Common Questions

You may contact me through e-mail or by phone, I make it a priority to communicate with clients or potential clients and will call you back the next business day (Monday-Friday). It is important to leave the best day, number or e-mail and identify your name and the reason you called. I will provide a short (15 min max) information and assessment of your current symptoms and you and clinician, together, can determine if the intake session is the next best step for you. I will more than likely encourage you to read the website because it covers general information regarding our approach, fees, insurance and what to expect in the therapeutic process. But I am more than happy to clarify details for you if needed. If I decide to move forward we will make an intake appointment.

I will e-mail you the intake paperwork that is to be completed before session. It is important to complete them before you arrive to session because it will take approximately one hour to fill it out and I do not want to miss out on valuable time filling out paperwork. The paperwork will include essential information regarding physical, mental and relationship history. The intake session will entail information gathering from you regarding your family history, current symptoms, and expectations of therapy.

A therapy hour is 5o minutes. The frequency of services (how many times a month) will be a joint decision between you and clinician. Regular sessions will often include homework (sometimes behavioral or written) that are meant to help you along in your journey towards self- improvement. I have found the more “involved” the client is in the process the more empowerment is gained towards positive change.

I am open to doing sessions in the office, via internet and by telephone (last resort). Office sessions are the most ideal; it is the easiest and most comfortable way for a client and therapist to establish a natural comfortable rapport. If you do wish to do internet sessions it is important to note that I will determine during first assessment/ intake if they appropriate for you according to your symptoms and current life impairments. Also it must be noted: if at any time during therapy sessions your symptoms increase and become more severe, it is possible that I will ask that you start coming into the office or refer you to someone closer ( if you live out of the area). If clinician feels that it is best for you to see a therapist nearer to you ( if you live out of area) I will do my best to connect you with resources in your area. Telephone sessions can be conducted on occasion, however clinician will only conduct telephone sessions if I have already had session’s in-person or via internet previously. For both internet sessions and telephone sessions, it is a requirement that you are in a private place, with minimal noise and no interruption in order to keep our time together confidential and productive.

This is a common question that is posed to therapist and it is dependent on many factors which include: the severity of the issue, the motivation of the client, and the frequency of sessions. Every client has unique challenges and to put a number on sessions may not always be an accurate depiction of how long it will truly take. I have had clients improve at a remarkable fast pace due to their motivation for change and I have also had clients be in therapy for a long time due to other “issues” surfacing, intermittent/ inconsistent attendance or lack of motivation to put into practice the tools that are given in session to practice in their everyday lives. It is not our opinion that therapy should be a lifetime commitment; it is our goal for you to be empowered and equipped with the tools for yourself and your relationships. Therapy is not meant to be something you depend on always, but rather a season of your life that requires some extra support.

It is important for you to be consistent in attendance of your sessions for them to truly help you. Please call at least 24 hours before your session, if you don’t attend a scheduled appointment without calling to cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled appointment time, you’ll be charged the same as what you pay for a normal session.

Payments will always be paid at the beginning of sessions. You can provide cash, check or provide your credit card information to me in session or if you are making a payment online it is expected to be paid before you attend session.

I think it is important to write a goal(s) in the beginning of the therapeutic process to keep the direction clear for both therapist and client. As symptoms and challenges decrease I will continue to reassess your progress together and revisit the progress towards that initial goal(s). I have found that when clients near the end of therapy, they have difficulty coming up with things to talk about and have an overall satisfaction with this specific area of their life they wanted to work on. Occasionally, a client will complete one goal and realize there is another area of their life they want to improve and it is that goal that becomes the focus.