Fees and FAQ

Answers to Your Questions Are Right Here

FAQs

What are your fees?

Sessions are 55 minutes and cost $210. While I have a sliding scale, all of my sliding scale slots are currently full.

Do you take insurance?

Yes! See if I’m paneled with your insurance by visiting my Alma profile (which covers MD, CO, and CA) or my Headway profile (which only covers MD). I’m also working with insurance through Sondermind (CO and MD). Those platforms will check your co-pay and the number of sessions you have, so confer with Alma, Headway, or Sondermind to get those questions answered.

If you don’t see your insurance on one of the above pages, then I am not in-network with your insurance provider. We can still work together through your out-of-network benefits, which means you’ll pay for your sessions via my online platform using a credit card. I’ll supply you with a monthly superbill that you can submit to your insurance. You’ll need to research your deductible and out-of-network benefits, and you’ll be reimbursed directly from your insurance, as I request payment in full via credit card after each session.

Are you accepting new clients?

Not at this time.

What about returning clients, including those of us from other platforms such as Lyra?

Please get in touch with me to see if I have time on my calendar for us to connect. Know that I’m not able to offer recurring slots at this time, but we can see if our calendars overlap for a one-time session. It’s also important for you to know that I’ve ended my policy of changing returning clients their original fee, so plan to pay my current rate of $210/session unless your insurance is included on my profile on one of the platforms listed above (Alma, Headway, or Sondermind).

How regularly will we meet and for how many sessions?

This depends on what’s bringing you, what else is going on in your life, and how tightly I’m booked. In general, I meet with clients once every week. When I’ve worked with someone for quite a while, we’ll sometimes space appointments out by a couple of weeks, a month or even more. We’ll find something that fits us both.

I’ve worked with people for just a handful of sessions (for specific issues such as interview prep or infertility treatment), and I have clients I’ve worked with for years. I also have clients who work with me for a few months and then loop back to me when a need surfaces. Let’s find a solution that fits you.

How will we decide whether we’re using coaching or therapy?

Coaching assumes that you’re creative, resourceful, and whole while therapy assumes that you’ll benefit from having someone guide you back to health. Both are essential at varied times. Here’s one lens that I use to determine which path to take: is your car stuck in a ditch, and you need a tow truck (coaching) to get you back on the road? Or do you need a mechanic (therapist) to diagnose and repair your car?

It’s out of my scope to work with people with moderate to severe impairment in one or more areas of their life, acute unprocessed trauma, eating disorders, conditions that require specialized training (such as eating disorders, Bipolar, personality disorders). As a solo practitioner, I don’t have the infrastructure (24/7 support line) to support people with risk factors such as active suicide ideation, active self-harm, or urges to harm others.

FAQs

  • I don’t pretend to know your lived experience, whether we share demographics or not. Having been trained in culturally responsive care, I’ll speak to systemic inequities when they seem to be present, and I’ll ask you to do the same. Here’s probably the best tool that will help you in our work together: I’m okay (not thrilled, but okay) with bumbling and fumbling in front of you. I’m pretty clear that I’ll get things wrong, make mistakes, and get back up and try again.

  • The short answer to this question is no.

    The longer answer is that for a few years, I focused on writing marketing documents for job searches (resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, thank you notes), and I started to see a pattern:

    • People realized they needed help with their careers, and the first thing they thought of was getting their resumes written.

    • They muscled through the process, fueled by desperation, spent beyond their budget and came out with documents that didn’t do anything for them beyond give their experience a facelift and some sparkle.

    • They hadn’t gotten clear about where they were going, so their resumes and other documents were lukewarm without focus. They were trying to straddle several options. But here’s the thing: the other people in the candidate pool for jobs they were competing for? Those people were laser sharp and a clear fit for those jobs, and they edged out the people who were trying to keep their options open.

    • Those people who had their resumes and other documents professionally written – they were in a jam because they had blown their budget and they weren’t any closer to moving out of their misery.

    So, the answer to this question: kinda, sorta, maybe. I don’t simply write resumes and cover letters. For my coaching clients, I support them in creating their marketing documents, and we collaborate to make them effective, gorgeous and amazing, but I don’t write them.

    I subscribe to a “teach a person to fish” philosophy. Rather than catch a fish for someone by writing one static version of a resume/cover letter, I work with my clients (after we’ve gotten clear on focus) on getting a foundation document and then I teach them how to modify it for each submission so that it demonstrates fit and their strengths shine.

    Also, we don’t always get to the resume and cover letter writing because my primary focus is on therapy and coaching and working with you to know who you are at your core and where you’re going. If you don’t know where you’re heading, you’re just spinning your wheels.

    I will offer a one-time resume (or LinkedIn or cover letter – you pick ONE document to focus on) session if that interests you. The fee for that is $375, and it’s 90-minutes. If you’re interested in it, I have specific instructions about how to prepare, so email me at maggie at maggie-graham dot com (sorry to be so cagey about my email address – I’ve had too much spam from bots picking up my email address by trolling my website).

  • One of my clients asked me this question during our free consultation, and I was so struck by the sharpness and insight of her question that I was silent for a moment (mercifully, she was an introvert too, so she wasn’t disturbed by the silence). During that conversation with her, I produced a few qualities that I’ve noticed tend to show up in my clients, and later, after reflecting, I’ve added to the list:

    • openness to ideas, exploration, and emotions

    • experience with or desire to delve into personal development and/or therapeutic realms

    • managing to keep your head above water (treading water fine, and it’s is a place all of us go – I just want people to know that I’m not equipped at this time to treat mental illness that seriously interferes with daily function – so if you feel like you’re drowning, I’m not the best person to support you right now)

    • recognition that, while online assessments are useful, they don’t provide the full picture of a person

    • curiosity toward or experience with mindfulness or Buddhism

    • a love of (or perhaps a devotion to) self-help content

    • willingness to explore / share what’s going on beyond career and work and whatever slice of life you’re struggling in and look at life holistically

    • assumption of positive intent on my part (I’m human and I make mistakes, but I’d like people to think I have their back)

    • a sense of partnership in our work together – you don’t think that I’m going to fix you or rescue you, but instead, you’d like to have someone walk alongside you to support, witness and champion your progress

    One of my clients – when she filled out my initial consultation questionnaire – added to this list when she wrote this note about what she was seeking in a coach:

    “I am looking for customizable, not cookie cutter, not someone who tells me what I should do but helps guide me to making the best decisions for me, provides resources, readings, and information, isn’t looking to sign me up for an extensive program and upsell me on things.”

    I loved what she wrote so much that I asked her if I could quote her in this section of my website, and she kindly gave me permission. The reason I’m drawn to her words is twofold: 1) I really hope these words describe me – it’s what I aim to offer and 2) this description captures what I look for when I’m seeking a therapist or a coach, too.

  • I’ve been formally trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), and Interpersonal Process. I have received limited training in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I use a mixture of all of these tools.