Do you accept insurance?
Currently, the OCD & Anxiety Program of Southern California is an out-of-network provider, which means that while we are not contracted with any insurance panels, you can see if your insurance company will reimburse from your out-of-network insurance benefits. Most insurance plans do provide the opportunity to apply for reimbursement for therapy services received from out-of-network providers. In instances of insurance reimbursement, we ask each individual to pay for services and accept reimbursement from the insurance. Please call your insurance company before your admission and ask the following questions:
- Does my insurance plan have out-of-network mental health benefits?
- What is my annual deductible and has it been met for this year?
- When does my calendar year start?
- How many sessions per calendar year does my plan cover?
- Is an authorization required? If yes, how do I obtain it?
- Am I eligible for reimbursement for out-of network intensive out patient services provided by the OCD & Anxiety Program of Southern California National Provider Identification Number?
- What percentage of treatment is reimbursed per visit for an out-of-network provider?
- What is the dollar amount recognized per visit (usual and customary rate or UCR)?
- What forms do I need to submit for reimbursement? (Note: most insurance companies require that you submit a Monthly Billing Statement and a Treatment Plan from your therapist together with a standard HCFA 1500 claim form completed by you. Find out if there are any other forms required and how to obtain them).
- What address should I mail my claims to?
- Are there any time limitations on filing my claims for reimbursement?
What forms of payment do you accept?
Cash, Check, or Credit Card is appreciated at the time of service. Clients are responsible for all fees.
What is your cancellation policy?
Please call 24 hours in advance if you cannot keep your appointment. You will be billed the entire session fee if the 24- hour window has passed.
What is the process for admission?
A brief phone intake assessment is conducted with each client prior to admission. Additional records and/or discussion with current treatment providers may also occur in order to better prepare the OCD & Anxiety Program of Southern California’s treatment team, after which admission date and time can be scheduled.
How long do your intensive programs last?
The estimated length of treatment at the outset is approximately 4 to 8 weeks. However, each individual presents with unique struggles. Individuals with more severe symptoms may require a longer treatment program; whereas, individuals with more mild or moderate symptoms may require less time in treatment. Whether someone has access to quality follow-up care with a trained CBT therapist is also an important factor that may affect how long someone chooses to stay in our program. We do our best to assess each individual as quickly as possible upon admission to the program so that we can provide a realistic estimate early on in the process.
What is the Bergen 4 Day Treatment?
The Bergen 4-day treatment (B4DT) is a concentrated exposure treatment (cET) where the patient receives individually tailored CBT delivered during four consecutive days. B4DT can be categorized as an individual treatment delivered in a group setting, since the treatment is delivered in groups with 3 to 6 patients with a therapist-patient ratio of 1:1. The B4DT has proven highly effective for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, with almost no drop-out rates and almost 70% of patients reported as recovered at 12-month follow-up. A follow-up study demonstrated that the treatment outcome was stable 4 years after completing treatment.
The B4DT approach has received tremendous attention around the world. For example, in October of 2018, Drs. Bjarne Hansen and Gerd Kvale (the developers of B4DT) were selected by Time magazine as two of “The Health Care 50: Fifty People Transforming Health Care in 2018.” The approach builds on four decades of empirical research and theories about the most effective approach to OCD treatment. The innovation and strength of the work is how it combines the most effective elements of proven treatment into one of the most profound, rapid, and robust treatment approaches that we have seen in recent years. Thus, this approach provides for a truly transformative treatment and it has the potential to meaningfully improve health care delivery in the U.S.
Over 3000 patients with OCD have been effectively treated with the B4DT in Norway during the last decade. Furthermore, over 300 patients OCD patients have completed the B4DT in Sweden, Iceland, Germany, Finland, Singapore and the USA. All studies strongly support the effectiveness of this 4-day approach. Post-pandemic future international dissemination plans are actively being implemented. So far teams from Australia, Kenya, and Ecuador have signed up and will be trained in ways to deliver the effective B4DT and the training will take place in Los Angeles in 2024. The OCD & Anxiety Program of Southern California is the only program that offers this treatment in the United States.
What kind of follow-up do you offer for those who complete your Intensive Outpatient Program and B4DT program?
Once an individual has completed the program, there are several options for follow-up care. Individuals in the Los Angeles area can step down into our outpatient level of care, or we can work in conjunction with previous treatment provider to assist in continuity of care. There are also many individuals who benefit from returning for a shorter treatment term, or a booster session, in order to continue to maintain the gains achieved in his/her original treatment stay. We follow up with clients with post-discharge assessments in order to further evaluate our evidence-based treatment approaches and to provide insight for clients in their current treatment.
Who is not appropriate for your Intensive Outpatient and B4DT programs?
Our intensive and concentrated treatment programs are not appropriate for individuals who have active addictions, active eating disorders, and/or are actively suicidal. Individuals may need to receive treatment for these conditions elsewhere prior to engaging in our programs. For those individuals who have received treatment for these conditions (i.e., are in recovery) and would like some continued support during their anxiety treatment, we have the ability to work with additional outpatient specialists (e.g., addictions counselors, eating disorder specialists) as needed. In addition, individuals who are not motivated for treatment are probably not appropriate for our programs. Because the treatment requires individuals to face their fears and experience discomfort, it requires a high level of motivation to complete and be successful. Individuals who are entering treatment only because of pressure from family members tend to make less progress than those individuals who commit to engaging in treatment on their own. We do work with individuals who are ambivalent about engaging in treatment (mostly because they are so afraid to give up the safety of their rituals); at the same time it is very important that they are motivated and willing to change. We work as hard as we can in order to help people overcome their OCD and other anxiety, and we expect similar effort from our clients.
