My Approach to Helping
Whatever brings you to my office, you will be met by someone who truly cares to help you discover the tools and strategies that will help you now and will stay with you to meet future challenges. In a comfortable and safe environment, you can identify and expand on strengths and resources, examine past behaviors that no longer serve you, and apply healthier skills to better cope with the stresses of today and the changes tomorrow will bring.
My almost twenty years of supporting adults, teens, and children deal with issues from anxiety and depression, to couples and parenting struggles, to life transitions and loss have prepared me to help you find the solutions you need to make a positive difference in your life. I truly look forward to being of service to you, your partner or spouse, or your children and family.
More Info About My Practice
Although I do not bill insurance, you will receive a detailed receipt for your payment that will allow you to file with your carrier for possible out-of-network reimbursement. There is no charge for your initial telephone consultation. Your first intake appointment will be $180 with subsequent hours at $160 per session. Cash and checks are accepted for payment.
Please contact me with any questions you might have about the payment process.
What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist
What other job has you spending your entire day finding the bright side, unearthing solutions, and helping people feel better about themselves and their circumstances? Sure, you are probably at a really low spot in your life right now (you're on a website looking for people to help you navigate a rough patch, aren't you?!), and I know I am going to sit with lots of pain, frustration, despair, anger, confusion, anxiety, and many other emotions. I know I will probably cry with you, grieve with you, struggle with you, and have to confront you.
But I get to ride that roller coaster knowing that there is a good chance you will come out the other side more aware, stronger, and better prepared to deal with the rest of your day and hopefully longer. I know that one hour at a time, I get to partner with you to dig deep in order to understand your perspective and provide an alternative view. And in so doing, I get to witness the light of a new awareness or a willingness to attempt something in a new way.
The beauty of the therapeutic relationship is that it is built on a positive foundation of accepting that change happens outside of your comfort zone. And I am honored to be allowed to share your journey with you.
My Role as a Therapist
Despite my years of experience and the string of initials that follow my name, I really look to you as the "expert" regarding yourself or your family. Who else has walked in your shoes and seen your world from your perspective? As your therapist, I will partner with you to integrate my training with your experiences in an effort to move you toward the goals you will identify as important to you.
In a very safe, accepting, and comfortable setting, I will guide you in the direction you want to head. We will visit your past to see how previous behaviors or attitudes may or not have been helpful. We will explore strategies and approaches that could be more healthy and productive. And we will examine which techniques were effective (or not so much!) so you can build on the tools you bring with you.
I will offer you tissues, encouragement, suggestions, a dose of reality, and a different perspective, but it is up to you what you want to apply in the real world. In a most caring way, I will support you as you grow to make your own changes. My view of "success" is when you no longer need me - that means you have the strength and resources within yourself to manage your challenges.
And even once you have conquered a particular difficulty, you can always check back in for a tune-up. After all, if therapy is one of your tools, it makes sense to utilize it when you need it.
Why Going to Therapy Does Not Mean You are Weak or Flawed
Quite the opposite! Engaging in the therapy process means that you have identified an area for growth or change, and you are doing something positive to make it happen. It takes a very strong person to acknowledge that you have a need to change, and then you must be open to different approaches to encourage that happening. Often that means that you have to explore outside the comfort of habit and the familiar then be willing to persevere to develop new behaviors, reactions, and attitudes. So you have to be strong to be up for the challenge - and sometimes even stronger once you get into making those changes within yourself.
Similar to hiring a coach to hone an athletic skill or a real estate agent to help you in unfamiliar locations, you will partner with me to find the strengths and resources you already have and then push yourself to new limits in new ways. Although I will do all I can to keep you feeling safe and comfortable, therapy is not easy - and that means you are strong to even try! Because healing, growing, stretching, repairing, and changing can make you even stronger and better prepared to face your tomorrow.
