Community Institute For Psychotherapy

I was introduced to CIP by a friend when I was dealing with a very tough time in my life.
That was 15 years ago and I still see a counselor and just a couples counseling with my gf.
It is true that these students are not full therapist but they usually a semester away from becoming their degrees.
They offer a sliding scale and there are very understanding with conflicts in schedules etc. I have nothing but positive things to say about CIP. CIP served a very important community interest and they have helped me in my life immensely

This agency is terrible! I was a client there and received less than marginal results. Additionally, I had a friend who was an intern there and said it was a TERRIBLE internship. The executive director is seriously disturbed and she treats the interns with little respect. As a client I actually heard a staff member speak so inappropriately to what appeared to be the secretary. Sorry CIP, the community is aware of how you treat people! Disgraceful!

Do you have a crappy health plan? I was paying through the nose (more than $ 800 per month) for a health plan that I didn’t even know was crappy. Then the s**t hit the fan and I learned that talk therapy appointments were doled out like gold. I could get in to see someone once every 6 weeks or so, but weekly? Only if I wanted to call with my weekly crisis and beg to see a therapist du jour, retelling the whole ugly story anew each week until, whoops, time’s up!
Sometimes in the midst of a storm there’s a calm moment and you can see clearly enough to say «I’m sorry you went through all of that schooling only to work for an organization that thinks it’s acceptable for you to provide appointments once every six weeks to people in crisis.» Then you listen to the dead silence on the other end of the line and then you act.
CIP was there for me when I needed them. My initial call was met by an intake counselor with an ear for listening. She then set up the weekly appointments I felt were necessary. It’s not a perfect situation: As others have noted, these are therapists-​in-​training. All sessions are audio taped (with your prior consent) and reviewed after the fact by a licensed therapist who then discusses what they hear with your trainee. On the plus side however, you actually may benefit by having both a licensed therapist and a trainee working to help you (albeit, the licensed therapist is in the shadows, never to be seen by you). You also benefit by getting actual weekly therapy appointments with the same therapist in training. Further, you get all of this on a sliding scale which is based on your personal income and circumstances. There’s some paperwork to complete but it’s not onerous and prices seemed reasonable (I was paying $ 65 per session).
I’m happy that I don’t have a current need for CIP’s services but I’m not foolish enough to think that I might never need them again. They perform a great service for the community and I hope they’ll still be performing it again, when the need arises.

Going to CIP for therapy is kind of like going to the dental school to have your cavities filled. They are a training facility, with supervised interns doing the work. And the work gets done, but perhaps not in the most efficient way.
I like the idea of this very community-​minded organization which has sliding-​scale fees and group counseling, too.
However, keep in mind that getting an appointment during the summer months is next to impossible as all the students are out for the summer. (Whatever happened to «summer internships»??) 3 days after my initial call to CIP in July, I got a return call from a very helpful appointment-​setter who basically told me to call back in September. So, I ended up going elsewhere.