Welcome. We are a small group psychotherapy practice based in Albany and accessible throughout the state of New York.

Focused, thoughtful psychotherapy and counseling for trauma, life stress, and transitions of every kind.

  • We provide comprehensive and individualized care tailored to your specific needs. Whether you're seeking support for stress management or navigating personal and professional challenges, we are here to guide you towards a healthier, more fulfilling life.

Learn more about our services here.

  • Check out our practice profile on Psychology Today. Our practice currently consists of Ranjit Bhagwat, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist and practice owner, and two staff clinicians, Sapna Mirapuri, MHC-LP, and LaTasha Franklin, MHC-LP.

  • Like most psychotherapy practices, we work with a wide and intersecting range of issues and concerns. Within those, however, we specialize in three interconnected areas: 1) trauma and post-traumatic stress; 2) major life changes and relationship transitions; and 3) mental health and wellness for our fellow healthcare professionals including physicians, psychotherapists, nurses, and others.

    We are also a practice that values in-person treatment and consistency of care. We live in an era where therapists are increasingly online-only and large, corporate-owned virtual practices with questionable data and supervision practices abound. We offer something more personal and, we hope, more reliable and consistent over time.

  • Dr. Ranjit Bhagwat completed his doctoral studies at Rutgers University where he trained in evidence-based, cognitive behavioral therapy modalities. He expanded and deepened his clinical expertise over three years of predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships at the Yale University School of Medicine and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Bhagwat continues to draw on a diverse range of scholarly sources, clinical modalities, and professional experiences to build his approach to treatment.

    After a decade of successful private practice in the Capital Region, Dr. Bhagwat decided to apply his passion for mentoring and training clinicians and expand to a small group practice. Staff clinicians at Bhagwat Psychological Services work under Dr. Bhagwat’s direct supervision.

    One size cannot fit all, of course. At times, therapy with us will be very interpersonally focused, delving into key relationships and solving relational problems as a strategy to meeting other goals. At others, we might implement a specific modality of treatment such as cognitive processing therapy for post-traumatic stress, harm reduction-focused intervention for substance misuse, and other similarly goal-directed approaches.

    No matter what our treatment objectives might be, we approach therapy as collaborators and co-conspirators with our patients’ needs, goals, and values. Therapy cannot be a one-way street. Building trust is always the first and most important step in creating a space for healing and growth.

  • We reject the notion of an “ideal patient” — the ideal patient is the person who feels that we are a good fit for them, and the person whom we feel we can best help.

    With that said, we tend to attract people of highly diverse backgrounds. As practitioners of color, we often find that clients of BIPOC backgrounds are interested in working with us due to what feels like a better cultural fit. As a practice that specializes in PTSD, we have also drawn in combat veterans, law enforcement officers, survivors of physical and sexual abuse, refugees and asylees, and formerly incarcerated persons, to name a few.

    We have also frequently worked with members of the LGBTQ+ community as we are an avowedly sexuality- and gender-affirming practice in terms of whom we serve and how we think about people.

    As you can see. there is no one archetype (or stereotype) that aligns with the average patient at Bhagwat Psychological Services. In the end, our ideal client is you — the person reading this, curious to know more about whether we might be able to help you.

  • We have a hybrid (virtual and in-person) practice based in Albany, New York, conveniently located in a major commercial district — the Wolf Road area.

    Many patients come to our office to meet in person, and we do indeed prefer to offer in-person services when we can. However, about a third of our patients choose to see us on a virtual basis. Dr. Bhagwat is licensed to work with any patient physically located in the state of New York at the time of service, as are all staff clinicians at our practice (under Dr. Bhagwat’s supervision, in the case of limited permit holders and pre-licensed clinicians).

  • We work with individuals ages 16 and up. We treat adolescents, adults, and elders — people at every stage of adult life.

    We do not currently do any form of couples or family therapy. However, we do meet with spouses, partners, and parents of patients, and with other important people in our patients’ lives, if and when the situation warrants such contact. This is only done with the full and enthusiastic consent of the primary patient.

    We do not work with children age 14 and below. On rare occasion, we have made an exception for 15 year-old patients when we determine that there is a strong fit with how we work and what we can provide. We are happy to provide referrals for patients under the age of 15 if needed.

Fees, Insurance, and Other Information

  • If insurance does not cover psychotherapy, or if we are not in-network with your insurer, a standard session of 45-55 minutes is $250 for patients of Dr. Bhagwat and $175 for patients of staff clinicians.

    We are able to offer some flexibility in rates depending on the circumstances. Staff clinicians can see patients on a sliding scale. We accept cash or credit card. For security reasons, we cannot accept payments via Venmo, Cash App, or other peer-to-peer mobile payment apps. We prefer not to take personal checks if avoidable.

  • Dr. Bhagwat is in network with Highmark Blue Shield of Northeastern New York, Capital District Physicians Health Plan (CDPHP), and Medicare.

    Staff clinicians are currently in-network for CDPHP patients only.

    If we are in-network for you, your individual costs and copays will be determined by your specific plan.

    For all other insurance plans, we work on an out-of-network, non-participating provider basis. Usually, this means that either you or the practice will submit claims to those insurance companies, receive reimbursement directly from them, and bill patients for the balance. The amount owed can vary significantly in these cases, and not all insurance plans provide out-of-network coverage.

    If applicable, please call your insurance plan to find out how out-of-network costs will work for you.

    We will always discuss the specifics of your insurance and finances on the phone prior to treatment commencement, and make sure that you understand what to expect in costs for therapy. We follow the billing practices mandated by the state of New York regarding surprise bills, Good Faith Estimates, etc. enumerated here: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/health_insurance/surprise_medical_bills

  • Your personal health information (PHI) is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). I cannot disclose your PHI to anyone other than yourself without written consent from you to disclose to that specific person or entity. If you have already provided written consent to disclose your PHI to another party but have changed your mind, you have the right to revoke that consent to disclose at any time as well.

  • We do not accept referrals for any form of court-mandated treatment, and we typically avoid work in circumstances where a patient’s treatment records are mandated to be disclosed to a probation officer or other agent of the justice system without patient’s explicit consent. We do not do court-mandated evaluations (whether for substance use issues or otherwise). We are always happy to provide documentation of any services you receive from us if, for instance, you need provide documentation that you attended your appointments. This can and should be discussed on a case-by-case basis prior to starting treatment.

    The law requires that we provide records to the judicial system if directly ordered to do so by a judge (i.e., via “court order”). This is an extremely rare occurrence given the scope of care that we provide, but it can happen. Feel free to ask us about that if you have questions or concerns about it.

  • We use a HIPAA-compliant electronic health records (EHR) system to store all patient information. We do not keep any “hard copies” of patient documents unless absolutely unable to do otherwise. Paper documents with PHI, on the rare occasion that we are asked to keep them, are stored in a manner compliant with relevant law (e.g., HIPAA).

  • Our practice is explicitly designed to be one where clinicians receive high-quality, intensive training in the practice of psychotherapy, in pursuit of independent licensure to practice. As such, clinicians will eventually “graduate” their own independent pursuits at some point, and new clinicians will join the group.

    For current staff roster, see our profile on Psychology Today or TherapySearch.

    When your clinician “graduates,” you are not obligated to terminate services with them, nor are they obligated to end their work with you. Our priority is for people to find the care they need with the providers that meet their needs. You are free to continue working with your therapist once they make their transition to independent practice, regardless of whether they remain in our group or go elsewhere!

Connect with Us

The best way to learn more is to contact us and schedule a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation. You can find out more about our practice and get a better sense of whether we might be a good fit for your needs.