Harrisburg, Pa. — A new telehealth option is available for Pennsylvanians dealing with mental health struggles.
Eileen Hunt, a licensed counselor, started Maple Hill Counseling in May of this year.
According to Maple Hill’s website, Hunt specializes in the treatment of adolescents and adults dealing with “anxiety, depression, stress management, adjustment, and relationship issues.”
Maple Hill currently only accepts Optum insurance, but Hunt said she is working to get AETNA and Highmark onboard by the end of the year. The rate per individual therapy session is $115 without insurance.
One problem with expanding the number of insurance providers offered is that many, like UPMC, require a physical location for in-person appointments, Hunt said.
Hunt said that those seeking services can, currently, get scheduled for their first appointment in two weeks.
Hunt said she still provides in-person counseling through a provider in Harrisburg, but that she saw a greater need for therapy during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“This pandemic is really causing a lack of resources for people,” Hunt said. “There’s a long waitlist for these [services].”
With the long waitlist that practices are experiencing, Hunt said she thought it’d be a “wise” decision to open her own telehealth practice to expand her reach past Harrisburg.
The service she provides isn’t wildly different from providers like BetterHelp, Hunt said, but their services did expand her idea of therapy.
“BetterHelp has helped me open my eyes to ‘oh, this is possible to do telehealth,’” Hunt said. “A lot of people do gravitate towards teletherapy because it’s convenient. It’s accessible. From my personal experience, I feel there’s a better show rate [rate of people that show for their appointment].”
Hunt said that the idea for Maple Hill Counseling had started a year into the COVID-19 pandemic after she had gotten used to it through the other provider she works for.
There was some initial discomfort, Hunt said, when dealing with telehealth as she was used to the “intimate” nature of in-person sessions. She said that once she started with telehealth, it was just as effective as her in-person sessions.
Maple Hill Counseling is currently accepting patients throughout Pennsylvania through their website, with appointments available well before the months long wait that in-person providers are experiencing, Hunt said.
“The waitlist [for in-person treatment] is kind of ridiculous,” Hunt said. “People need help now.”
