About Therapy
Therapy that creates true change in the brain, the mind and the spirit is hard work! It takes vulnerability, trust and commitment. It is an intimate journey that has the most power when engaged honestly and fully. Therapy requires dedication to yourself and usually means that a part of yourself holds a vision of a life that includes an increase in contentment, happiness, relational satisfaction, relief from painful emotional experiences, spiritual fulfillment and/or meaningful productivity. Therapy also requires courage and a willingness to explore parts of your experience and inner world that may remain unexplored or unexpressed to another person. As a therapist, I have the utmost respect for the commitment it takes to come to therapy and work hard. I work to create an environment in my office to support your own unique path to self-exploration.
In general, issues that are new to you may be helped with shorter term therapy whereas concerns that have spanned more time, and/or were highly traumatic in your life will require longer-term therapy for true, lasting change.
There are many methods and approaches used by psychotherapists depending on their level of training and personal preferences. PHD level therapists, Licensed Psychologists (what I am), receive extensive doctorate level training, usually focused on an in-depth understanding of the psyche and they also receive training on diagnosis and assessment. MFT level therapists often receive training more focused on family and couple issues and often include an emphasis on behavioral-oriented practices. Therapy, in general, can span a whole range of focuses from short-term behavior oriented therapy to long-term depth work such as psychoanalysis or existential-humanistic therapy and many things in-between. The modality that is the best fit for you depends on the issues that you wish to focus on and your personal inclinations.
Challenges Treated:
Anxiety/Panic Attacks
It is hard to imagine navigating living at this point in time without moments of anxiety. I view anxiety as ‘wisdom’ that your body is trying to share. It is our bodies’ innate ability to notify us that there is something not right and that we need to pay attention. When I work with clients struggling with anxiety, we have two goals: to learn how to calm our bodies when they feel anxious, and to learn to understand the wisdom in our anxiety and how to use our wise minds to attend to the wisdom. Anxiety is not something to just get rid of or figure out how to ignore. The more we can be a partner in figuring out what our emotions, including anxiety, are trying to communicate to us, the more likely we are to be able to truly calm the anxiety.
Stress Management
Stress is the result of our nervous systems being overloaded with demands that have exceeded our emotional or logistical capacity to handle them. As humans, we all have brains and nervous systems with a finite capacity. We need to clearly understand our own capacity and limitations in order to be able to maintain our overall mental health. If we are experiencing stress chronically then our brains and bodies cannot function optimally. In our work together, we can explore the source of your stressors (current and accumulated from past events) and learn strategies for releasing stress and managing your life within your nervous system’s capacity. After engaging in this exploration and practice, you will be MORE able to tackle your passions without burning out and maintain better health in all ways.
Depression
Depression is a brain response to life events, ans/or a genetic disease. If you are experiencing symptoms of depression (hopelessness, sleep challenges, eating challenges, low energy, and/or low self-concept) then your body has entered a depressed state in order to cope with the events you are navigating. To lift symptoms of depression I take a three-pronged approach: working to understand the origins of the symptoms and what is unresolved in relation to these challenges, practicing skills to help your body come out of numbness or shut down, and considering if a consultation with an MD to discover if possible medication support is in order. In all cases, the long-term solution is one that involves more self-understanding and development of new self-care skills.
Life Transitions
Life is full of transitions including children being born or becoming adults, ending or beginning relationships, moving, new jobs, etc. These events can bring about unexpected mental and emotional challenges. In our work together, we can explore the roots of your struggles with the transition and develop new strategies to assist you in adapting.
Trauma (Historic and recent)
Trauma is the result of experiencing challenging events that the body and mind are unable to fully understand or process at the moment of the event. I have decades worth of experience assisting clients in understanding the events in their lives that led to trauma symptoms and what to do about them. I rely heavily on my knowledge from the field of Interpersonal Neurobiology which combines knowledge of how the physical brain is impacted by trauma as well as knowledge about therapeutic techniques to heal the nervous system from trauma. I rely on concepts from IFS (Internal Family Systems), ACT, Attachment focused therapy, mindfulness and more in assisting clients to move past the impact of past traumas.
Parenting
Gender and/or Sexuality Exploration
Practice Details
Policies & Fees for therapy
I am available for sessions during morning, afternoon and evening hours at various times throughout the work week. The best way to get started is for you to call or email me. At that point we can discuss your needs on the phone and decide when to schedule an appointment.
Alternatively if I feel you would be better served by another clinician, I can refer you to someone who better fits your needs.
Insurance
I am currently only an in-network provider for Medicare. However, you may still be eligible and choose to pursue insurance reimbursement for all or part of my services depending on the details of your particular provider and policy. I am committed to keeping our work completely confidential without the involvement of third parties whenever possible.
If you would like to pursue insurance support for our work together, then I would recommend that you call your provider and ask the following questions. When we meet we can then discuss details of billing.
Does my policy cover mental health benefits?
Does my plan include coverage for Out-of-Network providers?
How much does my plan cover for an Out-of-Network Provider?
What is my deductible and has it been met?
How many therapy sessions per calendar year does my plan cover?
What is the coverage amount per therapy session?
Is approval required from my primary care physician?
Payment
Credit card preferred; I also accept cash and checks.
Sliding Scale
I do not offer a sliding scale but I can provide services at a reduced rate in some extreme circumstances.