Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy

 What can I expect from my first session?

Prior to your first session, I will send you directions to my office as well as paperwork to fill out and bring with you to your appointment. Plan to arrive 5-10 minutes early to give yourself time to find the correct building and I will come out to get you at the time of your appointment. We will begin by going over the necessary paperwork and I will answer any questions you might have. After that, we will spend the majority of the session discussing what has been going on leading up to you seeking therapy. I will also want to know some background information about your family, etc. in order to have the most holistic view of who you are and how you came to be who/where you are today. We will end session by discussing goals for therapy and making sure we feel like a good fit; if it feels like a good match we will often go ahead and schedule our next appointment.

How often do I need to come to therapy?

This depends on a combination of schedule, finances and severity of mental health symptoms. Some clients may choose to start coming once a week (or even twice a week if they are working through a current crisis and needing extra support). Others will choose to come every other week starting out. When you are first starting therapy, I recommend not going less often than 2x/month because otherwise it can be difficult to feel like you are gaining any momentum. Oftentimes I recommend coming every week for the first month or two, and then dropping down to every other week for an ongoing basis.

I’m interested in both couples and individual therapy; where do I start?

If one or both of you already has an individual therapist, I am happy to serve as a couples therapist for the two of you together. However, I cannot serve as both your individual and your couples therapist, as that would create a conflict of interest and make me less effective at my job. Typically I recommend starting with individual therapy, and once you feel ready for couples therapy I can offer you referrals for couples therapists whom I trust.

What counts as “trauma?”

So many things. In our culture, we’ve been conditioned to limit this definition to what is tangible — domestic violence, sexual assault, military PTSD, and major accidents or natural disasters. While those things are indeed considered traumas, we are equally (if not more) impacted by a number of other experiences including: emotional abuse and manipulation, growing up with a mentally ill or addicted parent, attachment ruptures originating in adoption or foster care, poverty, divorce, prejudice, abandonment, and emotional neglect. The best way I’ve heard trauma defined is any event or experience that overwhelms our usual coping ability. It impacts us holistically- body, mind, and spirit. Therefore, we must move towards healing in equally holistic ways.

I’m afraid to have to deal with certain things from my past. Will therapy push me to feel things I am not ready for?

At the end of the day, only you know what you are ready for. It is my job to challenge you at times, but I never push clients past what they feel safe working with in a given session. I encourage clients to go at their own pace, particularly when it comes to trauma. It can be re-traumatizing to delve into wounds before we are ready, so I recommend clients start by learning to reconnect to their bodies/emotions in safe ways. Believe it or not, some clients never need to recount traumatic events in therapy in order to feel they have healed from them. Many times healing comes when we learn to safely listen to our bodies and spirits.

I’m not sure I can afford therapy. What are my options?

Therapy can be expensive. Currently I do not accept insurance, but sliding scale is available for clients who need it. I can also provide the necessary paperwork to submit to insurance companies for partial reimbursement. Another option is to find providers who take your insurance, which you can easily find on Psychology Today’s website (just use the lefthand toolbar to select which insurance provider is yours). Finally, a great low-cost option is to see a therapist who is working at a community counseling center or to see a graduate-level counseling intern. They are under the supervision of excellent therapists, and they tend to be much less expensive. One great option in the area is Richmont Graduate University’s Hope Counseling Center, whose fees do not exceed $50 per session. Click here for a link to their website.