Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 

Q: What are your fees?

A: Fees per service are:

• Therapy = $140 per 50 minutes (with a limited number of sliding scale slots available)
• Coaching = $140 per 50 minutes / $75 per 30 minutes
• Consultation = $140 per 50 minutes / $75 per 30 minutes
• Supervision = $75 per 50 minutes
• Workshops, presentations, or other services = contact me to inquire

 

Q: Do you accept insurance?

A: No, but you may be able to be at least partially reimbursed by your insurance through out-of-network coverage (for therapy services only). Here are some questions that you may want to ask your insurance:

• Do I have out-of-network mental health benefits?
• For which diagnoses do you reimburse?
• Do I have a deductible? If so, how much is it and has it been met?
• What percentage of the therapy fee is covered?
• How long will it take for you to reimburse me?
• How many sessions are covered per year? Is there a yearly or lifetime limit? 

If you choose to use out-of-network benefits, you pay me in full for sessions and then I provide you with a monthly receipt (called a superbill) that you submit to your insurance.

There is a company, Reimbursify.com, that helps people submit superbills to their insurance for a minimal fee. You may wish to consider using their services. I am not affiliated with them in any way.

These are some important points that you might wish to consider if planning to use insurance for therapy:

• In order to qualify for benefits, a therapist may have to share certain information with your insurance company that would otherwise remain between you and the therapist. 
• In order for insurance to reimburse your treatment, you have to be given a mental health diagnosis that then goes in your medical record.
• Insurance policies sometimes limit the number of sessions you can attend each year and the type of therapy that you can receive. They may or may not authorize more sessions based on what they define as a medical necessity.

 

Q: What forms of payment do you accept?

A: I accept credit and debit cards. This includes FSA/HSA cards (for therapy services only).

 

Q: How frequently do we meet?

A: I typically meet with clients once per week for therapy services, especially when we start working together and if we decide to focus mostly on EMDR therapy. If you feel the need to be seen more or less frequently, we can discuss options.

For coaching, consultation, and supervision services we can discuss what might work best for what you are seeking.

 

Q: How long will we work together?

A: There is no easy answer to this, as each individual has their own path to healing or achieving their goals.

Regarding therapy, some people find that they feel ready to end after a few months while some participate in it for several years before they feel ready. Generally speaking, the longer or more intense one’s traumatic experiences have been the longer they will likely benefit from therapy.

It is common for people to participate in therapy at various points in their lives as changes, milestones, etc. trigger difficult feelings at different times.

The same can be said about my other services regarding unique needs, so it’s best for us to assess your needs during the consultation call and our first few sessions.

 

Q: What can I expect from working with you?

A: As you can expect from all therapists, I will keep what you say to me confidential, I strive to make you feel validated and understood, and I take time during the first few sessions getting to know you and the issues that you would like to work on. 

Unlike most traditional talk-based therapists, I mix experiential approaches with talking during sessions. This includes drama therapy techniques and EMDR therapy.

One more thing I would like you to know about what to expect from therapy is that studies show that you should ideally be feeling at least a little better within the first few sessions. If this is not the case for you, it could be that we are not a good fit for each other. Like friendships, therapists and clients usually either connect or don’t connect. If you feel that we don’t connect, please let me know this. I will not take offense and will do my best to help you find someone that you will connect with. It is important to note, however, that sometimes you might feel worse before feeling better when participating in therapy due to dealing with feelings that you may not have dealt with for a long time, if ever. Because of this, I suggest giving yourself 5-10 sessions to determine if therapy is working for you, whether with me or another therapist.

Although I’m not legally bound by the same confidentiality for coaching clients, I still abide by it to maintain trust.

I also blend my various approaches in my coaching, consultation, and supervision services.

 

Q: Do you provide prescriptions or medications?

A: No, it is not in my educational background to be able to do so. I am happy to refer you to a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner while we work together if this is something that you and I feel is helpful for your healing process.

 

Q: What is drama therapy? How does it help people?

A: Drama therapy is defined by the North American Drama Therapy Association as “an active, experiential approach to facilitating change. Through storytelling, projective play, purposeful improvisation, and performance, participants are invited to rehearse desired behaviors, practice being in relationship, expand and find flexibility between life roles, and perform the change they wish to be and see in the world.”

I discovered how healing theatre is when I took a drama class in high school. At that point, I had already planned to be a therapist due to enjoying helping people, and I knew I had to pursue drama therapy when I learned about it while writing an essay for drama class. I thought, “Wow! I can combine my love of theatre with my love of helping people!”. I studied it during both undergrad and grad school, so drama therapy has been a huge part of my life since I was 15 years old. I have participated in drama therapy myself so know its healing powers. I even overcame my fear of spiders through drama therapy!

Although music was actually my artistic medium of choice as a child, drama therapy appealed to me because we all play roles in our everyday lives. To learn more about this and about drama therapy in general, please see my drama therapy page and blog posts.

 

Q: What is EMDR therapy? How does it help people?

You can read more about this on my EMDR therapy page.

 

Q: Do you use any particular theories in your work?

A: I consider myself to be eclectic and to use a variety of theories in my work, such as:

• Polyvagal Theory
• Psychodynamic psychology
• Parts work (e.g. Role Theory, IFS, ego state therapy)
• Somatic modalities
• Mindfulness
• Existentialism
• ACT
• CBT
• DBT

I view peoples’ symptoms and obstacles as being responses to events, cultural and societal expectations, and other factors that are external to oneself (e.g. stress, trauma, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, fatphobia, etc.). Thus, I use an intersectionalist and anti-oppression approach in my work.

I use a trauma-informed approach in all of my services, which you can learn more about here.