Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes, I have a few slots available at this time. I typically practice therapy on Monday afternoon and evenings, but in certain extenuating circumstances I sometimes can meet at another time on a one-time basis.
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Individual sessions are 50 minutes. Couples & Family sessions are 55 minutes.
However the first couples or family session is a double session, because I want to front-load the process of me learning about your negative emotional and communication cycles.
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Sessions are generally once a week (or every other week). Just like other changes you want to make in life, consistency and persistence are essential to a constructive therapeutic process.
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My session fee of $200 for individuals and $200 for couples and families is comparable to specialist psychotherapists in my areas of expertise.
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No, I am not accepting insurance at this time. Why? For two main reasons:
1) To Maximize Your Treatment Privacy: Insurance companies require therapists to disclose sensitive information about you and your health (and specific mental health diagnoses) which then becomes part of your permanent medical record. By me not taking insurance, your personal information, diagnoses (if applicable), and therapy history remains under your control—and only between you and your therapist!
2) To Allow You to Have Greater Control Over Your Treatment: Insurance companies often have the power decide treatment type and treatment length. They determine the number of sessions you should have and how often you should have them, and sometimes only reimburse certain therapeutic approaches.
Thus, choosing to pay privately (without insurance) helps to ensure your utmost confidentiality and privacy—so that you and your therapist can decide the course of your treatment, the nature of your treatment, and how to approach your therapeutic goals.
HOWEVER, I also believe that insurance is a great thing to have! So although I do not directly bill insurance, I am happy to provide you a Superbill: which is a basically a receipt for sessions with an out-of-network counselor allowing the patient to submit to their health insurance).
Depending on your current health insurance provider or employee benefit plan, it is possible that therapy services may still be covered (in full or in part).
I strongly recommend that you first contact your insurance to verify how your plan compensates you for claims from routine outpatient psychotherapy services from out-of-network providers.
Every insurance provider has different criteria, so if you’re not exactly sure which questions to ask—here is a list of potential questions (this is NOT an exhaustive list) to start the conversation in order to determine your benefits:
• Does my health insurance plan include mental health benefits?
• Do I have a deductible? If so, what is it and have I met it yet?
• Does my plan limit how many sessions per calendar year I can have? If so, what is the limit?
• Do I need written approval from my primary care physician in order for services to be covered?
• What is the process for me (the client) submitting a superbill (provided by my therapist) as a claim so that I (the client) can be reimbursed directly by you (my insurance provider)?
You also have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate (see FAQ about Good Faith Estimates)
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Notice to clients and prospective clients:
The information below pertains to The No Surprises Health Service Act (2799B-6 of the Public Health Service Act, January 2022):
You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees. In regard to therapy with Dr. Bryan, this includes psychotherapy services.
Note that you have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your treatment will cost. Under the law, all health care providers need to provide their patients an estimate of their bill for services – if their patients don’t have insurance or will not be using insurance.
You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any of your services.
Your therapist is expected to give you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your therapy begins.
You can also ask for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service. (If you receive a bill that is $400 more than the Good Faith Estimate you received, you can dispute the bill).
Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit
What else clients need to know about the Good Faith Estimate:
The therapist may recommend additional items or services as part of the treatment that are not reflected in the original estimate, and a separate or updated Good Faith Estimate will be provided. Estimates for psychotherapy sessions are made based on fees per session multiplied by approximate time periods for services, so estimated costs can differ based on how long services are engaged. While it is not possible to know in advance how many sessions may be necessary or appropriate for a person’s treatment, the Good Faith Estimate provides an estimate of the service costs using the fees and approximate, but not required, treatment periods.
The Good Faith Estimate does NOT obligate or require the client to obtain any of the listed services from the provider or continue services for the duration of the time periods indicated on the estimate. The Good Faith Estimate is simply to help clients who are uninsured or not using insurance calculate projected costs of services for the approximate time that services may be rendered.
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Payment is due at the end of each session. I accept most major credit cards. When you book with me, you will be asked to provide your credit card information that I keep on file in order to reserve your first appointment.
Please inform me within 24 hours of your scheduled appointment if you are unable to make your next session.
Appointments canceled in less than 24 hours, will be charged the standard session fee.
**AND If you happen to know several days/weeks in advance that you cannot make a future, scheduled appointment, please let me know right away, so that I can schedule ahead to help someone else who happens to be available at your vacated same time slot. Thank you.**
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The quality and stability of our intimate relationships have the most significant impact on our life happiness and personal well-being. Our relationships also impact our health, our work productivity, and our financial health—which means the quality of our important relationships substantially contribute to our overall health and quality of life.
Marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are specially trained and uniquely qualified in the assessment and treatment of individuals AND couples & families.
MFTs usually operate from a systemic viewpoint, which means that whether we are working with an individual, couple or family—our therapeutic perspective is always considering the reciprocal influence of different systems which provide the context for your life’s path.
Marriage and family therapists have a core understanding about the couple and family system, and have met rigorous educational and clinical hour requirements working with couples, families, and children in order to practice. As a PhD in MFT, my expertise is in assessing and treating individuals, couples, systemic problems in relationships and communities. This means that even if you bring in a ”personal problem”, I will be curious as to how your relationships with other people and systems contribute(d) to creating/sustaining/interrupting/inhibiting/enabling what you experience. In other words, as an MFT I know that sometimes our “personal” challenges are actually symptoms of larger unresolved challenges around us—so I’m always thinking about your presenting problem in your unique historical-bio-psycho-social-spiritual-cultural contexts.
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An AAMFT Approved Supervisor is a marriage and family therapist (MFT) who has completed the required education, logged the necessary supervisory experience, and received their own supervision-of-supervision mentoring benchmarks established by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
The AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation is not an advanced clinical credential—rather the AAMFT Approved Supervisor status is a specific designation meant to help other MFTs identify qualified supervisors who have met these strict AAMFT requirements and who can provide approved supervision mentorship to help MFTs on their journey toward full licensure.
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A Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) aims to strengthen families by sharing and applying knowledge from a family-systems perspective about adaptive family functioning, so that individual family members (and the family as a whole) can function at their optimal levels.
The Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) credential (recognized in the US and Canada) is provided by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) as a certification which validates a professional's experience and knowledge as a Family Life Educator. Bryan is both a CFLE and a licensed MFT.
CFLEs are more about “prevention”, whereas marriage and family therapy is more about “intervention.” So when I present my Untangling Our Relationships seminar at various churches—I do this primarily as a CFLE, because I’m publicly sharing information about family patterns whilst also offering alternative and healthier ways to navigate our important relationships. Whereas, when I’m providing private and confidential therapy (i.e. intervention), I’m practicing as a marriage and family therapist.
If you’re interested in learning more about some of the differences between family therapy and family life education, click here
If you’re interested in learning more about my Untangling Our Relationships seminar, click here!
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The foundational wellness skills of the Community Resiliency Model created to restore the natural balance of your nervous system—and are applicable and teachable to anybody who wants to learn.
The Trauma Resiliency Model incorporates the CRM skills, but focuses on a biological understanding of how chronic stress and trauma are linked with automatic survival responses to a perceived threat. The TRM is a therapeutic approach which leverages the power of your own beautiful biology and autonomic nervous system to process the memory and physiological manifestations of trauma, in a way that allows the trapped tension/anxiety/pain to be released from the body.
Clients often share they experience deeper resiliency, a renewed sense of hope, and that the normal activities of daily living become a bit easier to manage.
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Telehealth allows you to participate in therapy from the comfort of your own residence/office. Telehealth is often a great option for people with busy schedules, and especially if you are concerned about the health risk of COVID-19.
Telehealth follows very similar patterns (e.g. regular therapy sessions) to in-person therapy, yet telehealth is primarily conducted online through the internet access on your laptop, computer, tablet, or smartphone. Thus, telehealth often requires stable internet access in order to limit interruptions and lagging during video chat (e.g. Zoom).
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The therapist-client relationship is sacred, and generally whatever you say in sessions is confidential. However, as a licensed MFT I am considered a mandated reporter which means there are five, very specific circumstances (outlined below) which I am legally obligated to report to the authorities:
(1) Suspected child abuse or (2) dependent adult or (3) elder abuse. In these instances, I am required to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
If a client is (4) threatening serious bodily harm to another person. I am required to notify the police.
If a client (5) intends to harm themselves, I will make every effort to work with them to ensure their safety. However, if they do not cooperate, additional measures may need to be taken.
Aside from these very specific situations, everything you share with your therapist is said in total confidence.
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Therapists have advanced clinical knowledge and can provide various perspectives, emotional support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies. Therapists can provide a non-biased, educated perspective on a difficult problem you may have or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you gain from therapy usually depend on (1) how much energy you put into the therapeutic process and (2) how much you persistently practice what you learn. Some of the benefits of therapy include:
• Learning more adaptive ways to cope with stress and anxiety
• Growing into a better understanding of yourself, your goals, and values
• Developing skills for improving your important relationships
• Finding resolution to the issues or concerns that originally led you to seek therapy
• Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
• Improving communications and listening skills
• Challenging old behavior patterns and replacing them with new (and preferred!) ones
• Discovering new ways to solve problems with your family and/or partner
• Improving your self-esteem and boosting your self-confidence
Contact me whenever you are ready to schedule a free 20-min consultation.
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People asking for help know when they need it and have the courage to reach out. Everyone experiences pain, struggles, and disappointment—and sometimes we go through seasons when it would be beneficial to get a little professional support. In our work together, I’ll help you explore and identify your strengths and how to implement them to reduce the influence of the problems you are facing. Increasing insight is often the first step to experiencing healing, hope, and positive change.
In all honesty, I’ve been awestruck with how strong some of my clients become. Many have developed the fortitude, resilience, and bravery to face down the things they never could have before. For me, therapy is a deeply humbling, sacred, and inspiring experience—and I am blessed enough to journey along-side and witness other people’s inspiring growth. That’s not weakness I’m witnessing in therapy, that’s strength.
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Therapy is not for everyone and it is not necessarily appropriate for every presenting problem. You can obviously find good advice from a number of sources—including your family/friends. However, there are often life problems that require more nuanced/scientific/clinical expertise. There are also issues that may require careful assessment to determine what the actual problem is (e.g. the undesired behaviors/thoughts are often only a symptoms of the underlying system(s)). Furthermore, you might need help with topics that are sensitive, and revealing these personal challenges to someone else may not be an option yet. There may also be chronic problems or unfulfilled dreams that are inadvertently reinforced by family/friends—and an outside perspective from a highly trained professional with expertise in that particular area might be more fruitful and appropriate.
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Professional knowledge is different from personal experience. This is one of the main reasons how therapy is different from talking to a friend or family member. There is a difference is between someone (e.g. a family member) who can do something (e.g. listen to you vent), versus a clinician who has years of training, experience, and professional knowledge (e.g. has advanced knowledge about dysfunctional communication patterns, ways to interrupt those patterned behaviors, and can provide an in-depth explanation and exploration as to why these patterns are currently stuck). A mental health professional can help you approach your situation in a new way, teach you advanced skills, help you evaluate differing perspectives, listen to you without judgment or expectations, and help you listen to yourself.
Another benefit of seeking professional help, is the safety within the strict privacy and confidentiality characterizing the therapeutic relationship. Which means you won’t have anybody inadvertently revealing “your business” at the next Thanksgiving dinner—unless it’s you! Lastly, if your situation provokes a great deal of negative emotion, and you’ve been confiding in a friend or family member, there is the risk that once you are feeling better you could start avoiding that person so you aren’t reminded of this difficult time in your life.
Finally, a clinician helps you privately work on your identified challenges, so that you can keep your friends as friends, and your family as family (instead of them to also play the role of therapist).
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Submit the online form to request an appointment (or email me: bryan@untanglingourrelationships.com, or call me: (909) 328-6179)
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Just go to your Client Portal, make a profile, and book a free 20-min consultation
I offer a free 20 minute consultation to listen to your needs and we can determine whether I am the best therapist for you. Begin your journey toward more peace and healing today.
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Great question! I do travel about once a month the present the Untangling Our Relationships Seminar at various churches around the country. This UOR seminar content and activities can easily be tailored for single adults, couples, pre-marital couples, or adult families interested in learning about why families act the way they do—and how we so easily get stuck in unpleasant relationship patterns.
You will learn some of the same concepts I teach couples in my therapy room. This UOR seminar offers a compelling new paradigm to explain why families act the way they do. You’ll walk away with practical tools to untangle those tricky relationships, which then allows you to begin reweaving the fabric of your family. Redeeming the part you play in your family patterns can create powerful change that ripples down your family tree.
Contact me (untanglingourrelationships@gmail.com) to ask about my availability, and click here if you want to learn more about this UOR seminar.