Fees/Terms

Health Insurance Patients

Assessment

An assessment session lasts 90 minutes and costs £150.

Treatment

Treatment sessions last 50 minutes and cost £135.

Payment is due at the end of each session by cash or cheque.

Marla Stromberg is a recognised provider by most health insurance companies including AXA PPP, Groupama, Aviva, Standard Life, WPA, Cigna, and PruHealth. Please phone us or e-mail us for more information, and to check whether we are a recognised provider with your particular insurance company.

If you are a BUPA member, please scroll down this page to find out why we are no longer recognised by BUPA.

Payment policy for insurance patients

If you would like to pay for your treatment via your insurance policy, you will need to bring payment with you on the day of treatment, and we will provide you with an invoice to send to your insurer. We regret that we do not invoice insurers directly. The insurance companies we are recognised by are happy for you to settle directly with them; you would just need to ensure that you have sufficient funds to cover your treatment each week.

Pre-assessment phone call

In order to assess your suitability for CBT, we will arrange a brief (5-10 minute) phone call with you (free of charge), at a time convenient to you, prior to the initial assessment, which will allow us to find out more about you, and the difficulties you are experiencing. If we think that a different type of therapy might be more beneficial to you, we will let you know. If we do think you are a candidate for CBT, we will invite you in for an assessment. Once the initial assessment is confirmed, we will e-mail you a copy of our terms and conditions as well as a client details form for you to complete and bring with you to your first appointment.

The assessment appointment is an opportunity for you to learn more about CBT and what the treatment will involve, and will allow the therapist to gain a better understanding of your difficulties. It is also an opportunity for you both to see whether you would like to work together.

When you agree to attend an initial assessment, you are under no obligation to attend for further sessions; similarly, the therapist is under no obligation to treat you if they decide either that CBT is not right for you, or that they may not be the best person to help you. If the therapist does decide that you would benefit more from a different form of therapy/treatment, they will discuss this with you, and where possible, steer you in the direction of alternative approaches to treatment.

BUPA

Unfortunately, we are no longer registered with BUPA. However, if you are a BUPA member, and are in a position to pay for your own treatment, then please do phone or e-mail us for an appointment.

The following information is being provided to you because, as members of BUPA, you are entitled to know why many experienced and accredited cognitive-behavioural therapists are no longer recognised providers by BUPA.

In October 2010 BUPA introduced a new “register” of therapists, which meant that the therapists who were already recognised providers with BUPA, and who had been providing treatment for their members over the last few years, had to re-apply in order to be considered eligible for the new register, to continue providing treatment to BUPA members.

There were several conditions therapists were asked to agree to in order to be accepted onto the register. One condition was to agree to a ”cap” on the fee that we charge. This fee was set at £75 for cognitive-behavioural therapists (CBT), which, for some CBT therapists would have meant a 40-50% reduction in their fee. Most London-based CBT therapists believe this is an unrealistically low fee as it simply does not cover our costs. The £75 cap applies regardless of how experienced the therapist is, and regardless of where their practice is located. Consequently, many experienced accredited cognitive-behavioural therapists have been forced out of this scheme due to the financial implications for us.

BUPA have also taken the decision not to allow their members to ”top up” by paying any discrepancy between the therapist’s fee and £75; even if you were willing to top up the difference, you would not be able to. This was a condition for joining the register-that we would agree to not ask patients to top up our fee. This is in direct contrast to other insurance companies who do let their members top up if the therapist’s fee is higher than what the insurer will cover for treatment.

What does this mean for BUPA members?

This means that there may be fewer experienced and accredited cognitive-behavioural therapists to choose from, because many therapists have been forced out of the new scheme simply because they are unable to lower their fees to meet BUPA’s criteria for eligibility onto the new register. This also means that in order to have your treatment covered by BUPA, you may need to travel further afield to see an experienced and accredited cognitive-behavioural therapist.

What has this meant for CBT Canary Wharf?

That we have had to turn BUPA members away, unless they are prepared to fund their own treatment.

When our CBT practice was up in One Canada Square, it was with the sole intention of being conveniently situated for those of you who work in Canary Wharf, who value not having to travel far for therapy during your work day. Whilst we have tried to explain to BUPA that £135/session is a reasonable fee for the Canary Wharf area, they have been unwilling to negotiate the fee. In the time that we have been based in Canary Wharf, our BUPA patients, many of whom have work-related insurance policies, have valued having us on their doorstep-it has meant that therapy does not have to take you away from your work day any longer than necessary. However, given the costs that are associated with being based in One Canada Square, we regret that we had no choice but to opt out of this register.

If you would like to find a BUPA recognised cognitive-behavioural therapist, please visit BUPA’s website http://www.bupa.co.uk/bupaukcmshome/facilitiesfinder

Their search facility currently does not allow you to search by “speciality”, i.e., CBT. You can, however search by postcode, though this will bring up all of the various types of therapists-however, if it is a CBT therapist you are after, you will need to specifically ask the therapist whether they are a cognitive-behavioural therapist and whether they are accredited members of the BABCP.

You can find a list of accredited CBT therapists on the BABCP CBT Register (click on the link below); this register will also tell you when the therapist/practitioner received their accreditation:
http://www.cbtregisteruk.com/Default.aspx

If you are unable to find an accredited CBT therapist conveniently situated to you, I encourage you to contact BUPA and explain that you haven’t been able to find a therapist conveniently located to you. With your feedback, they may well consider modifying their criteria in future, so that those of us who have had to opt out, might be able to reconsider in future which will provide you with a greater choice of accredited CBT therapists from which to choose.

Cancellation Policy

We require 48 hours notice if you need to cancel an appointment. You will be charged for any missed appointments or cancellations without appropriate notice.