Northern Lights Therapy, PLLC

Northern Lights Therapy, PLLC 💚You Matter. You Are Worthy.

You Are Enough.💚

NLT provides mental health therapy to all ages with locations in Maricopa, Chandler, and Casa Grande, as well as virtual options in various states.

05/20/2026

Another change impacting mental health care access is coming… and providers and clients deserve to know about it.

Starting July 15th, Alma is reportedly changing reimbursement practices related to CPT code 90837, the billing code used for psychotherapy sessions lasting 53 minutes or longer.

Instead, providers will reportedly only be reimbursed at the 90834 rate, which is tied to shorter sessions, essentially around the 45-minute range.

Let’s really think about what this means.

Insurance companies and large healthcare platforms continue talking about the importance of mental health, trauma treatment, su***de prevention, crisis support, and access to care… while simultaneously creating more pressure for providers to shorten sessions and squeeze care into smaller boxes.

Trauma work does not always fit neatly into 45 minutes. Crisis sessions do not magically wrap up because the clock says so. Clients processing grief, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, first responder trauma, childhood abuse, or major life stressors are not “one size fits all.”

Yet once again, decisions are being made by corporations and reimbursement structures instead of by the trained medical and mental health professionals actually sitting in the room with clients.

This places providers in an incredibly difficult position:

• Cut sessions shorter than clinically appropriate
• Work longer without fair reimbursement
• Or stop accepting certain insurance options altogether

And who ultimately feels the impact? Clients.

Especially higher-acuity clients who often need more time, more support, and more individualized care.

Mental health care should not be reduced to productivity quotas and reimbursement games.

Clinical decisions should remain between clients and their licensed providers, not dictated by corporations trying to cut costs.

🎥 I break down more of what this means in the attached video and why providers across the country are increasingly concerned about where mental health care is headed.

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

05/19/2026

Well… my audit results are officially back.

To the tune of essentially $300,000.

BCBS is claiming a 100% error rate across everything they reviewed from October 2022 through October 2025.

Let that sink in.

They are now applying requirements that did not even begin until January 2026, specifically regarding supervisors completing intakes and treatment plans, and using those NEW expectations to retroactively demand money back for services provided YEARS ago.

So according to BCBS, providers are apparently supposed to time travel now.

The clients were seen.
The services were provided.
The clinicians were licensed through the Arizona Board.
The work was documented.
The claims were approved and paid.

And now years later, insurance companies are changing the rules, reinterpreting expectations, extrapolating tiny samples into massive financial demands, and threatening providers with devastating clawbacks that could destroy small practices.

This is not about protecting patients.
This is not about quality care.
This is not about fraud.

This is about power, control, and money.

And providers across Arizona are terrified to speak publicly because they know exactly what can happen when they do.

But I refuse to quietly accept a system that is actively harming mental health professionals and reducing access to care for clients across our communities.

Because every time a provider leaves insurance panels, shuts down, stops taking high-risk clients, or burns out from fighting this system… clients lose.

First responders lose.
Kids lose.
Families lose.
People already struggling to access mental health care lose.

The reality is this: insurance companies continue placing impossible administrative burdens on providers while simultaneously claiming there is a mental health crisis and provider shortage.

You cannot say you support access to care while financially crushing the very people providing it.

I will continue speaking up.
I will continue advocating.
And I know I am far from the only provider experiencing this right now.

🎥 I’ll be sharing more details in the attached video because people deserve to know what is happening behind closed doors in mental health care.

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande.

This is the reality many mental health providers in Arizona are now facing.A local provider was recently hit with an aud...
05/19/2026

This is the reality many mental health providers in Arizona are now facing.

A local provider was recently hit with an audit demand from BCBS requesting nearly HALF A MILLION DOLLARS back for services dating as far back as 2022.

Read through the redacted screenshots yourself.

Not because clients were harmed. Not because services weren’t provided. Not because there was fraud.

But because of documentation technicalities, retroactive interpretations, supervision expectations that have drastically shifted over time, signatures completed “too late,” wording concerns, telehealth modifiers, and requirements being applied YEARS after services were rendered and paid.

One of the most alarming parts? BCBS is now using CURRENT expectations and operational interpretations to claw back payments from prior years, despite providers operating under the guidance, standards, and approvals that existed at the time those services were delivered.

And then they extrapolate it.

Meaning they review a tiny sample of claims and inflate it into massive repayment demands that could financially destroy small practices and independent providers overnight.

$439,248.49 demanded back within 20 days.

How is this about patient care?

How does forcing mental health providers into financial ruin improve access to treatment for Arizona families, first responders, children, trauma survivors, or people in crisis?
It doesn’t.

This is exactly why more providers are leaving insurance panels. This is why access to care is getting worse. This is why independent practices are disappearing while insurance companies continue consolidating power and profits.

Providers should absolutely be held accountable for unethical behavior or dangerous care. But that is not what this looks like.

This looks like intimidation. This looks like overreach. This looks like insurance companies weaponizing audits and retroactive interpretations to recover money they already approved and paid years ago.

And the people ultimately harmed by this? Clients.

Because every time another provider stops accepting insurance, closes their doors, or burns out trying to survive this system… patients lose access to care.

Arizona deserves better.

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

05/19/2026

Mental health providers across Arizona are exhausted. Not because we don’t care. Not because we aren’t doing the work. But because insurance companies continue making it harder and harder to actually provide care to the people who need it.

We are seeing more audits, more clawbacks, more demands for repayment… even when services were legitimately provided, documented, and approved at the time care was rendered.

What makes this even more concerning is that many of these repayment demands are now being based on CURRENT insurance expectations and interpretations for services provided YEARS ago under entirely different circumstances, policies, and guidance. Providers are being penalized retroactively, despite clients receiving the care they needed and deserved.

And let’s be clear… this is not about dangerous treatment. This is not about poor quality care. This is not about protecting clients from harm.

This is about money.

Small practices and independent providers are being pushed into impossible situations while insurance companies continue finding ways to pull money back into their own pockets. The result? Burnout. Fewer providers willing to accept insurance. Reduced access to care. Longer waitlists. Less support for the very people these companies claim to serve.

When providers spend more time defending medically necessary treatment than actually providing it, something is deeply broken in the system.

People deserve transparency. Providers deserve fair processes. Clients deserve access to quality mental health care without the people treating them being bullied out of the field.

This conversation is bigger than one practice. Bigger than one provider. Bigger than one insurance company.

🎥 I’ll be sharing more in the attached video because far more is happening behind the scenes than most people realize.

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

Quick reminder because this topic is showing up in sessions more than most clinicians realize.After our last Behind Clos...
05/19/2026

Quick reminder because this topic is showing up in sessions more than most clinicians realize.

After our last Behind Closed Doors training, the response was immediate. More questions. More conversations. More clinicians wanting help navigating something they were never really trained to address.

P**n use, compulsive sexual behaviors, shame cycles, emotional avoidance, trauma responses, relationship struggles… especially within first responder populations where stress and trauma exposure are constant.

This training is not about judgment or labeling. It is about understanding what is underneath the behavior and learning how to have conversations that clients do not immediately shut down from.

If you work with first responders, trauma, veterans, or high stress populations, this training matters.

June 22
Virtual
3 NBCC Hours

Come learn how to have the conversations most people avoid.

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

https://www.northernlightstherapyaz.com/event-details/behind-closed-doors-the-hidden-struggle-of-porn-use-in-first-responders-2

There’s something powerful about being in a room full of people who genuinely care about the future of mental health car...
05/15/2026

There’s something powerful about being in a room full of people who genuinely care about the future of mental health care. Today, several of us from Northern Lights Therapy spent the day at the 2026 SEEDS Conference hosted by Mental Health America of Arizona.

This year’s theme, Care That Grows With Us: Mental Health Across the Lifespan, focuses on how mental health needs evolve from childhood through older adulthood and the importance of care that is trauma-informed, responsive, and rooted in real human connection.

One thing we’ve always believed at NLT is that growth never stops. Neither should learning. Whether it’s better supporting children, teens, adults, first responders, families, or our communities as a whole, continuing education matters. Conversations matter. Collaboration matters.

A huge thank you to the keynote speaker today, Matthew Griffin, for sharing such a powerful and vulnerable story. Hearing someone openly speak about the realities of undercover work, trauma, addiction, losing himself in the process, and ultimately rebuilding his life was incredibly impactful. The honesty in talking about the mental and emotional toll that first responders and law enforcement can carry, especially when everything looks “fine” from the outside, is exactly why these conversations matter so much.

We’re grateful to be surrounded by other professionals who are passionate about improving access to care, reducing stigma, advocating for change, and continuing to grow alongside the people we serve. 🖤💚

Huge thank you as well to Mental Health America of Arizona for creating spaces like this that bring together clinicians, advocates, educators, first responders, and community leaders all working toward the same goal.

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

05/15/2026

Amazing video by Chandler Police Department!

Mental health support matters so much for our first responders!

💙💙

Today, on Peace Officers Memorial Day, we pause to recognize and honor the officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in t...
05/15/2026

Today, on Peace Officers Memorial Day, we pause to recognize and honor the officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

Behind every badge is a human being. A person who answered calls most people run from. A family who carried the weight of long shifts, missed holidays, interrupted dinners, sleepless nights, and the constant unknown. And for far too many families, a loss that can never fully be put into words.

At Northern Lights Therapy, our connection to the first responder community runs deep. We have sat with officers in the aftermath of critical incidents, trauma, grief, burnout, hypervigilance, and the invisible weight this career can carry. Today is not about politics or opinions. It is about remembering the lives lost and recognizing the impact those losses leave behind on departments, families, coworkers, and entire communities.

To the officers who never made it home, we remember you.
To the families and agencies carrying that grief, we stand with you.
And to the officers still showing up every day while carrying the weight of this job, please remember that your mental health matters too.

You do not have to carry it alone. 💙

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com⁠
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

Graduation season is approaching and with it comes excitement, pride, fear, grief, uncertainty, freedom, pressure, and a...
05/15/2026

Graduation season is approaching and with it comes excitement, pride, fear, grief, uncertainty, freedom, pressure, and about a hundred other emotions that nobody really prepares you for. 🖤💚

For the parents…

There’s something surreal about watching your child reach the end of their high school years. One minute you’re packing lunches, helping with homework, and trying to survive teenage mood swings… and the next, you’re realizing they’re about to step into adulthood.

There’s pride in watching them grow.
There’s fear in loosening your grip.
There’s grief in knowing this chapter is ending.
And there’s also beauty in watching them slowly learn how to use their own wings.

For the seniors…

This season is exciting as hell, but let’s be honest, it can also feel terrifying.
Some of you are counting down the days ready to leave.
Some of you have no clue what comes next.
Some are excited for college, careers, trade school, moving out, sports, or new opportunities.
Some are grieving friendships, routines, relationships, or the comfort of what’s familiar.

And the truth is… all of that is normal.

You do not need to have your entire life figured out at 18. Most adults are still trying to figure themselves out too.

This season is not just about graduation caps and pictures. It’s about transition. Identity. Growth. Change. Letting go of one version of yourself while learning who you’re becoming next.

To both the parents and seniors navigating this season… give yourselves some grace. Celebrate the wins. Feel the emotions. Be excited. Be nervous. Be proud. All of it can exist together.

This next chapter may feel uncertain, but that does not mean you are unprepared for it. ❤️

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com⁠
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

National Police Week is more than ceremonies, memorials, and blue lights. It is a week that honors the officers who neve...
05/13/2026

National Police Week is more than ceremonies, memorials, and blue lights. It is a week that honors the officers who never made it home, the families who carry that loss forever, and the men and women still showing up every day despite what this job can take from a person mentally, emotionally, and physically.

This week matters because behind every badge is still a human being. One carrying stress, trauma, exhaustion, grief, pressure, and experiences most people will never fully understand. It is also a reminder that support cannot just exist this week. It has to continue long after the memorials end and the social media posts stop.

At Northern Lights Therapy, we will continue advocating for culturally competent mental health support for first responders and their families. We will continue creating spaces where dark humor doesn’t need explained, where hypervigilance makes sense, where the walls can come down without judgment, and where healing is allowed to happen without shame.

To the officers carrying more than anyone realizes right now, you do not have to carry it alone.

And to the families standing beside them through the missed holidays, sleepless nights, stress, and sacrifices… we see you too.

We’ve got your six. Always. 💙

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

05/12/2026

Last Thursday, we had the honor of celebrating one year in Casa Grande with our official ribbon cutting event. 🖤💚

A huge thank you to the Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Office for their continued support and especially to Mayor Lisa Navarro Fitzgibbons for taking the time to come celebrate alongside us. The support we’ve received from the Casa Grande community over this last year has truly meant so much to us.

We are proud to continue growing within Casa Grande and providing mental health services to all ages, including children, teens, adults, couples, and families. We also proudly offer Spanish-speaking services as well as lower-cost counseling options through our clinical interns when additional financial flexibility is needed.

Northern Lights Therapy opened in Casa Grande with the goal of bringing accessible, quality, trauma-informed mental health care to the area and we are excited to continue supporting this community for many years to come.

Thank you, Casa Grande, for welcoming us so warmly. ❤️

🌐 www.northernlightstherapyaz.com⁠
📧 info@northernlightstherapyaz.com
📍 Offices in Maricopa, Chandler and Casa Grande

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Maricopa, AZ

Telephone

+16232432774

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