LEARN THE BASICS

MAY 2023

How to find affordable therapy

When searching for a counselor or therapist, it’s easy to become discouraged by the choices, costs and lack of availability. Out-of-pocket therapy typically costs anywhere from $100 to $200, with higher costs in more expensive urban areas.

You may be tempted to end the hunt and find other ways to cope with life’s challenges. And while lifestyle changes, such as getting enough sleep and regular exercise, can be enormously beneficial for your mental health, meeting regularly with a mental health professional can be an invaluable resource.

But don’t give up on connecting with a counselor before taking a closer look at what’s available — some of it for free — through your Costco benefits.

Print

Looking for more? Find other articles below

Make Resources For Living your first stop

Costco is committed to the well-being of employees and their dependents. Resources For Living^® (RFL^®) is just one example of that commitment. RFL, Costco’s employee assistance program (EAP), gives you access to a wide range of mental health support services as well as assistance in finding the resources that best meet your needs. And it’s free to you, your household members and your dependent children up to age 26, whether or not you’re covered by a Costco medical plan.

Find support every step of the way

The front door to RFL services and support is your RFL Care Partner. They are your single point of contact throughout your mental health journey. Not only can they help you understand your benefits, they can also guide you through your options, help create a plan and connect you to care that meets your preferences.

For example, if you’d prefer a therapist who bills on a sliding scale (based on your ability to pay), offers evening hours and is your same gender and ethnicity, your Care Partner will do the leg work for you and find an in-network provider who is accepting new patients and checks all those boxes.

They will also refer you to resources in your community and connect you with the many work-life support services that are available through Resources for Living.

Take advantage of six free counseling sessions

Through Costco, you and every member of your household have access to six free counseling sessions, with in-person, televideo and chat options. You decide what works best for you. Counselors can help you with such issues as:

• Relationship support
• Stress management
• Work/life balance
• Family issues
• Grief and loss
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Substance misuse
• Self-esteem and personal development

All RFL counselors are qualified mental health professionals. But, if for any reason you’d prefer to talk to a different counselor, just contact RFL and they’ll help you get scheduled with someone else.

Explore other RFL mental health resources

RFL also provides the following mental health resources.

• Talkspace offers virtual therapy for teens 13+ and adults. Send text messages to your therapist via web browser or the Talkspace mobile app. Your therapist will typically respond once per day, five days per week. You also have the option to meet with your therapist online for 30-minute televideo sessions. Each meeting counts as one of your free sessions. If you are enrolled in an Aetna Medical plan, you can continue to access Talkspace services after you’ve completed your free sessions, with a $15 copay.
• Brightline is a virtual one-stop shop for pediatric behavioral health and family support. With Brightline, as of January 1, 2024, families of children under 18, including newborns, can access health coaches and digital resources to support challenges such as sleep concerns, ADHD, depression and behavioral issues. Therapy and counseling sessions are also available for children age 6 to 18 years.
• Digital self-paced support: Access to evidence-based support tools to help manage depression, anxiety, work/life balance, stress, substance misuse and more.

Get mental health support through your Costco medical plan

If you’re enrolled in a Costco medical plan, mental health benefits are covered through your plan, including counseling and substance-misuse treatment. If you want to continue counseling after your six free sessions, you can continue with your therapist under your Costco medical plan, with deductible and co-pays. Your Care Partner can also help you find another in-network therapist, if that’s your preference.

Before you pay out of pocket for therapy, turn to your Costco medical plan for local therapists who are in your network. You can find a counselor, therapist or psychiatrist, just as you would any medical provider, by going to Costcobenefits.com and clicking Find a Provider under What if I. You can even narrow your search by specialty, such as anxiety disorders, child specialist, marriage/family focus and many more. You’ll pay the same copay for a therapist that you would for a medical doctor.

Source: Resources For Living