Being in therapy can help you feel less anxious and stressed, introduce you to new tools and skills for addressing problem areas, and improve your relationships (family, friends, partner, etc). People often seek out a psychotherapist/counselor in order to find a more objective viewpoint than friends and family might have. Talking with a therapist can help with problems that are bothering you or that are keeping you from being successful and happy in important areas of your life.

Typical sessions are 45 – 50 minutes in length. I generally find it important to meet on a weekly basis, especially while we are initially developing a working relationship with each other. Meeting weekly can help you to find relief from your troubles more quickly. After we have gotten used to each other and you are feeling some alleviation from distress, some prefer to meet every other week . For family work in addition to individual, or in times of higher sensitivity, I will work to accommodate scheduling more than one session per week.

I understand and empathize that entering in to therapy may feel awkward! It can feel intimidating to open up to someone about very personal things that are going on in your life. For most people, knowing that what they say will be kept private helps them feel more comfortable. Privacy, also called confidentiality, is an important and necessary part of good counseling. As a general rule, I will keep the information you share with me in our sessions confidential (private). There are some exceptions to confidentiality – relating to threat of danger to self or others – which will be further explained at our first appointment.

Our first session will focus on the concerns bringing you in for therapy, we will begin creating a plan for treatment, and be assessing whether we are a good fit to do the therapeutic work together. For a first session with an adolescent, I generally meet the teen together with one of their parent(s)/guardian(s) at the beginning of the session, so I can get a better idea of both perspectives and both parent and teen can begin to feel comfortable about what to expect from me in therapy.

I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and use this approach/ technique with many clients, to help reduce the pain of disturbing life experiences. EMDR is effective in the treatment of phobias, panic/anxiety attacks, complicated/prolonged grief, physical or sexual abuse, and post traumatic stress disorder. I am happy to talk with you further about EMDR, and you can also find a wealth of information at www.emdria.org.

There is not a fixed set amount of sessions for therapy, because working together is very individualized. However, that being said, I can work in one of two ways: short-term goal oriented, or longer term in-depth. Most therapeutic work tends to begin as goal oriented to work on and help alleviate the reason(s) bringing someone in to therapy in the first place. Once we work on the reasons initially bringing you in for therapy, we may work to see in what other ways these concerns affect your life or how periodic therapy sessions can be part of your self-care.

We will work together until a point where you feel comfortable and would like to end therapy. Ideally this will be a mutually agreed upon end time and include a couple of sessions for preparation and review, however you are free to terminate therapy at any time.

You may pay in the form of cash, personal check, credit, debit, or HSA (Health Savings Account) card.

Sessions are $185 per 50 minute session. Session rates increase by $5 effective every January 1st for new and existing clients of more than three months.  There is not an additional charge for if it’s an EMDR session; talk therapy and EMDR sessions are the same rate of $185 for the 50 minutes.

I am not contracted with private insurance carriers and have opted out of medicare. 

I am contracted with one EAP (Employee Assistance Plan), called Lyra. EAP benefits can cover short-term, problem specific therapy (45 minute sessions). If your employer/ company has Lyra as their EAP, that may cover some sessions for you or your household family member(s). I have a limited number of EAP client spots available at any given time. You would need to schedule directly through the Lyra website/ platform, rather than through contacting me.

Though I am not directly covered by any insurance, some health insurance plans allow for what’s called ‘out of network’ coverage. If you are interested in this option, I recommend you contact your health care plan’s benefits department and ask about ‘out of network’ benefits, reimbursement rate, and any associated deductible, if applicable. I am happy to provide you with proof of service – with what’s called a “superbill” – so you can recoup some of your costs by your submitting receipts to your insurance company.

You also have the option to forgo any out-of-network insurance involvement.

Most Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can be used to pay for therapy.

Your appointment is reserving my therapeutic time for you. Since it is difficult to fill a missed or cancelled appointment on short notice, I have a 24 hour cancellation policy, whereby you are charged your full appointment fee should you choose not to give more than 24 hours notice.

I encourage you to explore my Blog page for a sample of my writing, and here are some online resources about other professional influences:

www.emdria.org – this website will give you more information about EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a therapeutic approach in which I am trained.

thework.com/en – this is author Byron Katie’s site, from whom I draw some of my therapy approach. Byron Katie’s “The Work” is a process of inquiry into our stressful thoughts.

self-compassion.org/category/exercises/ – this page has guided meditations and exercises for increasing self-compassion, from the work of Dr. Kristen Neff

www.actmindfully.com.au/acceptance_&_commitment_therapy – this website explains Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which I also draw from in my work with clients

www.nimh.nih.gov – this website has links for more information including teenage depression, substance use, and eating disorders

www.nami.org – specific mental health concerns (e.g., Depression, Bipolar Disorder)

www.youthcrisisline.org – the California coalition for youth provides a 24 hour toll free number for teens in crisis or their parents who need crisis support for their teen.

grownandflown.com/ – a helpful website for parents, with blog entries about high school and college.

In compliance with the No Surprises Act that went into effect January 1, 2022, healthcare providers are required to notify clients of their rights and protections against surprise billing.

You are entitled to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” of what the charges could be for psychotherapy services provided to you.  Your cost per session is established before our first scheduled session, as well as is disclosed on this FAQs page of my website.

The Good Faith Estimate’s purpose is to show the sum cost of services to avoid an unreasonably large bill. Your treatment and cost of course of treatment will vary based on your individual needs and the amount of therapy sessions needed/wanted. I would have difficulty predicting the exact amount of therapy sessions or services that will be needed or recommended, however I can provide some examples of total costs for reference.  Please remember you can always decide when to end your time with me, moreover you can always discuss billing, cost, treatment plan, and/or amount of sessions estimate with me.

You have the right to initiate a dispute resolution process if the actual amount charged to you substantially exceeds the estimated charges stated in your Good Faith Estimate (which means $400 or more beyond the estimated charges).

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate or the dispute process, visit https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers or call 1- 800-985-3059.