FAQs for Counseling and Therapy in Alabama

Yes, we use a secure HIPPA-compliant platform to offer video counseling.

We do not accept insurance. We can accept HSA (Health Savings Account) cards, though. Please go to our Rates and Insurance page to learn more about why we do not take insurance. We will give you a Superbill to file for out-of-network benefits. Please see the Rates and Insurance page to learn more.

You can call 205-538-3978 to speak to our Practice Manager. If we do not answer, please leave a message on our confidential voicemail. We will return your call as soon as possible. You can also send our Practice Manager an email at hello@sparrowcounsel.com requesting an appointment.

We have found that meeting weekly improves clients’ progress toward their goals. For that reason, we meet with clients weekly. We establish a set time to meet each week and that will be our reoccurring weekly appointment.

Here are 6 reasons we believe committing to weekly therapy will provide you with the best results!

Sara Hadgraft: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 am to 6:30 pm

Peyton Richard: Monday through Thursday from 12 pm to 8 pm, and Friday from 9 am to 5 pm

Grace Casper: Wednesday 8 am to 6:30 pm, Thursday, 8 am to 4 pm, and Friday 8 am to 5 pm

We have a 48-hour cancellation policy, but we understand that is not always possible because, well… “life happens.” We do have a very firm 24-hour cancellation policy, so if you need to cancel for any reason, make sure you give us 24 hours notice to avoid paying the late cancellation fee, which is the full session rate. We offer phone and video sessions in case something happens last minute that prevents you from coming to your appointment.

We offer 55-minute sessions.  The number of sessions needed to address your needs will depend on the intensity and volume of issues you bring to counseling.

We all need a fresh voice in our lives from time to time.  Maybe you are struggling with a loss, trying to overcome a daunting challenge, or seeking guidance on a future decision.  A counselor can help you understand better why you do what you do and how to best steer yourself in the direction you most want to go.  If we do not find a safe outlet to explore and understand our grief, pain, hopes, and dreams then we typically isolate and ultimately wither.  I urge you NOT to surrender your identity and worth so easily. If you have grown quiet, let me help you find your voice again.  Maybe you have withdrawn from the world, let me help you re-engage. Perhaps you have lost the ability to dream of better days, let me help you rediscover hope.

Talking with an objective third party as opposed to family or friends has some distinct advantages.  When processing with people that we are intimately involved, we tend to censor or manage our thoughts and emotions in an effort to minimize disruption to the relationship.  In counseling, you can speak freely without hesitation or concern for the backlash fronfiltm uered honesty. Counselors listen without judgment and ask questions that help clients sort through the raw material they excavate in counseling. While friends and family often focused on helping you find a quick solution or explanation, a good counselor will take the time to help you identify probable causes, implement effective coping skills and inspire new perspectives and possibilities.

The ultimate goal of counseling is to apply what you learn in sessions to your life.  If you commit to honest reflection and resolve to change what you can, you will quickly see a difference in your internal reality and eventually in your experience of the external world. Your progress will depend greatly on your personal investment in the process.  The more attention you give to your personal growth and healing, the better you will become.  At times you may be encouraged to journal your thoughts and feelings, listen to a podcast, read a book or engage in self-care activities to promote progress, but the decision to participate will always be yours to make.

When you schedule your first appointment, you will sign into a secure online client portal and fill out and sign all the forms necessary to begin counseling. We ask that these forms are filled out 24 hours before your first appointment. These forms will provide me with some initial information about you and give you some additional information about the counseling process.

In our first session, it will be important to answer some preliminary questions regarding your personal story and what has brought you to Sparrow Counseling, LLC. Coming to a shared understanding of expectations and goals for sessions is helpful in determining the pace and approach that would work best for you and the issues you identify as pressing.  We will typically pose questions to give some direction and structure to our time together, and at the conclusion of each session, we will review our progress and agree on appropriate action steps.

Absolutely.  Confidentiality is crucial for a productive, safe counseling relationship. Confidentiality creates a space for vulnerability and honesty, which are prerequisites for growth and healing.  I will hold all you disclose in our sessions in strict confidence unless (1) you direct me to tell someone else and you sign a “Release of Information” form; (2) I determine that you are a danger to yourself or to others; (3) you report information about the abuse of a child, an elderly person, or a disabled individual who may require protection; or (4)  A judge orders me to disclose information.

We consider ourselves a learning facility because often have interns who join our clients’ sessions. We provide this opportunity to interns to further their education and prepare them to be excellent clinicians in their fields. These students are future marriage and family therapists working towards the required hours needed to graduate from their graduate programs. As clinicians, we like to describe the experience to our clients as getting two therapists for the price of one.

The decision to have an intern join your appointments is completely up to each client. Before an intern is asked to join a session for the first time, we require all clients to complete an Intern Informed Consent form to ensure they are comfortable with an intern joining their sessions. If they do not want an intern to participate in their therapy, they do not have to sign the consent form.

A counselor's training helps people articulate their struggles and assist them through difficult seasons and situations in life.  They focus more on providing support and direction for common life issues like relationship conflicts, identity crises, depression, recovery, etc. Psychiatrists specialize in the treatment of severe mental issues and are authorized to prescribe psychiatric medications since they are medical doctors.

That is a decision for you to make with guidance from your doctor and psychiatrist.  They have the training and authority to advise you on what is best for your health and happiness on those particular treatment options. However, it is well established that the long-term solution to mental and emotional problems often requires more than medication. While medication can help manage symptoms, counseling addresses the root of our brokenness and provides new perspectives on old behaviors. I believe that long-term stability and growth are best achieved with an integrative approach that includes counseling and medication as needed.

Read my blog that I wrote on the FAQs about couples counseling.

Read my blog to answer your questions about the first session in couples counseling.

Discernment Counseling is your answer! We love discernment counseling. Read this blog to find out more about discernment counseling.

Here is another blog explaining what discernment counseling can do and how it may help!

Mediation during a divorce is a way to find solutions to issues without litigation. Litigation can often be costly, time-consuming, and emotionally taxing on the family. In mediation, the parties have more power and control of how to divide assets and setting up a parenting plan. In litigation, the parties lose their power and the judge decides their future. Mediation is a confidential process. Each party can have a lawyer present at the mediation to represent their best interests. In Alabama, if there has been a restraining order placed on a party due to domestic violence the mediator must have an extra 14-hours of domestic violence training. I have been through that training. Mediation may be a safer avenue for divorcing parties with domestic violence to participate in, simply because litigation is often so contentious many believe that mediation will protect victims more.

As a coparenting counselor, I start by working with the parents on a parenting plan that they both agree to. We try to make the plan as flexible and structured as possible. I know that is a contradiction but kids need structure but as they grow they need flexibility and you need a parenting plan that can grow with them. After we have completed the parenting plan, I bring in an attorney to work with the couple on the financial issues and to discuss any final legal issues with the couple. I believe this saves couples time and money. It also helps couples learn how to sit down at a table and begin to learn how to hash out family issues, which is something they will be doing as coparents for many years to come.

I believe it depends on the issues. If there are a lot of complicated financial assets a lawyer may be the better choice. However, if the main issues are child custody and parenting plans then a counselor with experience in working with divorcing or divorced families may better serve this couple to help them see what emotional issues to think about in terms of their children.

Co-parenting counseling helps parents who are separating, separated, divorcing or divorced understand better how to care for their children as their marriage is in distress or dissolving completely.  Divorce can be very traumatic for the children involved. Co-parenting counseling can help parents discern what is best for their children during a disruptive and difficult time in their family.  Co-parenting counseling can assist with logistics like visitation schedules and parameters as well as healthy coping mechanisms and communication.

Many of your questions can be answered on our coparenting counseling page.

Parenting Coordination is a non-confidential, child-centered process for conflicted divorced and divorcing parents. It is a form of dispute resolution for parents in which mediation would be inappropriate or ineffective due to high levels of parental conflict. The overall emphasis is to offer children the opportunity to grow in a home environment free from the devastating stress of being caught in the middle of parental conflict.  Through education, mediation and case management, the family’s progress is monitored to ensure that parents are fulfilling their obligations to their child while complying with the recommendations of the court. With prior approval of the parties and/or the Court, the Parenting Coordinator may make temporary decisions, within the scope of the court order or appointment contract, to help high-conflict parents who have demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to make parenting decisions on their own.

Please click on the link provided here to my rates and fees page.

The name Sparrow Counseling was inspired by the Bible verse in Matthew that says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

This Bible verse inspired not only the name of our practice, Sparrow Counseling, but the mission as well. It is our goal and heart's desire to help people understand their value amidst even their deepest, darkest struggles. Jesus gently commands us to not be afraid. He reminds us that even the sparrow is taken care of daily and He will most certainly not forget us as we are worth far more to Him. While faith is an important part of our personal mission, we only bring it into the counseling session if the client is comfortable with discussions around faith. We let the client take the lead.

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost.

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services. 

You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services.

You can ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service.

If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises. 

You will be provided a Good Faith Estimate when you sign up for services and any other time you request one, including before signing up for services. We recommend at least 3 sessions, the average number of sessions for our practice is 12, and the exact number you will need depends on your individual circumstances and needs.