Writing
Therapy Notes and Guides
Aurora Counseling Associates publishes writing from our clinicians on the questions clients bring in: how to choose a therapist, what a first session is like, how insurance and HSA funds work, and when to consider family or couples therapy. It is written to be useful rather than to rank, and it is not a substitute for care.
Latest
Articles from our clinicians
Getting StartedHow Long Does Therapy Take? A Realistic Answer
Weeks, months, or longer? What actually determines how long therapy takes, and how you will know it is working.
Getting StartedTherapist, Psychologist, LMHC, LICSW: Who Does What?
LMHC, LICSW, PsyD, MD: the alphabet after a therapist’s name, decoded, and why fit matters more than initials.
Getting StartedHow to Know When It's Time to See a Therapist
You do not need a crisis to start therapy. Here are the signs it might be time, and what actually happens after you reach out.
Parents & FamiliesWhen Should We Consider Family Therapy?
Most families consider therapy reactively, after a stretch where things have gotten bad enough that doing nothing is no longer an option. Sometimes that timing works.
Insurance & CostBCBS Therapy Coverage in MA: What to Know Before You Book
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is the largest insurer in the state, and the most likely insurance a Massachusetts therapy client is going to be using.
Insurance & CostHow to Use HSA and FSA Funds for Therapy in Massachusetts
Therapy is one of the more straightforward eligible expenses for HSA (Health Savings Account) and FSA (Flexible Spending Account) funds. Most people do not realize it, or are not sure how to
Parents & FamiliesHow Play Therapy Helps a Child
If you have just been told your child might benefit from "play therapy," you may have a reasonable parent question: how is playing in an office going to fix what is happening at home or at s
Getting StartedWhat to Expect at Your First Couples Therapy Session
Most couples arrive at their first session with some version of the same question: are we going to be ok? Underneath that, there is often a layer of anxiety about being judged, about whether
Parents & FamiliesHow to Choose a Therapist for Your Teenager
Choosing a therapist for your teenager is one of the more uncomfortable choices a parent makes. The teenager often does not want to go. The pool of "teen therapists" looks similar on the out
Why we write this
Most people arrive at therapy having already read a great deal about it, and much of what is available is written to rank rather than to help. It repeats the same definitions, hedges every claim, and stops precisely where the useful part would start.
We write about the questions clients ask, in the room, once the small talk is over. What a first session is like. Whether insurance covers this. Whether a teenager who refuses to go can be helped anyway. Whether play therapy is doing anything at all, or whether it is an expensive hour of toys.
Everything here is written by the clinicians who do this work, about the work they do. Where a piece states something clinical, it says where that comes from.
What this is not
It is not treatment, and it is not a substitute for talking to someone.
Reading about anxiety can help you name what is happening and give you the vocabulary to ask for the right thing. It cannot do the part that changes it. If something you read here lands hard, that is worth bringing to a clinician rather than working through alone.
It is also not diagnostic. Articles describe patterns in general terms; a diagnosis is a judgement about a specific person made with their history in front of you. If you recognize yourself in a description, that is information rather than an answer.
Where to start
If you are trying to decide whether to reach out at all, what to expect at your first couples therapy session and when to consider family therapy are the two that answer the "is this even for us" question most directly.
If cost is what is holding you up, BCBS therapy coverage in Massachusetts and using HSA and FSA funds for therapy are the practical ones, and rates and insurance has the specifics for this practice.
If you are looking for someone for a child or a teenager, how play therapy helps a child and how to choose a therapist for your teenager cover the two questions parents ask most.
And if you already know what you are dealing with, what we treat is the faster route than reading around it.
Questions
About this writing
Who writes these articles?
Can reading this replace therapy?
Can I use these to diagnose myself?
How often do you publish?
Can I suggest a topic?
Get started
Reading only gets you so far
If something here sounds like what you are dealing with, a short call is the fastest way to find out whether we are the right people for it.