FAQs

A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in mental health, & may prescribe medication for your mental health concerns. Neither psychologists nor counselors can prescribe medication in the state of Texas. Psychologists and counselors are trained in a variety of mental health issues, though psychologists receive additional training in severe mental illness, psychological testing, & provision of services.

The following chart is published by the Texas Psychological Association for general educational purposes:

	Psychologists	Psychiatrists	LPC, LMFT, LCSW
Graduate Education in Mental Health	4-6 years of organized graduate study in psychology Dissertation based on original research	12 weeks training in Psychiatry during medical school	2 years of graduate study in mental health
Internship/Supervision	One year of pre-doctoral supervision	N/A	3000 hours of supervised experience
Post-Doctoral Training	One year of supervised experience by licensed psychologist	4 years of residency Inpatient/Outpatient	N/A
Required Educational Level for licensure	Doctorate	Doctorate	Masters Degree
Continuing Education Annually	12 Hours	12 Hrs Category 1 12 Hrs Non-Category 1	12 Hours
Total years of formal mental health training	6-8 years	4.25 years	3.5 years

If you are in immediate danger, contact 911 for assistance. For a list other emergency numbers, please view our emergency numbers page.

Please refer for to our Registered Dieticians page for a full reference of local dieticians.

Dr. Turnbull's fee is $150 per initial intake session, & $125 per follow-up session. All appointments are 45 minutes in length. This amount is charged for other professional services you may need (see below) and can be broken down into hourly cost if time incurred on work is less than one hour. Other services include report writing, telephone conversations lasting longer than 5 minutes, attendance at meetings with other professionals you have authorized, preparation of records or treatment summaries, and the time spent performing any other service you may request from Dr. Turnbull.

For written reports, the fee is $80. Any testing conducted is also billed at $125, though you may complete your testing faster than 1 hour. If you become involved in legal proceedings that require my participation, you will be expected to pay for professional time even if Dr. Turnbull is called to testify by another party. [Because of the difficulty of legal involvement, Dr. Turnbull charges $200 per hour for preparation and attendance at any legal proceeding.] If you elect to use your health insurance, you will be billed a co-pay for each billable service rendered. Any services requested of me that are not billable to your insurance (including but not limited to a written report provided to your surgeon, telephone calls lasting over 5 minutes, legal proceedings, etc.) will be billed directly to you.

Dr. Turnbull accepts payments in the form of cash, check, credit and debit cards, including Flexible Spending Account (FSA) cards. Her services are generally considered an allowable healthcare expense for FSA purposes.

You will be expected to pay for all services at the time they are rendered, unless you have insurance coverage which requires another arrangement. If your insurance has not paid on your account for more than 60 days and arrangements for payment have not been agreed upon, Dr. Turnbull will have the option of using legal means to secure the payment. This may involve hiring a collection agency or going through small claims court. [If such legal action is necessary, its costs will be included in the claim.] In most collection situations, the only information our office releases regarding a patient’s treatment is his/her name, the nature of services provided, and the amount due.

Yes! We accept the insurances. However, Dr. Turnbull encourages you to consult your insurance company to assure that your mental health benefits are not provided by a different insurer than your medical health benefits. Please check out our accepted insurance page to find out which insurance plans we accept and for more information.

• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
• Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
• Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from McNeese State University
• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from East Texas State University
• Following licensure, I completed a specialization in Psychopharmacology from Texas A & M University

Please check out About Dr. Turnbull page to find more information about Dr. Turnbull's background.