New Clients

Here is a general overview of what treatment with me looks like:

  1. Start with an Intake - this includes questions about how you’re feeling, your background, and history of symptoms

  2. Create a treatment plan - if our time together was successful and you got the changes you’re looking for, what would be different?

  3. Measures - before each session, and after each session, I will ask you to do a short questionnaire. This will ask about how you’re feeling emotionally before and after the session, as well as how the session was for you.

  4. Structure - I provide a framework, and within that framework I will follow your lead! The framework helps keep things on track and moving towards progress, and in following your lead I’m trying to make sure sessions are appropriately tailored to your needs.

  5. Homework - I encourage clients to work on things outside of treatment. Homework/self-study is a really important piece to making change happen. I work with each person to find what will work for you. Self-study can be a wide variety of things, including making time to sit outside, listening to podcasts, or exercise. If you really don’t want to do homework, that’s okay too. However, progress will likely be much slower.

  • I have people complete a short questionnaire before and after each session. This is for a few reasons:

    1. This allows us both to quickly see how you're feeling that day at the start of session. This can help us dive straight into what's relevant and important for the day.

    2. This allows us to track how you're feeling over time. This will help us both see if you're getting what you need from our time together.

    3. The after-session questionnaire asks about how you experienced the session. I'm not a very good mind reader, so it's helpful for me to know exactly what is, or is not, working for you. And I'm going to make mistakes! Asking this each session helps make sure these mistakes are caught, and corrected. It's like a quality assurance tool.

  • I generally recommend once a week sessions, but we can do every-other week if it's appropriate for your symptoms and circumstances. Sessions will be 50 minutes.

    The length of treatment depends on you, your goals, and how you're feeling. Sometimes people only need a couple months, sometimes people need much longer.

    This is where taking measures is helpful. We can see if treatment is working for you, and if you're not making progress, or if progress has stalled, we will discuss if I'm still the right therapist for you. It's not uncommon that as a person's needs or goals change that they need to change their therapist too.

  • My fee structure is a community support model which allows me to maintain lower fees for less-resourced members of our community. Please choose the fee which is best in line with your financial situation. My fee range is from $175 - $225.

  • I’m not taking insurance.

    However, I am an out-of-network provider and I will provide a "superbill", which is an itemized invoice, that you then can submit to your insurance for reimbursement. Most times, you can get 50-80% of your care paid for, if your out-of-network benefits apply. Ask your insurance provider for more information.

  • You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost.

    I will do my best to provide this to you before we start services, and you can always ask for it. It is your right to receive this.

  • As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I do diagnose mental health conditions. While I am not an in-network provider, a diagnosis is often required when a person is trying to submit claims for out-of-network coverage. Diagnosing a client also helps me better conceptualize the issue and develop a relevant treatment plan.

    However, I do not do psychological testing and I don’t feel comfortable doing disability paperwork. If you need psychological testing done, you need to find a Psychologist (PsyD or PhD). Often disability paperwork requires a doctor (PsyD, PhD, or MD).

    There are some things or situations where I won’t be comfortable diagnosing a client. This can happen if the issues are involving a specific issue I have limited experience with, or if the presentation is particularly complicated. Just as with a medical doctor, second opinions are sometimes needed.