Who I Work With
My specialty is working with women who are experiencing stress and anxiety. I work with them one-on-one in individual therapy, or with their spouse/partner for couple therapy, or with their families for family therapy. You can learn more “About My Clients” here.
Hours
I offer sessions Monday-Thursday in the afternoons and evenings, mostly between 3:00pm and 9:00pm. Earlier sessions are available, too. I also have some Saturday sessions available in the mornings and mid-day. Email sessions do not need to be scheduled in advance- you just send it to me and I will respond as soon as I am able to do so (but please keep in mind that I do try to unplug on the weekends if you send an email on Friday or Saturday night).
Length of Sessions- and Costs
All sessions are available in 15 minute increments of time. This is different from other local therapists, who tend to only offer 50 minute sessions (often ranging from $100-$200- definitely not my rates). You get to determine the length of our sessions, whether it’s 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour or even longer! You can find out more about the session lengths and their costs here. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!
I let my clients choose the lengths because you know your time and financial demands best. This allows you to get support in a way that doesn’t add more stress to your life. For example, we can schedule a session between the time you get off work and the time you have to pick up the kids from day care or soccer practice- meaning you don’t have to spend extra on a babysitter. Or, if you know that you can only spend $100 a month on therapy, we can work together on a plan that allows us to have weekly contact with each other to give you the support you need, while staying within your budget.
What Should I Expect?
Not what you see in the movies! LOL! In my practice, I strive to be real. No stiff atmosphere. No hiding behind a clip board taking notes. No phony, trite phrases that you’ve heard over and over from others. You can get a feel for what I’m like here.
When you walk in to the office, the waiting room looks much like a living room, except there’s no TV! The rooms that we work in are also similar to what you’d see at home: lamps and comfy chairs (I made sure of that) and little homey touches throughout. For instance, most of the artwork inside the office has been done by our family members. You can see what the outside of the office and the waiting room look like here. There are even more photos of the inside on our Facebook page.
You’re invited to slip your shoes off and nestle between the couch cushions for our sessions! Since I spent a few years living near the beach while in grade school, I try to avoid wearing shoes as much as possible, so I’ll join you in taking off my shoes!
During our sessions, we’ll laugh. We may even share a few tears together. It’s a mutual “conversation”- so don’t be shy! If you feel differently about something, I want to hear it! You’re the expert on your life, and together we’ll work to find what best meets your needs.
I also strive to end each session on a good note. You’ll have your own personal “cheat sheet” of what to do between then and our next session. That “cheat sheet” is a guide during the hard times. So if you find yourself waking up with a pit in your stomach, the cheat sheet has the things we talked about during our last session that will help you to know what to do. Then you can share how that worked and we can tweak it so you have your very own personal plan that’s just for you.
Individual Therapy
My goal is to help my clients to lead happier, more fulfilling lives. We do that by reducing stressors, like worry and yelling and feeling hopeless. And because of my background and training, we’re going to take a look at the relationships in your life, too. Not just the romantic relationships, but the relationships to your family members, co-workers, God, even your relationship with reaching your dreams! It’s really neat, because we can work on making improvements in all of those areas- even if it’s just you and I working together!
And it really does work! You know the saying, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” Well, the same thing goes if mama IS happy!
“If mama’s happy, then everybody’s happy.”
I say that not to put pressure on you, but to show that if one family member has a bad day, everyone feels it. But if someone has a good day, then everyone can celebrate and feel those good things, too!
Couple Therapy
As a Marriage & Family Therapist, I really enjoy working with couples! Again, there’s some stress going on in the relationship that we’re working to reduce. We do this by finding new ways to connect, relate, communicate, love and share. We reduce the daily and mundane stressors along with the intense stressors like healing from abuse, PTSD, eating disorders, and loss. By reducing their effect, it leaves room for more connection to each other, thus enriching and restoring your relationship.
Family Therapy
Working with an entire family allows everyone to take part in the process. Meeting all of the family members enables me to really get a feel for everyone, and really be able to help reduce the stress that’s going on at home. Everyone gets involved and shares, and it’s a really neat experience!
What If I Can’t Make It to Your Office?
That’s OK! I offer other options, such as phone, email and even some internet options like chat and web cam sessions, too! The price is the same- it’s all based on the length of the session, not the format.
Most people prefer for us to meet in person, in the office. But sometimes, you may find that you really need the connection, but you just can’t make it in to the office. So we can schedule a time to connect on the phone on your way home from work, or maybe after the kids are in bed. You don’t have to do phone or email sessions, but they’re there just in case you need them! It’s always good to have options!
This Sounds Great! Do You Take My Insurance?
Ah…the question everyone wants answered. To maximize privacy and to keep costs low, I am not on any insurance panels. Yes, it’s actually more cost-efficient for both you and I by not participating on an insurance panel. In fact, my rates for sessions is probably pretty similar to your co-pay. So you really don’t pay any more to work with me because I’m not on an insurance panel.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not. Take out your insurance card and look for the “Mental Health” co-pay amount. Then click here to see how similar they are.
You receive a receipt at the end of each session with the amount that you’ve paid. You can use that on your taxes if you itemize things like health care expenses.
Sample copy of a "Superbill"
And if you’d like to use the amount you spend on sessions towards your annual insurance deductible, ask me for a Superbill at the end of each session. It’s a separate sheet that you’ll share with your insurance company. You can also use this sheet to file on your own with your health insurance company. Clients have had a lot of success receiving reimbusements for our sessions from their insurance companies when they mailed in the form!
If you have questions or if you’d like to set up a complimentary phone consultation, feel free to complete the information below and I’ll respond back to you as soon as I can! I’m happy to answer your questions!