An in-depth look at how to appropriately bill and code couple therapy

Interview-style, with Elizabeth Irias, LMFT

  • Course Description

    Working with couples is not only clinically challenging, but it can be difficult to navigate the added complexities in the areas of billing, documentation, and ethical practice. Who really is your client? Must you choose an identified patient, and if so, how do you choose? How do you diagnose a couple? Do you need two charts and two treatment plans? Whose permission do you need to release the record? When can you bill insurance, and when can't you? How do you bill for longer couples sessions? This engaging and informative course covers numerous practical issues clinicians encounter frequently when working with couples, challenges myths about billing for couple therapy, and invites clinicians to think more carefully about ethical couple therapy insurance billing practices.This entertaining presentation will cover practical issues you deal with daily when working with couples, challenge myths you may have heard, and invite you to think more carefully about your current couple therapy insurance billing practices.

  • Learning Objectives

    Upon completing this course, participants will be able to: Describe when it is ethical to bill insurance for couples therapy and when it is not; Discuss how insurance plans look at the concepts of "Identified Patient" and "diagnosis" when treating a couple; List three or more ethical considerations relating to coding and billing couple therapy sessions


    Target Audience and Instructional Level
    This course is intended for psychologists, therapists, social workers, clinical counselors, and addiction counselors. Instructional level: Intermediate

  • How To Take This Course

    In order to receive a certificate of completion reflecting the associated CE credit hour, you must:
    #1: Have an active paid Clearly Clinical membership
    #2: Listen to the corresponding course podcast
    #3: Achieve a passing grade on the post-presentation test (the test has up to ten questions and you must earn a score of at least 80%; you are able to re-test)
    #4: Complete the requested course evaluation.

    Course elements (including the course audio, post-test, and requested course evaluation) can be completed on a computer or mobile device via your Clearly Clinical account.

  • Course Format

    This high-quality and interesting course contains a one-hour, non-interactive audio podcast presentation which is available for free via all major public podcast providers. You can also listen to and download the file via our course player.

  • Commercial Support

    There is no known commercial support or conflict of interest for this CE program, presenter, sponsor, instructor, or content.

  • Certificate Access Details

    Once you've completed the course, your certificate will automatically populate in the 'Certificate' section of your account; it will also be emailed to you. Access to completion certificate will expire 365 days after issuance. Course certificates will be on file for ten (10) years from date of course completion.

  • Accommodations

    If you have special needs or need an accommodation, please email us at info@clearlyclinical.com and we will do our best to assist you.

Interviewee and Interviewer

Barbara Griswold, LMFT #27210

Insurance and Billing Expert

Barbara Griswold, LMFT, is a private practice consultant and the author of Navigating the Insurance Maze: The Therapist’s Complete Guide to Working with Insurance -- And Whether You Should, now out in its 8th edition. She is celebrating 30 years in private practice, and has taught over 120 trainings on insurance and documentation, providing consultations to therapists nationwide. Barbara invites you to contact her via her website, Navigating The Insurance Maze.

Elizabeth 'Beth' Irias, MS, LMFT

Interviewer & Clearly Clinical Founder

Elizabeth 'Beth' Irias (she/her) is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and the Founder and President of Clearly Clinical. She has specializations in Clinical Documentation, Best Practice, and Utilization Review, and works closely with clinical teams across the US as a trainer and national conference presenter; Beth was formerly an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University in the Graduate Psychology and Education department. Licensed in California and Oregon, she provides therapy via her private practice to young adult and adult clients, members of the LGBTQ population, and those with addictive disorders. She has two young children, a super cool spouse who helps out with Clearly Clinical's tech, and a rescue dog.

See why we're the country's premier CE provider

  • CONVENIENT: All courses are 1-hour podcast episodes, available on all public podcast platforms

  • AFFORDABLE: We offer quality CE courses through a reasonably-priced membership

  • SOCIALLY-RESPONSIBLE: We donate to The Trevor Project for LGBTQIA+ youth suicide prevention

  • WOMEN-OWNED: We are founded and run by Elizabeth Irias, LMFT

  • DIVERSE: We highlight expert presenters from historically-marginalized communities

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