FAQ

The fee for a 55 minute session is $195. Sessions can be extended with advanced request to 75 minutes ($245) or 90 minutes ($295).

Because I think action is such a powerful mechanism for change, I always encourage trying out new behaviors. Once you have new information, you can decide what the next “good enough” action might be.

Please click the Schedule Consult button to find time in the next 2 weeks for a free 20-minute consultation. I will respond to confirm your appointment within 24 hours, and I will follow up with a short questionnaire to help me prepare for our call.

I understand that unexpected things happen. Some of them are true life/death (and COVID) emergencies. Many of them aren’t.

Because I earn my living based on appointments, I will charge the full fee for missed or late-canceled appointments that are not true emergencies (e.g., you forgot, ran out of gas, got stuck at work, flight delayed, feeling sick). In many cases, we can easily switch to a virtual appointment so you don’t miss your appointment.

We will discuss true emergencies as they occur, but in general, I consider a true emergency something catastrophic to you or an immediate family member.

Please note that if you opt to seek reimbursement through your insurance plan, they will require documentation of medical necessity to reimburse for mental and behavioral health services, which means I will need to give you a diagnosis that will be part of your permanent record. Insurance companies also often limit what kinds of treatments are reimbursable and the quantity and length of sessions.

Beginning January 1, 2022, all healthcare providers, including private pay mental health facilities, are required to provide a Good Faith Estimate document to patients who do not have insurance or opt to not use their insurance (self-pay). Although therapy costs and typical frequency are listed on this page, you also have the right to request a Good Faith Estimate document from your provider during your initial consultation or at any time during the course of your treatment. This document will provide an estimate of therapy costs for up to 12 months.
If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate you may dispute those charges with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If you choose to use the dispute resolution process, you must start the dispute process within 120 calendar days (about 4 months) of the date on the original bill. There is a $25 fee to initiate a dispute process.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate or the dispute process, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call (800) 368-1019.

I can’t answer this question specifically because every situation is different. When we meet, we’ll set some initial priorities around your goals, and I’ll usually recommend we meet weekly at least for the first 8-10 sessions. Because therapy is not about generic, quick fixes, it takes some time to build a working relationship and momentum.

Some people have a specific issue they want to talk about, and after 4-8 sessions, they feel the issue is resolved and are ready to move on. Other people find that the more progress they make in therapy, the more progress they want to make – they might choose to work together for months or years depending on their personal goals.

I work with any human individual between the ages of 18 and 100, specifically around issues related to anxiety, depression, loss and grief, life transitions, ADHD, high sensitivity and neurodiversity, and substance use/misuse. My space is inclusive, and I value and respect your identity and story’s complexities. Come as you are!

Some people are very skeptical about the value of talking about their feelings, so I love this question!

First, the semantics. Outside circumstances and other people don’t “make you” feel something, but your body is wired to generate an emotional response to your internal and external experiences.

Emotions have an important function, and we’d be unable to survive without them. That doesn’t mean we let our feelings run the show, but it can be constructive to acknowledge and understand your emotions and how they impact your behaviors.

It’s possible to feel excruciating and unpleasant emotions and still choose effective action that maintains respect for yourself and others.

Educating people about the function of emotions is one of my true passions. Unfortunately, most of us were taught little about feelings except what not to feel or express. This lack of knowledge has left many of us confused about why we do certain things and ashamed of our private thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This feeling creates a sense that we are alone in our emotions and shouldn’t feel as we do.

So yes, I hope you will become more aware of your emotions as natural and normal responses to life. I also hope you’ll start to acknowledge how you truly feel about things, accept how you feel, and gain increasing skill in effectively handling foreign, confusing, or even dangerous emotions.

Good! I don’t believe in blaming people. My guess is the people who raised you did the very best they could given their circumstances; and you may wish they had done things differently. There may be some problems in your life that you didn’t cause, and it can offer real freedom to accept responsibility for your choices so you can live the kind of life you want to live.

Depending on the nature of your goals, we may need to understand the role your upbringing had in your current choices and difficulties, which may lead to some painful realizations about your childhood and your family. But understanding the impact of past experiences isn’t the same as blaming or abdicating personal responsibility. If this is a concern for you, I hope you’ll bring it up when we talk.

Great question! This question requires you to look inside to find the answer. I love metaphors, so I think of this as a house remodel versus repair or preventative maintenance. If your home is valuable to you, then all levels of investment in it can pay off in significant ways.

If you’re wondering if your problems are too small to merit investing in outside help, my guess is there’s something that’s been nagging at you for a while, and you’ve tried to address it on your own with limited results.

Let’s talk about your specific situation and goals so you can decide whether you want to try another DIY approach or if you might benefit from working with someone who has specialized education, training, and experience.

I want you to know that I will work as hard as you. Although you could find that therapy is not as hard as you imagined, it might be!

Therapy can be illuminating and interesting, and it can help you make real changes in your life, but you’ll have to try it and discover for yourself.

Perfect! I hope you’ll tell me so we can talk about it. I’m imperfect, and I don’t always say the “right” thing. Therapy won’t be productive if I’m constantly searching for the perfect response. I make mistakes, and if I’ve made one, I might catch it and apologize, or you might tell me that what I just said was hurtful or confusing. The cool thing is we get to talk about it rather than sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen or that it’s “no big deal.”

I won’t gaslight you. I hope that we can use these kinds of experiences in therapy to help you practice effectively telling the truth about your thoughts and feelings out in the world and your closest relationships. That’s real freedom – the kind I want for you, me, and everyone!

The truth is, I love my life more days than not. I love waking up to my cats purring and my dog staring at me with his ball. I love hot coffee and catching the sunrise and the quiet of the morning before anyone else is up. Almost always, except when I haven’t taken good care of myself, I genuinely look forward to my day, even when it will be challenging.

I am especially grateful for this period of my life because I vividly remember the years when, despite having plenty of things to feel grateful for, I still woke up dreading every day with no idea how I would get through it. It took a long time and lots of hard work to get to this point. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on finding real joy where it exists. I hope you don’t give up on it either.

Emphatically, yes! My own experiences in therapy led me to consider becoming a therapist myself. Therapy was the first place I ever told the truth about how confused and scared I was and where I learned that I had a quiet but very wise voice I could trust if only I would listen to it.

I have worked with several therapists throughout the years, some for only a short time on a specific issue and a couple of others who really helped me transform the way I experience myself and the world.

It’s not for me to say who should go to counseling, but it has been a tremendous gift in my life, one I hope to pass on to others.