We do everything possible to help you.  

Gil Garcia, MSW, ACSW, LMSW, LCSW and     Joanie Black, MA, LLP

First, we are able to bill most insurance companies. However, we encourage you to contact your health plan before making an appointment. Call the 800 number on the back of your insurance card. Ask for mental health benefits and mention my name and credentials. This can save you expense and give you better information to make your decision. We are also listed with several National and Regional Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) programs. Check with your employer and see if your company has an EAP.

Second, if Gil Garcia, MSW, LMSW, LCSW or Joanne Black, MA, LLP is not listed as a provider for your insurance company you are allowed to inform your insurance company that you would like to see Gil Garcia, MSW or Joanne Black, MA. We will then make the necessary application to your insurance company to ensure coverage. I am licensed in the state of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Third, Gil is a Medicare provider and both Gil and Joanne are providers for Michigan's UPHP Healthplan. We cannot bill "Straight Michigan Medicaid." Please call your UPHP phone number and ask if you have mental health benefits and can receive them from Gil Garcia.

Fourth, We also accept self-pay arrangements. We will work with you to get the help you need. Our Standard Self-Pay Fee is $110 per hour. Fee adjustments are available under circumstances. Payment arrangements are available.

Fifth, if we are unable to help you, we will refer you to a counselor that is supported by donated funds or provides services through a county/state funded agency.

  [We do not accept credit cards]

Community Service Plus+ Program

For those with low income.

First, we offer free consultations,

Second, free mini-workshops,

Third, free group therapy and

Fourth, a limited number of "Reduced Fee"

Fifth, a limited number of "Pro Bono" appointments.

These are all offered as a Community Service. As a private practice, we do not receive any United Way Funds, Church Funds or Donated Funds. We are proud to offer this service to our community.

Please mention this "Community Service" when you call.

Thank You.

At one level psychotherapy consists of two people sitting in a room talking. Sometimes couples will go together or parents with their children. Why would anyone pay for this? Psychotherapists have been trained in techniques that allow them to treat difficult problems and mental disorders by talking with people. Therapists are objective and informative.

Most importantly this is a very perosnal and confidential way to ask for experienced, professional and private guidance.

Psychotherapy can involve both treating a disorder and helping someone solve problems in their life.

Effective Therapy involves:

1. A positive and supportive relationship between yourself and the therapist. If this is not a good fit, consider a different therapist.
2. A complete and accurate assessment involving medical, psychological and social gathering of information. So, lots of questions to understand the whole picture. Be sure to inform your therapist of any current and past medical conditions and current medications.
3. Setting Goals. Laying out a roadback and beginning to identify where you are going and what you want to accomplish.
4. Listening. Attentive, active and focused listening. The therapist is there to help you, not to talk about himself/herself but to listen to you and/or your loved ones.
5. Education. Much of therapy is learning and gaining new information and insights. Most of the time this means challenging old beliefs and ways of thinking and learning new ones.
6. Helping you keep track. An effective therapist will check in on you, on your progress, what is working, what is not working, what your goals are, how they are changing and where you need or want to be.
7. Patience. A professional is patient and not demanding and critical. Once you don't receive this, consider evaluating the relationship. However, remember, therapists and counselors are people too.
8. Hard Work. Counseling often involves hard work. But this hard work will be for you. This work can involve: learning new ideas, confronting old ideas, listening to feedback that may be difficult to hear, learning to listen differently to your spouse or family members, thinking long and hard about yourself and your situation, considering decisions that are needed, making changes in your everyday life, changes in relationships, at work, at school, habits, and/or lifestyle.

Study Shows Psychotherapy As Effective As Drug Therapy For  Depression

Videos

Introduction to CBT (brief video)

Mindfulness (6 min video. RealPlayer ONLY)

Handouts

Click Here for CBT 

Audios

CBT audio introduction

CBT Audio and teens

CBT Audio and Albert Ellis (Founder of RET)

CBT Audio: Study with Fluoxetine

As a patient or client, most of what happens in therapy depends on you. You are hiring your therapist to help you change things in your life.

• It is important to be completely honest with your therapist. He or she can't help you if you withhold important information.
• Take some time after the session to review what was said and to think about how to act on it. A therapy session usually lasts under an hour, but you have many more hours in the week to follow-up on what was said.
• Be sure to do any homework that you were asked to do. Not all therapists assign tasks to do between sessions, but when they are assigned they are important to the process.
• Pay attention to your emotions between sessions. Let your therapist know about any patterns that you notice, especially anything out of the ordinary. Write things down and take them to the session if you need to.
• Be open to making changes in your thinking and behavior. After all, you may wish to change the world or your spouse, but therapy is really to help you reach your own goals.
• Psychotherapy is a partnership. It will be more effective if you are an active partner.

Couples therapy is sometimes referred to as marriage counseling. Not all couples are married, so the term couples therapy is used. Similar to family therapy, couples therapy focuses on the relationship between the two people without blaming either person for the problems. This is usually the hard part which is approached in the beginning of therapy.

Some couples attend pre-marital counseling before getting married. This allows them to anticipate problems in their relationship.

We provide a screening for couples before considering any type of couples therapy. Why? Because not all couples are ready for counseling together. Sometimes one or both need individual help before marriage counseling. This can be sometimes frustrating for folks who are looking for some quick fixes or quick answers. To help with that, we simply provide "Consultations: which can educational, give you things to read at home, and suggest books that are helpful."

In many cases couples therapy focuses on the communication between the partners. There is often work on how to "really listen" to what the other partner is saying, and work on using "I statements" when confronting the partner about a problem. Staying focused on how you feel when your partner does a certain thing (rather than focusing on the thing that they do) helps your partner listen without becoming defensive.

Sex therapy is often considered to be a type of couples therapy that focuses on the sexual aspect of the relationship.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is very helpful for couples, especially when they can learn to laugh at themselves instead of each other.

Family therapy usually involves a whole family, or several family members, all meeting with a therapist. Family therapy can be helpful if a family is having problems getting along.

It can also be used with one family member has a problem, and family relationships may be copntributing to or maintaining the problem. In many cases the problem may be seen in a child, but this is not always the case. Children often act out their feelings about the family life with their behavior.

Family therapy is often recommended if a child has a behavior problem. Some family therapists see the child with the problem as the "scapegoat" and view the problem as actually residing within the family system.

Eating disorders in adolescents are often treated with family therapy. Family therapists avoid blaming any family member for the problems, rather they help the family interact in different ways that may solve the problem.