frequently asked questions

Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficulties you've faced, there's nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it. In fact, counseling is for people who have enough self-awareness to know when they are in too deep to go it alone, and that is truly something to be admired. You are taking responsibility by accepting where you are at in life and making a commitment to change the situation for the better by seeking help from a trained professional. Counseling provides long-lasting benefits and support, giving you the tools you need to recognize and avoid triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and overcome whatever challenges you face.

We usually don't hesitate to call a professional plumber, car mechanic, or bookkeeper when we need help in those areas of our lives. When we need help in personal matters or relationships, why wouldn't we also call a professional to help?

Your faith is an important aspect of who you are, and we respect that! In fact, our counseling services can integrate biblical principles in addition to the findings of scientific research.

If you prefer to keep your counseling sessions secular, that's not a problem either. We will always do what's best for you in helping you to reach your goals in a manner that you are most comfortable with.

The counseling is about you and for you, not about us. Our only agenda is to help you the best way that we can.

In general, the law protects the confidentiality of all communications between a client and therapist. No information is disclosed without prior written permission from the client. However, there are a few exceptions required by law to this rule. Exceptions include: 

• Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse. The therapist is required to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately. 

• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person, the therapist is required to notify the police. 

• If a client intends to harm himself or herself, the therapist will make every effort to work with the individual to ensure their safety. However, if an individual does not cooperate, additional measures may need to be taken.

If you call, we will usually offer to set up a FREE 20 minute phone consultation with no obligation whatsoever. It really is the best way for us to break the ice with you and address some of your concerns.

You can schedule your first appointment using our convenient online scheduler, but we do ask that you call us first so that we can help you find the right counselor for you. The schedules, specialties, and fees of our staff counselors varies greatly.

We are contracted with Loma Linda Risk Management. Otherwise, we are a fee-for-service counseling office, which means that you pay for service when you come in and we do not file insurance claims on your behalf. Nevertheless, if you decide to file your own claim for reimbursement from your insurance company, we will be happy to provide you, as a courtesy, with the super-bill* you will need. In this scenario, you are dealing with your insurance company instead of us. Many of our current clients do this. We recommend that you contact your insurance company in advance to see if they will reimburse you for "out-of-network counseling" or "out-of-network neurofeedback" if this is important to you.

Also, by having you fill out and mail the insurance claim form instead of us, we can keep our rates reasonable. This arrangement also allows our counselors to spend more time in session with you instead of filling out insurance forms! Most other counselors will give you 40-45 minutes for an appointment, at Restoration Counseling Service you will get nearly 55 minutes every time! That's about 25% more time working for you. The truth is that we don't enjoy filling out those forms any more than you do, but do you really want to pay someone else to fill out your forms or to focus on solid, helpful counseling? We agree.

Unfortunately, many times when insurance companies are involved, their needs and procedures often become the driving force of the counseling, not what is in the best interest of you, our client. 

Additionally, some insurance companies do not cover Associate Marriage and Family Therapists. We do have several associates at RCS. If you plan to get reimbursement from your insurance company, be sure you know how they handle reimbursement for associates on our staff as well.

In summary, we do firmly believe that your counseling needs are best determined by you and your counselor only, without an insurance company in the middle.

We are often amazed by the kindness of people who want to help others find healing and wholeness in their lives by paying for a portion of their services at RCS. The only problem with this is that our counselors are legally bound to confidentiality laws which means we are unable to acknowledge if the person you want to help pay for is a client or not! We have come up with a solution. E-gift cards.

Here's how it works:

• You can purchase e-gift cards in any amount up to $800 each.

• You text or email the e-gift card to the recipient (or you can send it to yourself and print the gift card, then give it in person).

• They use it at RCS (and only RCS) just like cash

• Confidentiality is maintained for the same of our client.

• You can give anonymously by sending the gift card to yourself, then forwarding to our office (just call us before you do).

So what are you waiting for? Use the linked gift card below to buy RCS e-gift cards from GiftFly.com and GiftFly.ca. These gift cards can be used by you, or sent to another person of your choice via text message or email.

Head to our gift cards page for more.

That is a great question and we would expect that most people would have little idea of how this works.

The process for becoming a state licensed counselor (either a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist [LMFT] or Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor [LPCC]) is a long and arduous one. A person must complete both an undergraduate degree and a graduate (masters) degree.Then, they can become a Trainee, working closely with a state-certified supervisor. Once this stage has been successfully completed, a trainee can become an associate. By this time, most people in this field are about 5 years into their formal education and are ready to begin their associate status. From this point, it usually takes 2-4 years to acquire the 3000 hours needed to become a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist or Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.

So, when you see that some of our counselors are associates, that should mean several things to you:

• This person has been in this field for many years.

• This person has a reasonable amount of experience in this field.

• This person works closely with a supervisor which gives you the benefit of two professionals working on your behalf.

• This person is usually able to offer a lower fee.

• This person is already a good counselor or they never would have made it this far in their education and they never would have been added to our team at RCS!

If you ever have questions about our associates, please reach out to Nichoel Kimmerle, the director at RCS at nichoel@restorationcs.com.

Neurofeedback is systematically teaching the brain to forget bad habits and learn good habits instead. Neurofeedback is possible using a high-tech computer system that allows your brain activity to be monitored on a computer screen. After the areas where the brain is misbehaving are identified, it can be retrained.

Once you understand HOW it works, it makes perfect sense WHY it works. For Restoration Counseling Service it represents a new set of tools in our "Helping you to become all that you were intended to be" toolbox.

Correctable conditions include:

• stress

• headaches/migraines

• diagnoses of ADHD/ADD

• Autism and developmental delays

• speech delay

• anxiety

• seizures

• anger outbursts

• oppositional defiance

• depression

• insomnia

• nightmares

• night terrors

• bedwetting

• teeth grinding

• TMJ or “Lock jaw”

• narcolepsy

• daytime sleepiness

• dyslexia

• cerebral palsy

• restless leg syndrome (RLS)

If you have questions that you would like answered before you get started with neurofeedback, please contact one of our client ambassadors at (909) 255-1250.

Our Client Ambassadors do so much more than merely answer phones. In fact, we want our Client Ambassadors to work for you, hence a name that denotes they are ambassadors, or advocates, for you, our clients.

Let's be honest, calling the office of a counselor can be intimidating. You don't know what to expect or what questions to ask or even if a counselor is what you need. And that is precisely the reason why we have a highly trained staff that works for YOU when you call us.

Our Client Ambassadors are easy to talk to, they understand a great deal about counseling and our staff of counselors, they will guide you in all of the right questions, and ultimately help you connect with exactly the right counselor.

If you need help with a challenge, but have no idea where to start, who to call, or what to ask, then just call our office at (909) 255-1250 and see what we mean when you put our Client Ambassadors to work for you.