Frequently Asked Questions

All sessions are held online via a secure, confidential video platform which can be accessed from a computer, tablet or smartphone.

My clients have found that meeting from the comfort of their own space and avoiding driving in traffic to an office is highly convenient, saves time and makes therapy much more user-friendly.

Online therapy works just like in-person therapy: we’ll explore the issues causing you discomfort and their solutions. You get to be in your own home, office, outside or even in your car. You can have your pet with you, sit in a cozy spot, and wear your comfiest clothes!

Many prefer the convenience and benefits of doing sessions online. My own clients have found online therapy to be highly effective in helping them reach their goals. Find out more about online therapy with me here!

That said, online therapy is not appropriate for everyone. if you are actively considering suicide, are in a severe mental health crisis or in danger of seriously harming others, then local, in-person therapy is strongly recommended. If any of these concerns come up during our work together, we’ll have an emergency plan in place to connect you with local resources that can best help you, if need be.

My sessions are typically 55 minutes. Longer sessions, or “intensives,” can be pre-arranged and provide an opportunity for more in-depth and highly impactful therapeutic work.

When we are getting started, weekly sessions are recommended, as this provides the initial momentum and continuity that can lead to you seeing positive changes, faster.

However, each person’s needs are unique, and you may be in a position where less frequent therapy is preferred and more appropriate for you. In this case, we can talk about what your needs are and how less frequent therapy may help.

While by no means required, some people opt to have more than one session each week and/or longer, extended sessions ("intensives”). This can be particularly helpful for deeper processing and healing work, and is an option that a few of my clients choose from time to time.

As you progress and reach your therapy goals, you might choose to lessen your session frequency - or you might elect to continue on a weekly basis to work on deeper growth and additional therapy goals.

Whatever the case, you ultimately are in charge of the frequency of your participation in therapy. I will of course make recommendations based on my professional judgment, and am always happy to discuss what you want and need therapy to look like for you!

My fee is $225/session. Longer sessions or “intensives” - which can be highly beneficial and effective in doing deeper healing work, particularly for trauma - may be pre-arranged and made available at a pro-rated fee.

If you have a PPO insurance plan, you may qualify for partial reimbursement by your insurance, provided you have out-of-network benefits and have met any required deductible. For this purpose, I can provide you with a “superbill” that you can submit to your insurance. I cannot guarantee that your insurance will offer you reimbursement for your out-of-pocket therapy expenses. Please contact your insurance company to check your out-of-network benefits, if any, and deductible.

If you would like to use your out-of-network benefits and are planning on submitting a superbill, please note that I don’t provide any additional clinical notes to, or consult with, insurance companies. This may affect out-of-network reimbursement you are eligible to receive from your insurance.

Be aware if you use your out-of-network insurance benefits that:

• Insurance companies can limit the number of sessions and type of therapy that you receive. They may not cover the use of emerging and innovative therapeutic modalities that could greatly benefit you.

• You are required to have a diagnosis attached to your medical record. This private health information can potentially be accessed by certain third parties, such as life insurance companies, etc.

• Profit-based insurance companies need to maximize their bottom line for their shareholders. Unfortunately, this translates into insurance offering low reimbursement rates to the mental health providers they contract with. As a private-pay therapist, I’m able to see less clients on a weekly basis, giving me more time and energy to focus on supporting the clients I do see. This allows me to spend extra time participating in training and professional development, which in turn benefits my clients.

For these reasons, many of my clients prefer to bypass their out-of-network insurance benefits entirely. Doing so creates the flexibility and freedom for me, as your therapist, to use my best clinical knowledge and judgement to provide you with the most appropriate and effective care - without the imposed limitations of any insurance company.

Should you choose to work with me, consider your therapy as a valuable investment that you are making in your growth, healing and well-being, one that will pay “dividends” back to you many times over!

GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE Information:

Under Section 2799B-6 of the Public Health Service Act, health care providers and health care facilities are required to inform individuals who are not enrolled in a plan or coverage or a Federal health care program, or not seeking to file a claim with their plan or coverage both orally and in writing of their ability, upon request or at the time of scheduling health care items and services, to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” of expected charges.

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises

In our first session, we’ll identify the main issues that you’d like to resolve and the important factors that are impacting you and your challenges. We’ll look at your past and current ways of coping with life challenges. I’ll help you clarify your goals for therapy and we can begin exploring some strategies and tools for getting you to where you want to be.

Sometimes I have people who come to their first session needing immediate support in addressing the psychological distress they are feeling in the moment. If so, it might be most appropriate to spend some time focusing on that, and extend the assessment/goal-setting portions of your first session to the subsequent session(s).

Therapy is a collaborative process, and your input and feedback is always important. That said, it might feel difficult and vulnerable to share certain details of your life when you first meet me. This is totally normal! Please know that you get to share as much or as little information with me as you wish, and always in a manner that feels safe and appropriate for you!

There are many factors which will determine the length of therapy, such as our availability and schedules, the nature of your challenges, your specific therapy goals, your engagement in the therapy process and ongoing life challenges which may impact your progress.

Depending on the above factors, some people can feel relief and improvement in a relatively shorter period of time (6-15 sessions) while others prefer to stay in therapy beyond this period to do more in-depth and comprehensive healing work. Although no therapist can offer hard-and-fast guarantees, my goal is always to help you find relief and meet your therapy goals in a timely manner.

Clarification at the outset of what you’re hoping to achieve in therapy and factors affecting your participation will help give us a better sense of the length of an effective course of therapy, keeping in mind that the definition of this is highly specific to each person and often variable as circumstances change.