Respark Group
Frequently Asked Questions

Call our office directly at 512-537-0922, or use our online form. Our friendly Respark Associates are available for a free 15-minute consultation to talk with you about the main reasons you are seeking counseling/therapy and schedule your appointment with the best therapist given your needs.

The office location in North Central Austin, Texas -

3921 Steck Ave, Suite A-105, Austin, TX 78759

The office location in South Austin, Texas -

4425 S. Mopac Expy Building 2, Austin, TX 78735

The office location in San Antonio, Texas -

1520 Contour Dr.
San Antonio, Texas 78212

The office location in Denver, Colorado is:

800 Grant St Suite 340, Denver, Colorado 80203

We also provide online therapy for those who would prefer to see their therapist online in any part of Texas, Colorado, or Washington. Coaching services are available worldwide.

During your first appointment at Respark, you can expect to meet with your therapist and get a feel for each other. You will walk through your paperwork and presenting issues together, and understand if you are a good fit for each other or not. If it so happens that you might not be a good fit, the Respark therapist can assist you in getting scheduled with a Respark therapist that would better fit your needs. 

Each and every person’s mental health journey is different. Some people stay in therapy for weeks while others stay in therapy for years, or even life. Throughout your mental health journey you can expect highs and lows, and ups and downs. A Respark Therapist is here to endure it all with you.

Our care team does their best to listen to your needs and presenting issues and helps to match you up with a therapist that best fits your needs. You can also read about all of our therapists on our website in their biographies, and you can also listen to/watch their introduction videos to get a better idea of who they are inside the therapy room.

Still not sure who is the best fit for you? Take our quiz to learn which of our experienced clinicians is right for you.

Therapy at Respark helps your relationship by engaging in constructive communication with each other with the assistance of our trained therapists. In therapy you work on relationship building and bonding, communication strategies, and specific goals and strategies to best fit your specific needs for relationship counseling. 

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Sex therapy is a specialized type of psychotherapy — a general term for treating mental health problems by talking with a mental health professional. Through sex therapy, you can address concerns about sexual function or dysfunction, sexual feelings and intimacy, either in individual therapy or couples or family therapy. Sex therapy can be effective for individuals of any age, gender or sexual orientation.” At Respark, we specialize in all of these issues, including trans awareness, LGBTQ+ community issues, polyamorous or open style relationships, sexual compatibility, sexual desire, and kink-related issues.

Therapists/Counselors are verified by their credentials and licenses. Most of of our therapists are licensed by their state as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) or an Associate. A CST therapist means they are a certified sex therapist, and have gone through the extensive training to meet that required credential. At Respark Therapy, many of our therapists are also verified as they are all enrolled in the Sexual Health Alliance’s Sex Therapy Certification Program, where they gain constant training and education around sexuality and relationship issues. 

We have therapists that range in price based on their experience level. Our graduate students/master’s level clinicians at $85/hr, post-graduate interns/candidates at $125-$150/hr, and our fully licensed clinicians at $175-$250/hr.

For those who are unable to afford these rates, please check out Respark Foundation.

Virtual therapy can be held through a phone call or a video call session. When doing therapy by phone, your therapist will call your preferred phone number by the start time of your session. When doing a session by video, your therapist will send you a link or instructions on how to access your virtual appointment before your start time of session. Either way, for virtual appointments we recommend you find somewhere you feel comfortable in and secluded enough to feel comfortable sharing vulnerable information with your therapist. We recommend playing a sound track outside of your door if others are in your space, or a loud fan or TV.

We offer telehealth sessions over video or phone at all times, and especially during this time of COVID-19. Research shows that telehealth sessions are an equally effective form of therapy. Our therapists are experienced with telehealth, and would be happy to discuss their flexible schedules, and how to ensure your comfort and privacy. We are now able to adapt to any platform you would like to use (FaceTime, zoom, skype, etc) as well as phone sessions. FaceTime recently updated their standards to be HIPPA compliant. You can expect a secure and safe environment from your therapist’s end. They will send you a link to your virtual meeting room based on the platform that feels more comfortable to you.

Through our online platform doxy.me, the video sessions are HIPPA compliant and we are now able to adapt to any platform you would like to use (FaceTime, zoom, skype, etc) as well as phone sessions. FaceTime recently updated their standards to be HIPPA compliant as well. As mentioned above, we also recommend playing a sound track outside of your door if others are in your space, or a loud fan or TV. 

We recommend approaching counseling with an open mind, and also understand that therapy is deep, vulnerable work that takes action on your part as a client along with the work the therapist is doing. Going to therapy isn’t a quick fix for your issues, it is a deep understanding while diving into your issues which tend to take a significant amount of time, but happens to be just as rewarding.

In couples therapy, sometimes therapists do like to have individual sessions with each partner as well. However, the therapist will not likely have more than 3 individual sessions with each partner. If you are wanting to see an individual therapist while also involved in couples therapy, we can schedule you with another one of our Respark Therapists. Per our board ethics it is not recommended or advisable for a client to see their individual therapist for couples therapy for more than a couple sessions or vice versa.

At the start of therapy, we recommend you see your therapist once a week to build a strong therapeutic relationship. Building the therapeutic relationship is key to establishing a constructive therapeutic experience. Once the relationship and bond has formed, you and your therapist can discuss meeting less often if that works better for your time schedule. 

• CST = Certified Sex Therapist. Being a certified sex therapist means they have undergone all of the education and training to become fully certified in sex therapy.
• LPC = Licensed Professional Counselor. This means the therapist has finished all required hours under supervision and is now fully licensed.
• LMFT = Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. This means the therapist has finished all required hours under supervision and is now fully licensed.
• LCSW = Licensed Clinical Social Worker. This means the therapist has finished all required hours under supervision and is now fully licensed as a social worker.
• LPC-C or LMFT-C = Licensed Professional Counselor (or Marriage and Family Therapist) Candidate. In the state of Colorado, this means the therapist is working towards their license under supervision.
• LPC-A or LMFT-A = Licensed Professional Counselor (or Marriage and Family Therapist) Associate.
• LPC Intern / LMFT Intern = Licensed Professional Counselor (or Marriage and Family Therapist) Intern. In the state of Texas, this means the therapist is working towards their license under supervision.
• Master’s Level Clinician = This means the therapist is still in graduate school and working for Respark at our sliding scale fee.

Friends are a great support system, but our friends know so much about us so sometimes their opinions are biased. Therapists provide a professional, unbiased opinion and approach to helping guide you through your experience. Therapists also spend many years studying within the field of counseling before beginning to practice, and ethically, there is a huge scope of knowledge to be met to accurately help someone navigate deep emotions, trauma, feelings, etc.

Sometimes it gets worse, sometimes it gets better. We view therapy as a combination of self-discovery and learning new ways to be in your environment. Your work will entail self-study and learning new personal and interpersonal skills and strategies. The process can be uplifting and motivating as well as uncomfortable and exhausting. Through diligent practice, however, things can shift. Different amounts of time are required depending on the issue of concern. Long-lasting change sometimes requires a significant time investment. This process is meant to improve relationships, communication, and productivity in one’s life, while helping you live more authentically. It is our goal to create a non-judgmental, compassionate and positive counseling experience that allows for this growth to happen.

As a therapist at Respark, we model unconditional positive regard meaning that our goal is to have an abundance of compassion and care for all of our clients. If you and your therapist have any sort of concern or rupture, the therapist should always give room to allow for a repair to be made. Our goal is to mirror constructive communication, and your therapist should be honest and clear with you about your relationship. If for any reason you and your therapist cannot seem to make a repair, you can talk with our clinical manager and they can redirect you to a therapist who might be a better fit. Sometimes personalities don't mesh and that's A-Okay. We will work to find you a therapist you will love.

At Respark, we believe couples therapy is for all kinds of relationships. Couples can come to therapy to work out their pressing issues, and couples can come to therapy to also work on maintaining their stable relationship. At Respark, not only do we help couples but we also specialize in seeing couples, throuples, and more who engage in alternative style relationships.

Absolutely. We offer a wide range of therapy for both couples and individuals. 

If you come to therapy as a couple, your therapist will always do a few individual sessions with you as well.

It is absolutely okay if a fight breaks out during the session. Sometimes fights can be just as constructive in session, as you have a trained psychotherapist sitting in the fight with you to help you navigate the issue.

You schedule a new appointment. Typically you see your therapist once a week or every other week. Once in a while, your therapist will provide you with a homework assignment depending on the situation in your therapy session that day.

In couples therapy, the therapist is there to benefit all people involved in the relationship. The goal of a couples therapist is to always do what is best for the relationship, couple or partners. Therefore, no, a couple's therapist does not take sides. 

• We offer out of network benefits.
  
• If you strongly prefer to go through your insurance then you must choose a therapist that is post-grad and has fees starting at $135/hr. At your request, we will provide you with a monthly receipt (known as a superbill) that you can submit for potential out-of-network reimbursement. If you would like to investigate the possibility of insurance coverage, call your provider and ask about reimbursement rates for out-of-network mental health services.
• One option for reimbursement is to go through  https://reimbursify.com/ which will submit claims for you.

*Please be advised that a mental health diagnosis is required for insurance reimbursement. Many clients choose to pay privately for their psychotherapy in order to bypass the medical diagnosis system.

• Respark does not take insurance directly.
• Keep in mind that most insurance does not cover couples counseling (a “V code” diagnosis of relational distress).
• If one of you has a medical diagnosis (anxiety or depression, for example) AND therapy is aimed at treating that condition and enhanced by working with the partner, insurance may cover the services. In that case, I can provide the receipt you would need for out of network reimbursement for our work together. Please ask me if you would like a receipt.
• It is up to you to check with your insurance plan about possible reimbursement for out of network services.
• If your company requests more information than is provided on the receipt, We will provide a brief summary of treatment and an explanation of why further treatment would be beneficial; We will not provide a treatment plan or therapy notes. You retain ultimate responsibility for payment for services if your insurance company decides that this documentation does not meet their requirements for coverage of your treatment.

If you need a very low sliding scale option, you may check out our 501(c)3 Non-Profit, Respark Foundation which slides to $25/hr for qualified clients dealing with sexual harm, trauma, abuse/neglect or relationship trauma. www.ResparkFoundation.org

In order to take insurance, we are required to diagnose our clients within the first session that insurance is being used. We typically like to avoid going through diagnosis, as diagnosis can be stigmatizing and inaccurate, especially after knowing your therapist for only 1-2 sessions. Many clients choose to pay privately for their psychotherapy in order to bypass the medical diagnosis system.

Your clothes will be on for all of our work together. Sex Therapy is a professional field of talk psychotherapy. It is a highly specialized form of therapy where we discuss your relationships, sexuality, history and development.

No. By our therapists board of ethics, therapists are forbidden to have a sexual relationship with any of their clients.

No you cannot. Our therapists strictly provide talk psychotherapy.

Always look for credentials when looking for a qualified sex therapist. CST means Certified Sex Therapist which implies that this therapist is fully certified and has done the intensive proper training around sexuality issues.

If you don’t like your therapist, a conversation with them about it is always welcomed. If this is uncomfortable to do, you are always welcome to talk with our clinical manager privately and confidentially about any concerns regarding your current therapist. Our awesome clinical managers are happy to assess and find someone who would be a better fit for you. Our therapists understand that they aren’t the best fit for everyone, and that’s okay! If you feel uncomfortable addressing this with your therapist, you can talk to our clinical manager (care@respark.co, 512-537-0922)

Yes, absolutely. You can discuss this with your therapist, or schedule your own at (https://resparkscheduling.as.me/)

Unfortunately, no. Not all of our offices are not yet wheelchair/differently-abled accessible but we will be working on this in the near future. 

By having a full team of well-trained and highly knowledgeable therapists on staff we are able to connect you with the one that is most appropriate for your particular problem. Our therapists do not practice in isolation. We regularly work as a team and consult with one another to ensure that our clients are getting the benefit of multiple therapists while only directly working with one. If needed and/or requested you have the ability to work with a different therapist without having to find an entirely new or solo counseling practice. All of our therapists are dedicated to providing the highest level of therapy and to using evidence-based techniques and the most useful couples and sex therapy practices.

You can email or call our care team to get scheduled with an appointment (care@respark.co (512-537-0922), or you can schedule your own appointment through our websites online scheduling system (https://resparkscheduling.as.me/)