Many generally effective treatment approaches fail for some people. This is often because the therapy did not address one or more of the major treatment obstacles.

Some examples; A sports psychologist may provide anger management training, but fail to address the trauma or loss memories that make the angry reaction so strong. An executive coach may teach positive thinking and communication skills, but fail to address the underlying fear that causes impaired performance. A school may provide counseling and tutoring, but fail to address the student’s lack of motivation. A therapist may guide a grieving client to discuss the loss, but fail to prepare him/her to tolerate the strong emotions.

As a professional licensed therapist, I am trained to deal with difficult material, so you don’t have to worry about burdening me with your problems. No subject is off-limits, or “too much,” to be discussed in the session. And unlike chatting with a friend or family member, our time together is designed to be focused solely on you, and everything you share is kept confidential.  My aim in working verbally is to help you find the words to accurately and authentically express yourself so that you can both come to know your experience more deeply and gain greater control of your life. You don’t have to be diagnosed with a mental health problem to benefit from talk therapy, and you get to decide what, how much, and when, you choose to disclose.

Then you don’t have to. Telling a therapist the details of what happened is not required to heal from a trauma or loss. You will have to think about it, though, in a particular way as guided by the therapist, to get the work done.

Your healing timeline is unique to each person and situation and can be hard to predict.

As a general rule, the more committed you are to making changes in your life, the quicker you’ll begin to see results. This means that it’s not necessarily the number of months that you are in therapy that matters, but how emotionally available you are to show up and do the work, both during and in between sessions, that counts.

Physical wounds heal at different rates depending on their severity, your overall health, and how they’ve been treated. Emotional wounds are no different. Working together we’ll find the treatment plan that’s right for you.

However long your therapy takes, know that I am committed to not wasting your time. I don’t believe that people should be in therapy indefinitely unless they choose to be.

The standard in therapy is to meet weekly, but there are many great reasons to deviate from this “rule.” I do not require clients to commit to any particular schedule, but I do ask that they are intentional in choosing one.

Weekly sessions are a great place to start, as it affords us the opportunity to get to know each other and decide how best to proceed. During these first few visits, we can discuss any changes to a frequency that might make sense.

If weekly sessions start to feel like too much, we can plan to meet every other week. This also is a natural progression in therapy as you begin to heal, you will require less support.

Some people find that once a week isn’t enough. For these clients, I offer the opportunity to schedule more frequent sessions, as needed. This typically occurs post-crisis or loss and can be adjusted as needed.

I offer my clients the opportunity to self-schedule on my secure client portal. You as the client are in control of when we meet and you can see my schedule online and choose what works best for you without playing phone tag.

Standard therapy sessions are between 38 and 53 minutes. Intensive sessions are between 90 and 120 minutes. Group programs vary depending on the program and the group.

It depends on several factors, including whether you will need a companion to support your healing during off-hours.   Many clients have a support person on hand to ensure that you are not alone. You can discuss this with your therapist and then make your decision.

Yes, couples and family groups can experience intensives

Some problems are too emotionally costly to let them drag on and on. An intensive therapy program can save months or years of treatment. You may prefer to solve the problem and move forward. Specific, tested approaches can often lead to quick results.

Most people will accomplish quite a lot in the retreat. However, if you want to do more, you have the option of having another retreat and/or following up with your therapist by secure video.

Insurance companies require disclosure of highly personal information, the confidentiality and privacy of which cannot be guaranteed.

Clinical independence. Managed care can be more involved in determining the details of therapy than some people like. If you want the flexibility to choose the modalities we use, the length of your sessions, and how often we meet, self-pay is the way to go.

Wellness perspective. Many people don’t want a mental health diagnosis in their permanent medical record, or are seeking therapy for non-medical reasons, such personal growth.

Needless to say, this is something that I take very seriously and I comply with all HIPAA laws on confidentiality. Our sessions will be private and only you and I will have access to our session notes.  It is my policy to not release any information without your written consent.

Please be aware that by law, specifically the Tarasoff Duty to Warn, if you are harming yourself or others, I have a duty and obligation to report. In the case that this would apply to you, we will work together to report and try to make it as comfortable as possible.