Low Cost and Free Therapy in Miami + All Florida
I Can’t Afford Therapy Out of Pocket. How Can Modern Intimacy Help?
Finances can be one of the most significant barriers to receiving mental health care, especially when services are not covered by health insurance. In order to offer our services to those who need free options for therapy, we’ve introduced an option that can allow us to work with clients who can’t afford to pay out of pocket.
The reason we’re able to offer free therapy services is due to our training program where we work with graduate students, also called externs, who are starting the clinical training step of their education. Students who qualify as externs have completed most of their clinical psychology program and are working towards their required hours to graduate and eventually become licensed.
How are Externs Trained at Modern Intimacy?
Our externs work closely with our clinical staff, are specifically trained, and supervised. Our externship program is curated and operated by Modern Intimacy founder, Dr. Kate Balestrieri, who is a licensed psychologist, certified sex therapist, and certified sex addiction therapist. Dr. Balestrieri personally hand picks candidates from respected universities and hires the candidates with impressive clinical insight, curiosity, and willingness to learn and grow.
All externs are also diligently supervised weekly by Dr. Kate Balestrieri to ensure all therapy services are up to Modern Intimacy’s high standards.
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What Mental Health Issues Are Externs Able to Help With?
Externs are trained in clinical approaches to myriad mental health and sexual health concerns. There may be some areas of therapy that are outside of an extern’s scope of competence, but some of the common areas they can help with include:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Body image issues
- Substance abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Improving relationship with sex
- Managing life stressors
- Navigating major life transitions
- Setting boundaries
- Healing from trauma
- Exploring sexuality
- LGBTQ+ affirming therapy
- Building confidence and self esteem
I Already Have an Individual Therapist, but My Partner and I Could Use Couple’s Therapy. Is Free Couples Therapy Possible with Modern Intimacy Externs?
Yes! Our externs work with both individuals and couples. Externs are able to help couples navigate concerns around mental and sexual health. If you are looking to work with a sex therapist but are unable to find someone in your price range, working with an extern can be a great option as they are trained and supervised directly by certified sex therapists.
Some common issues couples come to therapy looking for support with include, but are not limited to:
- Improving communication
- Learning conflict resolution skills
- Improving intimacy and connection
- Healing relational trauma
- Working with sexual dysfunction(s)
- Betrayal trauma and infidelity
- Presence of mental health concerns
- Building empathy
- Addressing codependency
- Boundary setting
- Developing co-parenting strategies
- Navigating complicated family dynamics
- Opening the relationship & ethical non monogamy
- Exploring kink/BDSM
This is not an exhaustive list, but includes some of the most common areas our externs work with clients around.
I Do Not Live in South Florida. Is There a Way That I Can Work With an Extern Over Video?
- At the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, our practice went completely remote and has since been successfully conducting fully virtual sessions with clients since. As such, no matter where you live in the state of Florida, you can work with one of our externs via video based therapy.
When it comes to virtual therapy, or telehealth/teletherapy, there is often an added convenience of attending therapy sessions from the comfort of your home. Of course we want you to be comfortable, and we also want to ensure your privacy is protected. For all virtual sessions, make sure you are in a quiet and private location where you will feel able to speak freely about the content of the session.
What If My Goals and Needs are Too Complex for an Extern, but I Still Need a Lower Rate?
Due to the early experience with clinical work, externs are not going to be the best fit for every single person/couple, especially when it comes to very complex issues around sex and mental health. If we determine that your goals and therapeutic needs are outside the extern’s scope of competence, we’re happy to speak about other options such as working with one of our other clinicians on a sliding fee scale, when we have spots available.
If working with an extern isn’t a good fit and the other options at our practice are outside of your financial means, we can always offer low cost mental health resources outside of our practice. No matter what, we are here to help you find the right care for your needs, whether it’s with our practice or outside of Modern Intimacy.
How Do You Determine if I’m an Appropriate Fit With an Extern?
Before a session is booked, we highly recommend scheduling a free 30 minute consultation with our Intake Specialist. The Intake Specialist will learn more about your goals and can determine if any of our available externs are able to help. During this 30 minute consultation, you may also ask any questions you have about our externs, training process, and any other questions/concerns.
To book a free 30 minute consultation, please visit our contact page and use the calendar scheduler to select a day and time that works best for you. In order to properly assess therapeutic fit, please ensure you are somewhere where you can openly discuss your needs. It often helps to have a full picture of your goals to fully determine if working with an extern is a proper fit.