We all provide individual counseling. All of our counselors see clients 18 or older. Laura Knapp, LPC-MHSP, and Brian Ker, LMSW, both take clients age 16 or older on a case by case basis. Most providers take some private insurances; please see our clinician page for specific insurances each clinician takes and to book a consultation with a specific clinician.
Couples Counseling
Nikki, Brian, and Laura see couples and accept private pay and some insurances. Please note that some private insurance companies frequently do not cover couples counseling or couples telehealth counseling. Contact your health insurance provider for more information if you are seeking reimbursement. We can also run a benefits check to determine if your insurance covers couples counseling. Most do not.
Letter Writing
Open Door Counseling is able to write letters for gender affirmation surgery, hormone replacement therapies, and gender marker or name change letters. Contact us with questions or for a free consultation. Deep sliding scale is available.
Teletherapy
We offer teletherapy for all of our services. Please note that the wonderfully skilled Sierra Tuck, LCSW, and our masters-level clinical intern Sarah Ketron are both telehealth-only; all other clinicians have virtual availability as well. Upon scheduling a virtual appointment, you will receive a link via email the day prior that links to your video session. Open Door Counseling uses Simple Practice, a fully HIPAA-compliant telehealth system. Feel free to reach out if you have questions or concerns regarding confidentiality or technical issues.
Groups
At this time, we do not have any active groups. We partner with several agencies and support groups in the area who can offer care in this area. Ask your clinician or our clinical director for referrals for active groups in the area.
EAP plans
Open Door Counseling does not participate in any EAP plans.
Good Faith Estimate of Services
As a potential client of Open Door Counseling, you are legally and federally entitled to something called a Good Faith Estimate as a result of the No Surprises Act of 2022. This means that upon request your Open Door clinician must provide you with the estimated cost of sessions, the length of sessions, and the maximum charges possible during therapeutic services with us. If you would like a tangible paper copy of a Good Faith Estimate, one will be provided to you. At Open Door Counseling, we provide a verbal Good Faith Estimate in the first intake session, and make it a point to transparently communicate the cost of therapy for our clients.
Fees
50 minute individual sessions
$120-$180 (or insurance), some sliding scale available
50 minute couples sessions
$140-$180 (check to see if your insurance covers couples), some sliding scale available.
Letter writing appointment
Letters take place in a single appointment (approximately 70-90 minutes) and we charge $120 for a letter or less (or insurance). Deep sliding scale available; note that we do not turn folks away due to finances. If you cannot afford the clinician’s fee, we can provide free letter writing, or can direct you to someone who can.
Pro Bono or Deep Sliding Scale
All of our clinicians have select space held for pro bono or deep sliding scale sessions. Frequently, due to the high need for low-cost mental health care in Tennessee, these spots fill quickly. Please ask the provider/s you would like to work with if they have sliding scale openings.
FAQs
Do you take insurance?
Short answer, yes. Please see our clinician page to see what insurances each provider is in network with. Not all clinicians accept the same insurances.
I have billing questions. What the heck is a superbill and can my therapist help me submit one to my insurance company?
A superbill is a detailed receipt that does require your provider to make a diagnosis for treatment—we remain fully transparent about diagnosis, and discuss this with all our clients. Unfortunately, a diagnosis is required for insurance reimbursement.
We are happy to help walk you through the steps of submitting a superbill to your insurance company, and have an insurance biller who can also help. If you need to contact our billing administrator, you can reach out to them directly at admin@opendoorcounselingtn.com. If you would like to talk to a human being, you can call Clinical Director Laura Knapp, who can explain billing and insurance questions at (615)437-5309, ext. 1.
I started sessions, and my insurance reported they would cover it. Now they’re saying they won’t. What happened?
We hear you, and this frustrates and angers us as a team as well. The changing healthcare landscape and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 has impacted clients we deeply care about. We do our due diligence to get 100% accurate billing information prior to sessions. However, sometimes the eligibility searches we run do not provide transparent or detailed information. This may mean that after your first session, your clinician later learns that your policy has a prior authorization requirement, that your deductible needs to be met before full coverage of sessions can happen, or we are out of network in spite of us being listed as in-network online. We are finding that many smaller insurance companies contract with larger healthcare providers and sometimes provide misleading information to their consumers, leading to a higher denial of claims this year than we’ve ever seen before.
We will happily navigate the opaque insurance landscape with you and help to the best of our abilities. If you have questions, please contact Clinical Director Laura Knapp.
What can I expect from a gender affirmation letter writing appointment, and why is it $120?
We charge what clients are able to pay—sometimes this is $5 and sometimes it’s $120. No one is turned away due to inability to pay. If you can pay our full fee, note that your full payment allows us to provide letter-writing to those who cannot, and subsidizes the cost.
After our appointment, we write your letter and will mail you two hard copies as well as a digital version for your files, and will contact your doctor if requested or needed. Some doctors have their own forms that they request we fill out, and we can do this for you as well. Because of various steps, we charge for an hour and a half of our time.
If you are an on-going client of Open Door, there is no additional charge; we will complete the letter writing process within our usual sessions. Please see our clinician page to see what insurances each provider is in network with.
What can I expect from you as an LGBTQ+ person in therapy?
We practice all methodologies of therapy from an affirming and relational-cultural lens, which comes out of the social justice movement and the work of Jean Baker Miller, MD. We do not practice any sort of reparative or solely faith-based methodologies, but let the client lead if they choose to address any faith issues in tandem with LGBTQ+ identities. It is our goal to meet you where you are.
Need some resources on supporting your gender nonconforming family member or loved one? The Human Rights Campaign has some great resources at this website here.
Since Open Door Counseling is clinically against conversion or “reparative” therapy, does this mean you won’t see any Christian clients?
We see clients from all faith backgrounds—this includes working with folks in the Christian community. We really enjoy working with Christians and other people of faith, talking about their beliefs and its role in their lives. This being said, we let the client lead the conversation when it comes to faith or a higher power, as it is against all counselors’ code of ethics to point clients down any one particular path to a higher power. This is, in part, why we chose the name “Open Door Counseling” because it is of the utmost importance to us that ALL feel welcome. It is against our policy and ethics code to cause harm to anyone, regardless of color, ability, faith, sex or gender identity, race, or religion.
Do you do teletherapy?
Yes, anywhere in Tennessee. Please contact your insurance provider to verify that they will cover teletherapy. Most do.
How often will we meet? How long does counseling take?
For the first few sessions we highly recommend meeting weekly, but ultimately it is up to you. If you are desirous of “getting down to business” we recommend weekly appointments, or scheduling an intensive with your clinician.
Can I hire you as a consultant at my practice, clinic, or company?
Absolutely! Contact any one of our skilled providers you’d like to hire to discuss scheduling, payment, and consultation.
