More on my T billing situation

I post quite some time back. My T always bills for 45-50 sessions, for almost 2 years now. Last month a got a bill and one session was billed at 60 min and was $75 dollars more. I finally got an explanation from T and she says any session that goes over 50 min is billed as 60 min.
The part that really bothers me I can't see the clock!!! It is behind me. t keeps time. What am I now suppose to do keep my cell phone next to me and constantly check the time. It's not like I was overly upset and I needed more time that session. If that was the issue I wouldn't mind.
I see T today, had nightmares all night last night I am tired and I really don't want this to be the focus of our session.
Maggyjo

It can be difficult to brings things like that up in therapy, but I think it's important to try. Otherwise, it hangs there in the middle of your relationship.

Honestly, that is ridiculous and completely unacceptable. It is your Ts responsibility to keep time. And if it was just a normal session like you say, there was no way you caused the overrun at the end.

I would bring it up again. I would even verge on refusing to pay it.

I agree with Fix, it is her responsibility to keep time and frankly billing you more money for going over a bit seems counter productive to any relationship you 2 may have. I'd bring it up. I mean do you ever dock her if she starts late? I find the whole thing very pay phone-ish and non human. "Please deposit 25 cents to continue this call "

I completely agree with Fix and Lola. I have not heard of a T doing this before. I've never had to pay more for running over...only a previously-agreed upon double session. It is the Ts job to keep time. Also, $75 for 10 minutes...that is $7.50 a minute. I know for me it would be very hard to discuss this, but I feel like you must. From my limited knowledge, this does not seem to be the "industry standard" at all!

So sorry about that...good luck!

I would tell her that she must have confused me with the insurance company. And to refresh my memory on when and how exactly I approved a longer session and the charge? And then I would probably quit, unless she super super apologized for being an oaf, or said her husband did the billing and made a mistake or something. Unless you're made of money, this is something a client is very vulnerable about. If she says her computer was out of control or something, okay, but she needs to acknowledge it, I think.

That's just ridiculous.
A- she is the one keeping time (actually that would bother me a lot- I need to see how much time I've got left- my T has one clock next to him- for clients to see and a another one on the wall behind the client- so T can check time while looking at the client)
B- 10 mins for 75 USD? Like really? How much do you pay for 45-50 mins?

I don't think this is legal- either you two have to decide beforehand to have a 60 min sessions or she must get you out in 45/50 mins or let you know this is happening.

I agree with most everyone. Sometimes I can watch the clock at the end. More often, I'm busy doing my work and I don't want to have to do my work AND watch the clock. It's distracting. It's counter-therapeutic. I rely on the therapist to set the time limits and see my job of being respectful and compliant when I run up against time limits

I wouldn't want to pay for this discussion either. this is a contract dispute/misunderstanding which occurred when SHE changed the rules/practice protocol WITHOUT telling you. This isn't your therapeutic issue.

I would not want to pay the woman to discuss it either - but it does sound like there needs to be clarification as to who is responsible for time keeping matters.

ACK! I hope you do talk to T about this and decide who will be responsible for ensuring that your session time doesn't go over.

And I, too, hate the idea of using YOUR therapy time to discuss this. AAARGH! Ultimately, though, it is in the scope of therapy if you look at it from a process level where you are aware of how you're feeling, how you express yourself, negotiate to get your needs met, etc. So, in a sense, there could be therapeutic gain. Still irks me though!

This would be totally unacceptable to me. I could understand if it was a billing error that she quickly resolved once it was brought to her attention. I could also understand if it was one of those critical sessions and she gave you the option of extending your session, with the understanding that it would mean an additional charge. BUT to just go over without discussing it and charge you for it !?!? That is not okay. ...having said that, I'd probably be way to scared to ever bring it up and would agonize about it for ages

This is exactly why I set my cell phone alarm so it buzzes at 5 min before my time is up. I hate not knowing. You are right though, she is responsible for keeping the time, and you have every right to bring it to her attention.

I'm a lawyer so I look at this from a contract perspective. Warning-- I didn't do so well in contracts in law school and I don't practice law in this area, so who knows if I have this right or not. Not giving legal advice or acting as your lawyer, you know

You have a mutual understanding that you have a 45 min or so session and you pay whatever you pay per session, $125? If she's going to change the terms of the contract, then she has to alert you to that and explain the new "offer", which you can either accept or not accept. What she should have done is after 50 minutes, said something like. "Our time is up for a 45 minute session. I can let you have another 15 minutes, but I will have to bill you an extra $75. What would you like to do?"

Me: I'd like to go now and save $75. See you next week.

Or you could say, "that's fine. I'd like to finish my thoughts and I'm okay with paying the extra amount."

If this happened to me, I would approach it from a sense of fairness. As in, it is not fair to me to pay that extra amount when I wasn't even aware that the session ran over, and even if I were, I was not aware there would be an extra charge. I am asking you to take that charge off my bill, and in the future, please stop our sessions at 45 minutes.

It doesn't have to take up your whole session. Your T is the professional, and as the professional, you have to explain your charges up front to people so they know what they are paying for. You just can't do your thing and then expect people to pay whatever amount you tell them to pay.

Edited to say: I see that I said the same thing as Murray, and probably others. Sorry to be redundant. Good point, Murray

This is crazy. I would be so pissed if this happened to me.

I was going to suggest this. It's sad you HAVE to (should you choose this as a CYA option), although I get wanting to know...whole different thing.

OMG, I am shocked by this and would absolutely not pay it. The therapist is in charge of time keeping and as she is the one facilitating the session it is her respsonsbility. I would not use my therapy session to discuss it and would email her and discuss my concerns about it or leave a voice message but either way it would be on her time as it was her mistake. Also I would be weary of seeing her again as I would not trust her to let me know when my time is up and not having the time on display is concealing it- I for one would have trouble trusting this t.

I think everyone else has said it all already. I'd be very annoyed in that situation. The clock sits behind me in therapy too. I no longer have a watch and so it's T's responsibility to keep the time. She's said the same thing herself. Your T can't just decide to go over and charge you extra without letting you know. That's ridiculous. So your T expects clients to watch the time themselves and bring their own sessions to an end unless they want to be unexpectedly charged more? Might help is that was made clear from the beginning, but I can't imagine too many people sticking around if a T wasn't willing to keep their own time.

I got charged $75 when I met with a T for a second session and she did a check in with me and then after that (about 5-7 mins in to session) she said she couldnt work with me, was not comfortable with DID and gave me the name of 2 people who dont have any experience with DID. Was in there 15 mins tops and she charged me. I was livid. That was not therapy. She could have called to "break" the relationship. I refused to pay but I am still hounded from collection on that bill.

I think maybe try to call and talk about it? Or ask for some time at end of session to address it (without charge...). I mean goodness, it wasnt your issue why should you pay for her time management problem?