So, What’s an Intake Counselor?

Happy Sunday!

As an intake counselor at Arista Counseling & Psychotherapy, I am expected to field incoming patients. When a new patient wants to make an appointment for therapy, I am the first person they talk to. It is my job to gather preliminary information about the new potential patient, from the basics (name, age, DOB) to more delicate information, such as the reason he or she needs therapy. When on the phone with the client, it is my job to obtain their insurance information so that I can call their insurance company and get their benefits so that I can accurately price their sessions with the doctor. This is critical because we are an out of network facility, meaning that we are not tied to any insurance company and can price outside of predetermined parameters. It has been explained to me that most top therapists choose to be out of network because in network predetermined pricing is very low.

One of my favorite tasks as an intake counselor is administering psychological tests to patients that target possible disorders that the patient can have, such as anxiety, OCD, depression, etc. I enjoy this part of my job because I get to work one on one with the patients. When administering these tests, I get to hear the clients explain their experience with their respective disorders.

This past week’s highlight has to be our weekly update with the doctor – every week, she updates us on interesting, unusual client issues that arise in the office. This gives us the opportunity to ask questions and follow up on patients that we have taken an interest in. This past week, the doctor told us of a new patient who had been previously diagnosed with conversion disorder at another reputable facility. Conversion disorder involves psychological stress manifesting itself physically. The issue starts as a psychological one and becomes a physical one. For example, this patient is unable to walk, seemingly without a concrete physical reason. This patient has no spinal injury, no muscle deterioration, nothing that would suggest an inability to walk that is purely physical in nature. What makes this patient particularly interesting is that this person’s father set up a hidden camera in their living room and caught her taking several steps when he was out of the house! (Cue gasps!) With this information, the doctor has to determine whether this still qualifies as conversion disorder or if there is a different diagnosis waiting to be made, such as Munchausen Syndrome.

I hope this next week serves everyone well! I’ll be back in the office.