Frequently Asked Questions

Our offices are in downtown Chicago at 25 E. Washington Street, at the southwest corner of Washington Street and Wabash Avenue. We have three office suites on the 18th floor:

• Suite 1805, for Drs. Gottlieb, Stern and Pirigyi
• Suite 1806, for Dr. Padavil
• Suite 1821, for Dr. Datta-Barua
• Suite 1823, for Drs. Chapman and Kastenholz

There are several parking garages available:

• A self park at 60 E. Randolph (between Wabash and State)
• A self park at 60 E. Lake Ave (between Michigan and Wabash)
• Grant Park underground parking at 25 N. Michigan Avenue

In addition, valet parking is available:

• Randolph street entrance of Macy’s, between Wabash and State street (a discounted fee of $14.00 for two hours is available when you present a business/appointment card from our office)
• 111 N. Wabash Ave, immediately north of the NE corner of Wabash and Washington streets ($18.00 for 24 hours)
• 11 N. Wabash Ave, immediately south of the SE corner of Wabash and Washington streets ($17.00 for 0-2 hours)

For the Brown, Green, Purple, Pink and Orange Line trains, exit at the Washington/Wabash stop, which is steps away from our building. For the Red Line, take either the Lake (at State St.) or Monroe (at State St.) stops, which are two blocks away. For the Blue Line, take the Washington stop which is two blocks west of our office. Our offices are also conveniently close to the South Shore Metra station at Randolph and Michigan Avenue.

We do not. We have a simple annunciator (notification) system: immediately adjacent to the interior entrance door inside the waiting room is a set of switches with each doctor’s name immediately above or below one of the individual switches. When you arrive, just lift the switch to the ‘up’ position and this will let your doctor know that you’re there.

We do: Claire Schuldt. She can be reached at claire@chicagopsychiatryassociates.org or 312-782-5959 extension 2

Psychotherapy sessions are usually 45 minutes in duration. Shorter medication-focused sessions vary in length for each clinician, but are typically between 20 to 30 minutes.

We operate on a fee-for-service basis and do not accept insurance. As out-of-network physicians, we are not on any insurance panels and do not bill or accept payments from insurance companies. Payment arrangements are exclusively between ourselves and our patients. That said, many of our patients do use their health insurance to help them with our charges. This can be done by submitting the itemized receipt that we give you for each appointment to your insurance company who will reimburse you directly.

If you do want to use your insurance to offset our charges, we suggest that you check ahead of time on three points. First, enquire about your insurance companies’ coverage for outpatient mental health care. In particular, ask about the dollar coverage per outpatient appointment for an in-network vs. an out-of-network psychiatrist. These differences may be quite small or very significant depending on the insurance plan and particular contract that you have.

Second, inquire about differences in the amount of the deductible between in- vs. out-of-network psychiatrists.

Last, clarify the annual maximum that your insurance will cover for outpatient mental health charges. Sometimes, even if a plan provides for good coverage for outpatient appointments, they may limit the yearly charges to a prohibitively low amount (e.g., $500 per calendar year). At that level, even if the per-session coverage is good, the annual limit essentially nullifies the possible reimbursement.

Understanding these three insurance plan rules will enable you to meaningfully weigh the options of in-network vs. out-of-network care and to clarify the level of reimbursement you may expect if you decide to submit your appointments for coverage.

We operate on a fee-for-service basis and do not accept insurance (please see prior question). Fees vary according to session length. Payment is expected at the time of service for the initial consultation sessions. Following this, you and your clinician will arrange a payment method, typically either monthly (for those in weekly or multiple times per week treatment) or payment at the time of service for those being seen less frequently.

Fees are set by each clinician and are a private matter between you and your physician. We do not employ an outside billing agency in order to maintain privacy.

We accept payments by cash, check, or credit card (Visa and Mastercard).

We require two, full business days of advance notice to cancel a session without charge. Without such notice, barring medical illness, we charge for all missed appointments.

Call us at 312-782-5959. Initially, our administrative assistant, Claire Schuldt, will call you back, typically within one business day. She’ll request some preliminary information including how you were referred to us, the general type of problem you’re calling for, and the type of treatment that you’re seeking. She will also provide some basic information about our practice and answer any questions you may have. If everything lines up, one of our doctors will follow-up with you afterwards. For a more detailed description, go to our Getting Started page, here.

Yes, we do. Your therapist’s agreement and willingness to participate in this type of arrangement is a necessary condition. We will also need your authorization to allow us to speak with your therapist and establish a collaborative working relationship with them. This involves clarification of exactly what tasks each of us will be responsible for, how we communicate, etc…

We exercise the highest degree of confidentiality and privacy possible in the performance of our clinical work. We do not employ secretaries or outside billing agencies in order to maximize privacy. Our voice mailboxes are each completely private and for our own exclusive use.