Frequently asked questions

Union Square Psychotherapy (USQTherapy) has two offices: one at 44 East 12th Street (between Broadway and University Place) and one at 14 East 4th Street (between Broadway and Lafayette).

USQTherapy aspires to provide the best, most affordable psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in New York. For clinicians, the practice aspires to provide a non-infantilizing teaching hospital model where they can receive the highest quality supervision and the largest share of revenues generated by their work. We pay our clinicians a higher share of revenue than any other group practice of which we are aware.

Selecting a therapist can be hard. If you'd prefer, we can choose for you. Sign up for an intake - no charge - and your intake clinician will recommend a therapist - either someone on our staff, or someone elsewhere, whom they think might be a good fit. Alternatively, read through the bios on this site, and reach out directly to the therapist of your choosing.

That's up to you. Some of our therapists only work in-person, but most are willing to work either in-person or virtually.

USQTherapy is organized as a professional limited liability company, which is a for-profit entity. However, it is not organized to generate profits for its staff or owners beyond what they generate through their own practice. Rather, it is organized to function for the benefit of patients and clinicians.

USQTherapy offers a sliding scale both organizationally and individually. Your fee will be set in consultation with your clinician, taking into account the totality of your circumstances, including your income, wealth, and the circumstances of your life. Fees range from $15 to $500 and above. A caveat is that while therapy should be affordable, it should also represent a significant financial sacrifice.

No, USQTherapy does not accept insurance. We are "out-of-network" providers. See our page on Fees for more information.

We will give you a "superbill" - a statement for insurance reimbursement - and you will submit that to your insurance company, along with a claim form. If you are eligible for out-of-network benefits (if you have such benefits, and if you've met your deductible), your insurance company will send you partial or full reimbursement for your treatment.

We accept various forms of payment, and we encourage patients to discuss specific payment methods with their clinician.

Some of us are just out of graduate school; others have been practicing for more than a decade. We believe - and empirical research supports - that the therapeutic alliance between a patient and clinician (how you feel in session) is a far greater predictor of treatment success than experience, modality, or theoretical framework.

We are licensed clinical social workers, licensed master social workers, social workers, mental health counselors with limited permits, marriage and family therapists with limited permits, and licensed psychoanalysts. Many of us also trained as, or currently are training as, psychoanalysts.

In New York State, anyone with a license to practice clinical social work, medicine, or clinical psychology may call themself a “psychoanalyst,” even though those fields typically do not provide instruction or training in psychoanalysis. A Licensed Psychoanalyst is a standalone license created by the State of New York for those whose original licensure does not include psychoanalysis within its scope of practice (such as mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, and creative arts therapists), or who trained in psychoanalysis without having previously been licensed as a clinician.

Historically, practitioners of psychoanalysis (as distinct from psychotherapy) trained in postgraduate institutes, which typically require participation in one's own psychoanalysis as a patient at a frequency of three to five times a week for the duration of one's training. New York State’s licensure disregards this history, and has no such requirement.

All of us are in our own therapy treatment, or have participated in years-long psychoanalysis as a patient, or both.

Simply as a matter of shorthand, “psychotherapy” often takes place once or twice a week, while “psychoanalysis” takes place at three to five times a week. Often, patients in psychoanalysis lie on a couch with the therapist seated behind them rather than facing their therapist.

Psychodynamic therapy is therapy that proceeds from the assumption that we are the architects of our own experience, and that when we struggle with something, part of what we are struggling with is our own unconscious relationship to that something. "Symptoms" are more often than not solutions to intrapsychic conflicts, and psychodynamic therapy proceeds from the presumption that their resolution depends not just on willpower, but on growth, healing, and change.

Anywhere from once or twice a week psychotherapy to three to five times a week psychoanalysis.

In “supervision,” our clinicians discuss their clinical work either one-on-one with a clinical supervisor or in a group. Clinical supervision might more accurately be described as consultation - the purpose is to give the clinician an opportunity to think about the clinical work they do with one or more other trained clinicians, to ensure they are providing the best possible service - and, to make sure they’re not missing anything. See our Philosophy page for more information.

No. All clinicians are bound by rigorous obligations of confidentiality. When discussing patients, clinicians typically anonymize them. Furthermore, any peer or supervisory participant in supervision is obligated to keep any information they hear confidential.

No. Supervision is a consultation intended to help your clinician think about the work they are doing with you to ensure they are not missing anything due to blind spots or the challenge of being close to someone or something.

We believe every clinician benefits from supervision, regardless of how skilled or experienced they may be, and that every patient benefits from the supervision their clinician receives.