Why We Are a Self-Pay Practice
- Kate Keith
- Dec 2, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: May 7
Choosing a therapist is a personal and meaningful decision. It’s also a financial one, and if you have ever tried to understand how therapy and insurance intersect, you know it can get complicated quickly.
At Coyote Counseling, we operate as a self-pay practice. This means we accept card, cash or check at the time of service, and do not bill insurance directly. If you have out-of-network (OON) benefits, you may be able to receive reimbursement from your insurance provider.
We want to share why we choose this model, and how we make the reimbursement process as smooth as possible with tools like Thrizer and others, so you can still maximize your benefits with less stress and paperwork.
A Note on Transparency and Why We’re Sharing This
We know it can feel a bit unusual for a therapy practice to openly discuss the financial and logistical side of care. Money, insurance, and access can be sensitive topics, and it’s not always clear what questions to ask or what information you deserve to have upfront.
We choose to share our rationale because you deserve transparency. Understanding why we operate the way we do, and how we support you with tools like Thrizer, can help you make informed decisions about your care. Our intention is to offer clarity, honesty, and respect for your autonomy.
We hope this explanation helps you feel more grounded, empowered, and confident as you select the type of support that fits your needs. Your therapy should begin with trust, and transparency is part of how we cultivate that from the very start.
Why We Choose to Be a Self-Pay Practice
We can provide the therapy that’s best for you, not what insurance dictates.
We want to acknowledge something clearly: insurance can be incredibly helpful, and for many people it plays an important role in accessing healthcare. As professionals, we also value the accountability that insurance systems can bring, ensuring ethical practice, documentation, and quality standards. There is absolutely a place for that within the mental health field.
At the same time, the insurance model comes with limitations that often don’t align with the real, human needs people bring into therapy.
Insurance companies typically require a formal mental health diagnosis for reimbursement, and they may request detailed clinical information to “justify” your treatment. They can also limit session frequency, duration, modality, or the number of sessions they consider “medically necessary.”
This becomes especially complicated because many of the most common reasons people seek therapy are not technically covered under most insurance plans, such as:
Relationship stress or communication challenges
Life transitions (new job, divorce, relocation)
Grief that doesn’t meet criteria for a disorder
Self-growth or identity exploration
Burnout or workplace stress without a diagnosable condition
Personal development or preventive mental health care
Support during major decisions or emotional overwhelm
These concerns are deeply meaningful, and absolutely valid reasons to seek therapy, but they often do not fall under the medical-model criteria insurers require.
By being a self-pay practice, we protect:
Your privacy
Your clinical autonomy
The ability to tailor therapy to your goals, not an insurance company’s checklist
Your right to therapeutic support even if you don’t meet strict diagnostic thresholds
This approach ensures that your treatment remains grounded in compassion, nuance, and what actually serves your well-being.
Self-Pay Doesn’t Mean You are on Your Own Financially
Although we don’t work directly with insurance, many clients receive significant reimbursement, sometimes 50–80%, through their out-of-network benefits.
And while the financial side of therapy can feel overwhelming, today’s technology is making mental health care more accessible and less stressful than ever. Platforms like Thrizer and others help bridge the gap between private-pay therapy and insurance reimbursement, reducing the burden of paperwork, follow-up calls, and the uncertainty that traditionally comes with using OON benefits.
To make this process easier and reduce the administrative load on you, we partner with modern OON reimbursement platforms, predominantly with Thrizer, that simplify, automate, and streamline the process.
We also provide superbills for anyone who prefers to submit claims manually. You are always welcome to request them, and they will include all required information for insurance reimbursement.
How We Support Out-of-Network Reimbursement
Thrizer: Use Your OON Benefits as If We Were In-Network
We primarily use Thrizer because it offers the most seamless and supportive experience for clients and providers alike.
Thrizer verifies your OON benefits before your session, so you know what your insurance is likely to cover. If you have eligible benefits, you pay only your estimated co-pay at the time of service instead of the full session rate.
From there:
Thrizer pays our office the full session fee immediately
You pay the lower, insurance-adjusted estimate upfront
Thrizer takes on the risk, and handles the claim submission and reimbursement delay
You avoid the long wait for insurance to process paperwork
For many clients, Thrizer feels like using in-network insurance, without the paperwork, delays, or uncertainty. This is why it is the platform we recommend most often.
Our Commitment to Staying Tech-Savvy & Client-Centered
The landscape of out-of-network billing tools is evolving quickly, and we are committed to staying in the know about the most tech-savvy, client-beneficial platforms and strategies available. As new tools emerge or existing ones improve, we will continue to evaluate them and integrate anything that meaningfully supports the financial side of care.
Our priority is to ensure that accessing therapy remains as smooth, transparent, and financially manageable as possible.
What This Means for You
You still receive:
High-quality, personalized counseling services
Full confidentiality and clinical autonomy
Freedom from insurance limitations
Support in using your OON benefits
Modern tools that reduce stress and paperwork
Occasional sliding scale options
Clear expectations and transparent billing practices
These resources allow you to focus on your healing, not on navigating insurance systems.
If You’re Curious About Your OON Benefits…
We recommend reaching out to your insurance provider, whether calling the behavioral health phone number on the back of your insurance card or through accessing your OON on your insurance's portal/app. We would be happy to help you understand your coverage and decide whether self-pay, Thrizer, or traditional superbills are the best fit for your needs.
You deserve care that is both clinically excellent and financially manageable.
Learn more on our page Paying for Care.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out anytime.
