GET STARTED
You’ve taken the first step toward a more fulfilling life by recognizing that you deserve help. What's next?
Step 1:
Schedule a free 15-minute phone consult directly here. Or, if you’re not sure you’re ready for that or you prefer written communication, feel free to fill out this contact form.
We’ll reach out to you via email to either confirm the consultation time or discuss the contact form you submitted.
What’s a phone consult anyway?
During a phone consultation, we’ll have a brief conversation to get a sense of each other. I will want to learn more about you and what you’re looking for. You can also ask me any questions you might have or let me know any concerns or worries you might have about the process. This is an opportunity to figure out whether or not we might be a good fit. We can also discuss potential times to meet, rates, insurance, etc. If you feel comfortable continuing, we’ll schedule an initial session over the phone.
Step 2:
See if we’re a good fit: Meet for an initial session or a few initial sessions.
A 15-minute phone call may, understandably, be not enough time to figure out our fit. That’s why I recommend that we meet for at least an initial therapy session, or a few. We can talk about which option might work best for you during the phone consult.
The purpose of our initial session(s) is to get a feel for whether or not we might be able to work together. Sessions are fluid and flexible. Though there is no set formula to these sessions because every individual and session is unique, here are some of the things we might cover.
- I might want to get a better sense of the nuances of your struggles. If you’re unsure why exactly you’re looking for therapy, that’s okay. This can be a starting point for us to explore and understand this, together. You won’t be doing this alone.
- We might explore your background, your history with these particular issues, including the context in which they began.
- We might look at how they have been impacting your internal world and your day-to-day life.
- I might ask you certain questions to get you to begin the process of understanding your emotional life.
- You can let me know any questions, concerns, or worries you might have about this process, my approach, etc.
Again, there’s no strict formula or structure because everyone’s needs, feelings, and circumstances are different.
We’ll check in towards the end to see what the initial session(s) were like for you and whether or not you feel comfortable continuing to meet. Though a few sessions are never enough to thoroughly understand what’s going on, I will probably be able to give you some tentative impressions of what might be going on or what we might do if we continued your therapy. Our understanding and approach will evolve over time through a collaborative process of unpacking and addressing what’s going on with you as an individual.
Step 3:
Congrats on investing in yourself and your self-care!
Beginning therapy is a huge step towards your emotional wellness and a more satisfying and meaningful life. Together, we will journey towards healing, self-exploration, and deepening your self-awareness.
New Patient FAQs
Therapy takes time; it is a process, after all.
After the initial appointments, the general goal of the next phase is to go deeper beyond the surface to understand your challenges, struggles, when and where they show up, your history, past therapy etc. This takes time. After all, your difficulties didn’t start overnight, so it can take some time for your therapist to get an understanding of what you are experiencing, how you got here, what you have or have not tried, and what will likely work best to help you.
Many clients find that as the therapist guides them via questions dialogue about these aspects of themselves, they start to have a clearer understanding of themselves and their issues, which helps in figuring out how to best tailor our approach to the specific goals and issues at hand.
During this process, If appropriate, coping strategies may be explored as well.
Because therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. Usually, growth cannot occur until past issues are experienced and confronted, often causing distressing feelings. On the other hand, psychotherapy has also been shown to have benefits for people who go through it. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress.
The success of therapy depends upon the quality of the efforts of both the therapist and client, along with the reality that clients are responsible for the lifestyle choices/changes that may result from therapy. Your therapist cannot do the work for you. Your therapist is there to guide you and point you in the direction of growth, healing, and change, but you are the one who decides what you want to do with the different perspectives and strategies offered. You are the one responsible for coming to sessions open and ready to talk about what has been on your mind, what you would like to work on, and even more so, for taking what is done in therapy and implementing those practices in your everyday life.
Countless research studies and decades of clinical outcome reviews have proven that weekly sessions are key to clinical outcome success.
The consistency and frequency that you attend therapy appointments matter!
Meeting consistently and stably on a weekly basis will help build safety and trust, which is essential for the work to progress on a deeper level.
Biweekly sessions impact the effectiveness of therapy. Often, meeting less frequently results in a ‘catch up’ type of session and does not allow for the time, space, and emotional capacity needed to address what goes on beneath the surface.
Depending on the level of our work, there are also times when meeting two or more times a week is appropriate, and that will always come from us talking and making that decision together.
A therapy can be a powerful tool for promoting personal growth and self-awareness, and the regularity of weekly sessions can help to facilitate this process.
Therapy can last any time between a year to many more, as long as you are still progressing from our work.
The length of therapy depends on what you want and need, and what you want/need can be fluid and dynamic. Healing and personal growth is not strict or predictable.
You can start off by wanting to address something very specific (e.g. “I want to feel less anxious”), but through our work together could realize a deeper meaning to these anxious symptoms (e.g. “I feel anxious because I am terrified of intimacy” to “I’ve had very familiar experiences of being emotionally suffocated when I was close to people”).
Realizing these deeper long-standing issues may then shape the focus and length of treatment.
Regardless of why you are seeking therapy and how long you hope to be in treatment, it is important to remember that your thoughts and input are invaluable to me, and the pace and length of treatment will always be a collaborative discussion.
I’m an out-of-network provider for all major insurances, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, and United Health Care. Out-of-network psychotherapy coverage varies by carrier and policy. If you have out-of-network coverage, you can get reimbursed approximately 50-80% of each session after the deductible is met.
Navigating insurances can be a headache sometimes, but once we figure out the process, it should get easier. The questions to ask are listed below. It’s helpful for some people to find out just so you know your options when you want to see an out-of-network provider (myself or anyone else).
Step 1:
I’m an out-of-network provider. To find out if you have out-of-network benefits, you can call the number listed on the back of your insurance card and ask the following questions.
Does my plan have out-of-network coverage for outpatient mental health visits? (If they need to know, the CPT code is 90834)
Are teletherapy sessions covered? (If they ask, the place of service code is 02)
Is there a deductible (aka the amount you need to pay out-of-pocket each year before the insurance starts covering the costs) for these visits? If so, what is the deductible and how much have I met?
Is there a limit on the number of sessions my plan will cover per year?
What is the ‘allowed amount’ for CPT code 90834?
How much will my plan reimburse each visit once I reach the deductible?
How do I submit the Superbill to you? Is there a way for me to submit it online? (this may be an easier way compared to snail mail)
How long does it take to process the Superbill and get reimbursed?
How will I get reimbursed? Is there a way for me to receive them by direct deposit? (this may be simpler for some compared to waiting for the check via mail
Step 2:
I can guide you through the reimbursement process and provide the paperwork you need to submit a claim to your health insurance for reimbursement. Most clients are able to submit this through their online insurance portal.
Step 3:
You’re responsible for payment of the session fee. Depending on your specific plan, your insurance company will mail you a check to reimburse a portion of that cost.
