective services psychotherapy/consultations. She also does not conduct child custody, visitation, or placement consultations, consultations about sexual offenders, civil competency consultations, civil commitment consultations, and workmen’s compensation psychotherapy or consultations. Her focus is on providing only clinical psychological and neuropsychological services, so Department of Social Services and other “court mandated” referrals cannot be accepted by her legally and ethically, given her profession’s standards of practice.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, flexibility in office policies and procedures may be needed. See Dr. Griffith’s section on COVID-19 policies and procedures on the home page of this website.