Counseling FAQs

Counseling can help you find ways to cope with the mental and emotional pain you feel when you or someone in your family is ill. Counseling is an active, collaborative process that can help assist you in making changes. Counselors are respectful, nonjudgmental listeners who help you work through your own problems. Counseling is therapy for the mind.

Counseling sessions are designed to provide a safe environment for you to express difficult feelings. Counselors are more than sympathetic listeners; they are trained to find the sources of personal problems and to identify solutions. Knowing what real options you have in a situation that feels out of control can greatly reduce feelings of helplessness.

Studies show:

• “Mental health is fundamental to health … The efficacy of mental health treatment is well documented.” – Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General Department of HHS, 1999
• “… psychological support—whether in the forms of individual counseling, support groups, or both—can become a significant ally in the fight against cancer.” – Stephanie Hittle, Health Care Today, September, 2003

Counseling works by drawing on positive qualities that make any relationship work: acceptance, trust, consistency, and communication. Counseling is a learning process based on the belief that, regardless of circumstances, each person or family has the potential to change. Our clinical staff can help people deal with the emotional turmoil related to a cancer diagnosis and treatment, for both the patient and loved ones. Counselors and social workers help you resolve conflicts or problems related to others and the world around you.

It’s not lying on a couch, talking about your childhood. In your first visit, the counselor tries to get to know you. She may start by asking, “How did you find out you had cancer?” Throughout an appointment, the counselor will help you see that your feelings are normal and are felt by many people. He may assure you, “You are not going crazy. You’re going through a very tough time.” The counselor will talk about finding ways to help you and your family manage tough issues. The counselor is not there to take anything away from you. With the counselor present, you may find it easier to talk to members of your family who are dealing with the illness differently than you are.

Cancer affects three out of four American families, so psychosocial problems that relate to cancer are common. Fear, depression, and anxiety are felt by many. Typical problems include adjustment to being ill, stress about finances or employment, and disruption of marriage and the family. Counselors can help with these issues and many more, such as grief and bereavement, sexuality, and body image.

Sometimes emotional reactions to cancer come from other factors in your life. For example, the sense of dread induced by certain medical procedures can be magnified by long-forgotten fears. Your fear of becoming dependent on a spouse or children can be exaggerated by the memory of a family member’s prolonged illness and the burden it imposed on the family. Another reason coping with cancer can be especially difficult is the possibility that cancer entered your life at a time when you are already facing other major problems such as unemployment, divorce, alcoholism, or a death in the family.

A counselor can help you find ways to manage your emotions and sort out problems in slow motion, prioritize them, and formulate a plan for dealing with them in a constructive way.

   Cancer Family Care is a non-profit counseling agency whose mission is to support cancer patients and their loved ones regardless of ability to pay for services.  To that end, we offer a variety of payment options.  We recognize that a cancer diagnosis can have a long -term financial impact on an individual/family.   Regardless of what type of fee agreement is set up at the initial session, we stress to clients that fee agreements can be changed at any time.  We do not want clients to worry about payment for our services or discontinue services because of a fee.

Clients who have insurance can use insurance if the therapist is on the client’s insurance panel.  We can waive a copay or deductible if needed.  For instance, if a client’s insurance covers 80% of the services and the client is responsible for the remaining 20%, we can waive the 20% (client responsibility) for the client if needed.  For clients who have a high-deductible plan, a decision can be made on whether to use insurance if the deductible has not been met.  For many individuals/families who are actively in treatment, the deductible is usually met early in the calendar year.

For Medicare, there should be no out-of-pocket cost to the client.  If a client has supplemental insurance like Humana, etc., we can also use the supplemental insurance to bill for the portion of the session that Medicare does not cover.   In this case we will need a copy of both cards for billing.

For clients who are not utilizing insurance, then an out-of-pocket fee/sliding scale fee can be determined that works with the client’s budget.  Clients can be $0 up to the full fee.  The fee can be determined during the first session with therapist’s assistance, if needed.

If clients have an EAP through their place of employment, then it’s worth mentioning so that they may receive several free sessions before even tapping into their insurance.  TriHealth, Cincinnati Public Schools, Duke Energy, Proctor and Gamble, and University of Cincinnati are some employers we know whose EAP will reimburse us.  Clients need to call their HR department or the EAP number available to them on their insurance benefits to request an approval number for sessions and paperwork will be sent to Cancer Family Care.

We do not charge for any of our children’s counseling whether it’s at school or in the office.  This includes children’s support groups that we offer in schools.