Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any questions about the process or therapy in general, have a read of the answers below. If you still have questions, please get in touch via my contact page. I look forward to hearing from you!

 

  • Sessions are 45-50 minutes and $300 USD.

    This includes individual and couples sessions, as well as initial consultations.

    I have some limited sliding-scale availability.

  • I don’t accept any insurances directly; however, I’m happy to provide superbills so that you may seek reimbursement from your insurance for services with an out-of-network provider.

  • My practice is 100% online. All you need is a strong internet connection and a computer, tablet, or phone.

    You can receive therapy conveniently from your home, workplace, while on vacation, or wherever you happen to be. Moving? Take your therapist with you!

    Sessions are held online over a secure and user-friendly videoconferencing platform.

    After the last two years, telehealth has become commonplace and tends not to inspire the kinds of doubts and uncertainty it might have before covid. Research supports that it is as effective as in-person support. But, some folks still express reservations about the likelihood of building a meaningful therapeutic relationship via video call. In my experience, what matters most is the connection between provider and client–if the seeds for a genuine, attuned connection are present and they are appropriately tended to, in most cases, it won’t matter if the relationship is formed online or in-person. However, if a sense of authentic connection is missing, in-person meetings cannot make up for that. All the same, there are some folks who would be best served by in-person work; in those cases, I will do my best to support you in finding a suitable referral in your area.

  • I provide single-session, short, medium, and long-term therapy.

    Occasionally, folks come to me with something that can be resolved in a single session; others come for the benefits that accrue from an ongoing, long-term relationship with a therapist.

    Mostly, I practice medium-term work—depending on your needs and preferences. I tend to be quite directive and aim to get you where you want to be—and out of therapy—as soon as possible. Typically, folks start out weekly or bi-weekly, then when they’re ready, transition to monthly, and then schedule check-ins further out from there to ensure they have the continued support they need and are staying on track.

    I keep an eye out for continued tangible progress, and I do not rope people into or prolong therapy relationships that continue to flounder or stall without forward movement. While no therapist can guarantee improvement, my sense is that if you do not experience positive growth, either I’m not doing my job well enough or there is an underlying issue that we need to address and resolve.

    I am a huge proponent of what is sometimes termed “brief intermittent therapy throughout the lifespan.” That is, developing a close relationship with an individual therapist who you work well with who understands you and your history, and who will be there to call upon to in times of need throughout your life. Many past clients contact me about things that come up later that can be resolved within a few sessions. Personal development and healing often happen in seasons and it can be invaluable to have a confidant you can go to when another round of work is needed, one who has gotten to know you throughout your lifetime, who can help tie these seasons together.

  • I work with adults of all ages, young adults, couples, polycules, families, and occasionally other relationship groups such as friends, coworkers, and roommates.

  • It depends. In most cases, I can can provide information about timelines and frequencies of meetings after our initial consultation. In some cases, we can develop a more concrete plan about the number of sessions and target progress and goals we’re looking to achieve from them. However, the truth of the matter is that we don’t know what we’ll uncover through the process of our work together–or what kind of timeline will unfold accordingly. There is no correct amount of time therapy ought to take: it takes what it takes.

  • It depends. I am a deeply pragmatic therapist and am not married exclusively to a particular modality; rather, I have wide-ranging skillsets that I will blend together in a variety of ways based on what develops organically in a session, what tactics or methods I notice someone responds well to over time, what tools they feel most comfortable and effective with, and what approaches they determine to be most suited to any given issue or situation. Most of the time, I am not using just one style or one protocol–I am customizing a therapy specifically for the person you are from moment-to-moment, adapting styles sometimes even within a single session to attend to what you might benefit most from that day.

  • It depends. In short, therapy is not supposed to feel good all the time. It is not intended as a palliative, and is not easy. Therapy requires emotional heavy-lifting, endurance, and a willingness to keep putting in the work even when we’re tired and sore. Therapy is a process. I will work with you to help build your emotional stamina and capacity, while also collaborating with you to determine appropriate pacing and develop your own regenerative practices. Much like with physical activity, there is an optimal amount of stress that will challenge you enough to both maintain gains and support continued growth. We strive to hit that mark, which means that sometimes a session will be difficult; it also means that sometimes a session might have more levity than usual. There is a natural ebb and flow to the cadence of the work and we trust that dialectic. If you consistently feel worse after sessions in a way that isn’t working for you, talk to me. I will work with you to understand what is happening and modify my approach accordingly; in some cases, if these adjustments are not adequate to mitigate the experience, it may simply mean that the fit is off and a different provider might be more suited to offer something that will support you in the ways you are looking for. If this is the case, I will do my best to help you find an optimal therapeutic match elsewhere.

  • It depends. Diagnostic boxes can, at times, provide useful information or ways of thinking about particular sets of traits or behaviors, albeit without speaking to the interior experience thereof or considering the origins of these categories and their associated labels; it can be argued that all mental health diagnoses say more about the cultures in which they arise than the issues they are attempting to describe. That said, sometimes a diagnosis can be accompanied by a sense of profound relief: the acknowledgement of a recognized condition that can be treated. Diagnostics are most useful when you find them to be supportive and constructive ways of making sense of your experience in the world. If they weigh you down or leave you feeling circumscribed and pathologized, we will explore alternative methods of understanding and making meaning out of the obstacles you’re facing.