IntraSpectrum Counseling — Mental health service in Chicago, IL

This organization over billed me and has been promising to refund the monies owed since Mid-June 2023. I have sent several follow-up messages with zero response from both their customer care team as well as my former therapist. I had decided to stop therapy with IntraSpectrum after several months mainly due to my therapist often not following through on promised tools and aftercare work. This combined with the ongoing billing issue has made me seek therapy from a more reputable organization. I would steer clear of IntraSpectrum has I see there are other reviews detailing similar issues to mine. I just wished I had gone to Google before starting care with IntraSpectrum.

I've been very disappointed with the level of service from this company and just want to warn others that they prioritize insurance companies over clients and their mental health. Therapy requires trust and the ability to make a connection with people, but they really miss the mark. They operate as a corporation, trying to squeeze as much as they can from their clients, with a significant lack of empathy and understanding of each client's unique needs. Obviously, everyone's experience is different, but I wish I had paid more attention to the red flags from the beginning.

Disappointing - Please BEWARE of this practice, let me explain. Overall, I had high hopes for this practice, being a person of the LGBTQIA+ community, it was important to me to work with someone who could understand where I was coming from. Through a referral, I found this place. Started well, however, my initial provider cancelled on me day of, a few times, with as little notice as one hour. I am an understanding person and can totally be flexible when folks get sick OR emergencies come up. Out of nowhere, I received an email from Intraspectrum telling me that I had to immediately shift therapists. This was particularly tough for me because it took forever for me to build up the courage to go in the first place. They DID help me pivot to a new provider; however, the paperwork process was wild, they continued to have me complete the same paperwork, multiple times for no reason. Ending up having a few client profiles under my name? This was strange to me given their field of work and what they charge. I was happy with my new service provider, and attended weekly without missing a single day. My provider also suggested a process/support group to me, I joined, and had some great take-aways from that! It was wonderful to learn, share, and grow together, with other folks from the community. However, my impression of Intraspectrum and their practices with recent events. On Tuesday, March 5th, I informed my service provider that I was very ill, tested positive for Covid-19, and would not be able to attend my appointment later that day. I was in bed, wasn't moving, had a fever, and after discussion with my PCP, was contemplating going to the ER for my labored breathing. My therapist informed me that because my cancellation was "late", there would be a charge. I was barely in any condition to be responding to emails about money. However, at that moment, I thought to myself, how can this be? I've been cancelled on a total of (3) times by the therapists I had, during my time at Intraspectrum. I, myself, had never late cancelled once! So later in the week on Friday, March 8th, after I was able to recover a bit, I emailed Client Services about my illness, to ask if they would like a Dr's note, and found out if there was any possibility of waiving the fee. I received a call, four days later, from the Clinical Director of Intraspectrum and he explained that they treat Covid-19 like the Flu, and folks are expected to attend in person OR via telehealth. He then went on to tell me that my request to waive the $135.00 late cancellation fee was denied. I was flabbergasted and couldn't believe what I was hearing. I have managed businesses all my adult life, specifically those that deal with appointments and have never heard of such an absurd practice. You, the Clinical Director, want me to attend a therapy session, with a fever and labored breathing? What is wrong with you? I replied via email to him and have yet to hear a response about my dissatisfaction, explaining that I would like to cancel all future appointments. The company already charged my card on file for $135.00. Because I sent this email, following his phone call Monday, March 11th. My final appointment was scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th. THEY CHARGED ME ANOTHER $135.00 for "missing" my final appointment......as their policy states to you MUST give 48 hours notices, however, I once again, never late canceller, nor received the same courtesy when I was cancelled on, by both of my therapists, a total of three times. THIS PLACE IS MONEY HUNGRY! While they have some great folks working for them, I took away a good amount, their practices, operational policies and billing standards are ALL out of wack. If you decide they are worth pursuing, please make sure to ask questions, cancel extremely far in advance, and NEVER get sick! I would hate to see anyone else being taken advantage of, like I was. Intraspectrum DO BETTER!

you’re literally better off just going for a walk and drinking a glass of water than trying to get therapy here lol there’s nothing wrong with the therapists but the company fails so miserably at communication (but is so successful at taking your money!) that you’ll need therapy from your therapy

Edit: They emailed me and took care of the fees. Thank you for management doing the right thing in end. I signed up my kids to have therapy with Intraspectrum. The Therapists themselves are wonderful. The billing situation/team? NOT SO MUCH. We accidently missed ONE appt and got charged the $180 fee they charge you for a missed appt. I begged them for help as that was out of my budget and we never had any other missed appts. We had to pay it either way, ok, I get it, and I was relieved that they offered a payment plan where they would charge me weekly (on a Thursday, which made no sense since most people don't get paid on Thursdays...but beggars cant be choosers...) for X amount towards the bill until it was paid off. They force you to have a cc on file which they auto charge you 2 days past an appt for co-pays. Ok, cool, fine, whatever, but they allowed the system to then charge me in full for the full $180. Panicked, I emailed them (no number to call...) and they reversed it, apologized, and charged the X amount agreed on for the payment plan. Rinse and repeat the FOLLOWING week. AGAIN, full amount charged, they apologized again, and said, yet again, it was a communication error on their end and they requested to refund the charge, but unlike the previous weeks charge where I was able to be refunded right away, they tell me it will be 2-5 business days until I get the refund. Ok, so, NOW I am paying the daily overdraft fee's for the incorrect amount they charged my card. This is so beyond messed up. Look, I am NOT made of money. $180 may not be a lot for some, but it is for me. I was trying to get my kids some therapy. This has become a stress induced and reoccurring experience. I had also heard about they way they were treating the therapists. Not great. We stopped therapy at their place because, frankly, I don't trust them. At this point, I figured I would share this info online. Stay away. Unless you are made of money.

I would not recommend this counseling service. We worked with one of their therapist for about 6 months in 2020. Two years later tried to restart counseling sessions with the same therapist. The office in-take people at the center never returned emails regarding the insurance in-take process. After 5 weeks with no response from their office I reached out to the therapist to see if they could figure out what was going on. Never heard back from their office staff.

I was in Colorado in the mountains for my friends wedding and didn’t realize that they scheduled an intake for me. With missing my appointment and the two intakes I did, I have been charged over $300. Now I can’t afford my therapy. It’s unfortunate because if they hadn’t charged me so much I would have continued in my group, which I was very excited about. I did really like the therapists I met, so that was a positive aspect of my experience.

I've tried to call several days in a row. Nobody answers their phone. I wouldn't go to counseling someplace where nobody answers the phone when they charge a 185 dollar late/noshow fee.

I was late to a virtual appointment last year and was charged $185. It was the first time I was late, and the charge was 10x my copay. I probably would have stayed longer if the rapport I had with my counselor made this penalty feel worthwhile. My mom is a therapist, and her experiences with cancelations make me understand why this was the case. I wish this were better communicated, because the charge turned me off from therapy despite knowing its benefits. I'm curious if Intraspectrum has since updated their cancelation policy such that clients who are seeking therapy aren't as financially bound by consequences they're seeking to develop skills to prevent.

They take their appointments seriously and will not hesitate to charge their full rate if you cancel an appointment without their required notice. I just resent that their full rate is more than they would have made from your insurance and copay combined.