A. Degrees: Tim has a Masters in Counseling/Sport Psychology, aMasters in Clinical Psychology, and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. This means he has engaged in rigorous studies and supervised training to develop a broad skills base and to meet your specific needs. He knows what the research says and how to apply it.
Licensures: Tim has been a licensed provider since 2007. He is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Maryland and Montana. This means that he’s met academic and supervision requirements to demonstrate that he’s equipped to treat mental health diagnoses. Licensure also means your insurance company will consider reimbursing you when you’re seeing him for therapy/counseling (see more below).
Certifications: Tim is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP is the leading organization guiding the field), and has been since 2008. See this video to understand why the CMPC credential is important:
Tim is also Board Certified in Biofeedback (BCB) with the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA certifies individuals who meet education and training standards in biofeedback and progressively recertifies those who advance their knowledge through continuing education).
A. Biofeedback is a way to see your physiological stress responses, typically on a computer screen, and learn how to influence them. There are many different modalities of biofeedback, that can be used to influence: heart rate variability, respiration, sweat, skin temperature, muscle tension, and even brain wave activity. Tim views biofeedback as one of many ‘tools’ at his disposal. He often uses it to teach stress management and to learn self-regulation for performance. If you have a particular interest in biofeedback, speak with Tim about that.
A. Ongoing meetings usually happen weekly, are typically 55 minutes (or sometimes half that for mental performance coaching), and they’re typically guided by you, the client. Tim may check in on themes or loose ends, and may be more directive with performance coaching, but typically the focus is up to you and it’s okay not to have a plan before meeting.
A. The ‘intake’ is about 1.5 hours long and is a chance for you to ask more questions, and Tim will give a quick verbal summary of forms (do your reading in advance though!), plus Tim will spend most of the meeting asking questions to gather a comprehensive picture of who you are and to start charting the path forward.
A. Usually folks check in with Tim first by phone first, to make sure he is a good fit, sharing the gist of what you want to work on, and asking any questions including financial ones. Then, you can complete registration information online, including biographical information and (if you’re registering for therapy, not coaching) insurance information. Once registered, you should receive an automated email with Tim’s forms. If you’re doing therapy, the first part of the pdf applies to you, and you can print/sign p.8-9 to bring to the first meeting. If you’re signing on for coaching, the second part applies and you can print/sign p.21-22. People usually set the first appointment time with Tim by phone or email, but then your login can be used again in the future to see the calendar and to schedule directly.
A. Insurance only applies when we are talking about psychotherapy/counseling, and not for mental performance coaching. And, if work with Tim is primarily biofeedback, insurance likely won’t cover that either. If you want to use insurance, keep in mind, that Tim is an out-of-network provider, meaning that he does not directly take insurance. However, he’ll make it a little easier for you by submitting claims directly to your insurance for you (after you pay Reaching Ahead directly). If you call your insurance company to ask them about reimbursement rates, you can tell them that Dr. Tim Herzog is an out-of-network LCPC, who uses the following CPT codes: 90791 (for 1.5 hour intake); 90837 (for ongoing 55 minute sessions); 90876 (for biofeedback/psychotherapy, 55 minutes); and 90901 (for ‘pure’ biofeedback, which is rarely reimbursed).
A. You can think of the three on a continuum, and you could even add sport/fitness coaching to that continuum.
Psychotherapy is diving deeper, often not just understanding how the past affects you now, but also emotionally working through this difficult stuff. Counseling can overlap with therapy but is often very present focused, directive, and action-oriented. For simplicity, Tim lumps these approaches together and uses what feels most appropriate at the right time, and therapy/counseling is often insurance reimbursable. Mental performance coaching can include some light counseling to overcome barriers to performance, but it is often centered directly on learning mental skills for enhanced performance. Tim is experienced in providing counseling, mental performance coaching, and mentoring by videoconference or phone; in-person services will become more available as the pandemic subsides. Sport or fitness coaching involves directly training physical or technical skills associated with performance, the stuff we typically think of as ‘coaching’. As a former college coach, Tim knows sailing and can coach when that makes sense for sailing clients, but he doesn’t know other sports to that degree.
For a deeper exploration, check out an academic article that Tim and his colleague, Dr. Kate Hays wrote on the topic: Therapist or Mental Skills Coach? How to Decide published in the Sports Psychologist.