Information/FAQs

  • Please submit a request on the contact page. We offer phone consultations or new client sessions when requesting through the form, please specify what you’re looking for. Also feel free to ask any questions in your submission!

    • Make sure you have a good internet connection

    • Find a place that is quiet and private

    • Limit distractions

    • Make sure your pre-appointment paperwork is complete

    • Check and see if your link works

  • I am currently in network with UHC, Aetna, and BCBS (not Anthem).

    Our Self-Pay Rate operates on a flexible sliding scale, beginning at $200 per hour and adjusting based on a range of factors, including income. Feel free to explore this during a phone consultation and at any time during any session. FSA/HSA is accepted.

    Lastly, I can provide a superbill if you have out of network benefits, and you can file a claim to get reimbursed for your session.

  • Beginning at $200 per hour for individual therapy, the cost of the session will scale lower based on your income.

    Please request a phone consultation call to discuss a more affordable rate for your current life situation.

  • Initial Intake Session: Your first session is typically 60-90 minutes long, though I aim for 60 minutes to minimize financial strain. If we extend to the full 90 minutes due to session content or incomplete intake, you'll be billed for the full duration. Completing pre-appointment paperwork can streamline the session to 60 minutes!

    Individual Therapy: Sessions are 45-60 minutes, tailored to your needs. I suggest starting with 60 minutes to fully address your treatment goals and strive for balance. Whether you prefer weekly or bi-weekly sessions is up to you; weekly sessions are recommended to kickstart progress, but ultimately, it's your choice.

  • We offer telehealth services with convenient times designed to accommodate working individuals, minimizing added stress in accessing therapy sessions.

    • Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

    • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

    • Internal Family Systems (IFS)

    • Mindfulness

    • Motivational Interviewing

    • Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT)

    Learn more about these below

    • Attachment Wounds

    • Chronic Maladaptive Patterns

    • Family/Cultural Trauma

    • First-Generation Challenges

    • Gender Identity / LGBTQIA+

    • Inner Child Healing

    • Life Transitions

    Learn more about these below

  • Some examples:

    • Consuming something to compensate for feeling bored/lonely/negative

    • Drugs, alcohol, or even food.

    • Chronic patterns of getting into a series of situation-ships, short-term relationships, or abusive relationships.

    • Spending sprees, inability to be alone, etc.

    These behaviors were at one point adaptive. Used as a way to feel connected or survive in a very strict and emotionally distant environment.

    Behaviors become maladaptive when they are now painful, destructive, disruptive to daily functioning and relationships with safe people now that the environment is safer.

    This can even be as simple as a chronic pattern of avoiding emotional closeness with any and all relationships which causes you to feel alone.

Modalities

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy approach that focuses on identifying and modifying dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to improve mental health and well-being. This method utilizes activities outside of session to practice creating new patterns of thoughts/behaviors.

    More on CBT

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that emphasizes the development of coping skills for managing intense emotions, improving interpersonal relationships, and promoting mindfulness. DBT draws upon skills from western and eastern philosophies to increase utilizing the “grey area” of things and decrease impulsively responding to big emotions.

    More on DBT

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is an approach that views the mind as a system of different parts, aiming to help individuals understand and harmonize these parts to achieve emotional healing and integration. This modality fuses eastern and western philosophies to bring the mind to a place where it can heal the inner child using gentle parenting techniques, but toward yourself.

    More on IFS

  • Mindfulness originates from Buddhist philosophy, particularly from the teachings of the Buddha regarding meditation and awareness of the present moment. It is the practice of being fully present and aware of one's thoughts, feelings, sensations, and surroundings without judgment or attachment.

    More on Spiritualiy & Therapy

  • Motivational interviewing is a counseling technique that helps individuals explore and resolve ambivalence about behavior change by eliciting and strengthening their intrinsic motivation.

    More on Motivational Interviewing

  • Attachment-based family therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach that focuses on strengthening family bonds and resolving relational conflicts to promote healing in adolescents struggling with emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties. I draw upon this approach and fortify IFS with these techniques to help with healing the inner child.

    More on ABFT

Specialized Areas of Focus

  • Attachment wounds, also known as attachment injuries or attachment trauma, are emotional injuries that can occur in intimate relationships when trust is broken. They can happen during times of loss, transition, or need, and can leave one or both partners feeling betrayed or abandoned.

  • Pattern of behaviors that you cannot stop which are used to decrease feelings of distress. For example: I feel sad, I crave cake, I go get cake. No I shouldn’t get cake, can’t stop self from getting cake.

  • If you are BIPOC or come from an immigrant or first generation household, you may find that you carry different burdens than others around you. There is a unique type of trauma that comes from growing up in a different culture at home then going to school and having to live a different life.

  • First generation children (and future adults) experience unique challenges such as having to become adults at a young age. Translating for parents, managing their household finances, making sure they go to the doctor (and are actually listened to), or maybe even having to just live under different ideals than the rest of your local community.

  • Struggles with exploring gender identity or expression. Exploring changes or difficulty with acceptance of your sexual orientation. Issues related to thinking about coming out, identifying and managing emotions. Dealing with discrimination or bullying.

  • These 5 inner child wounds are rejection, abandonment, humiliation, betrayal and injustice. Signs of inner child wounds are low self esteem, guilt, people pleasing behaviors, loose boundaries, over achieving, and overall feeling shame.

  • Transitioning from childhood to adulthood is extremely jarring, especially when shifting from a strict household to newfound freedom in an instant. Such a significant change can bring unaddressed traumas to the surface, potentially leading to disruptive patterns that prompt thoughts like, "why can’t I stop _____."

    Other life transitions may involve starting a family or guiding a child out of your household. Each major transition evokes immense waves of emotions that can become overwhelming and reveal inner child wounds.

Common Reasons People Avoid Therapy

  • When you meet a therapist, it’s like meeting a possible friend for the first time. Sometimes you get along and sometimes you don’t. And if you don’t get along or you don’t click, it’s completely okay to discuss these feelings and I will work with you to connect you with someone that works better with what you’re looking for.

  • Therapy is certainly what you make of it. Some parts of therapy are going to help you whether or not you realize it is helping, however, other parts require your participation to be fully effective

  • Talking about your feelings can be a part of therapy. There are many other therapeutic modalities that don’t involve talking about your feelings that can be used.

  • For some people, talking is processing. When an event bothers us, sometimes it plays in a loop, and sometimes people find that talking through that event will complete the event in our mind and give us closure, thus ending the loop.

  • I’m glad that you’re open to therapy. Let’s give it a try and see what works for you. At the end of the day, you set the goals for therapy.

  • Sometimes, there are experiences with a therapist that are unfavorable and that doesn’t mean every therapist will provide a bad experience. Just a reminder that not every person is going to be someone we click with. We’ve all had bad experiences with doctors and hairstylists but that doesn’t stop us from going to all of them right?