Frequently Asked Questions

Schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation. This will give us a chance to determine whether we’re a good fit to work together and to set up your first session.

Some of the members of my team do meet in person and all team members meet via telehealth. We can discuss your needs at the time of consultation and decide what works best for you. Address provided prior to first session.

For video sessions, we'll use a HIPAA-compliant web-based video program and you'll be emailed the link for our session prior to our meeting time. You won't need to download anything unless you're using a phone or tablet, but the app for those devices is simple. It's easy to log in and more convenient than commuting to an office.

Licensed Providers: $200 for a 50 minute session

Unlicensed Providers: $150 for a 50 minute session

We also retain a limited number of sliding scale appointments based on need.

With new clients, I schedule weekly sessions at the same time every week. Research and personal experience suggests that weekly sessions help establish a solid foundation for the therapeutic relationship. Once we've established a therapeutic foundation, and we collaboratively decide it is time, more or less frequent sessions can become available.

I understand that sometimes things happen, and you may need to cancel and reschedule your appointment. Please notify me at least 24 hours in advance to cancel or reschedule your appointment. Cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice may incur a fee. To cancel, contact me via phone, text or email with your appointment details.

I am not in-network with any insurance companies and cannot guarantee any level of out-of-network coverage, but I can provide you with a monthly superbill (or at your desired frequency) to submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement.

I encourage you to contact your insurance provider to confirm your out-of-network mental health benefits.

A few helpful questions to ask:

(1) What are your out-of-network benefits for mental health?

(2) Do you have a deductible to meet before those benefits kick in?

(3) Is there a limit to how many sessions are covered?

(4) What are the instructions for you to submit your superbills for reimbursement?

Affordable access to therapy is important. To support this, we offer sliding scale spots and pro-bono opportunities so that we are able to provide services to a wide range of people. We also take into account life changes and support clients at reduced rates when they face financial hardships.

Understandably, some of the most common questions I get about affordability are centered around insurance. There are a number of reasons many therapists, including myself, remain out-of-network with insurance companies. Those reasons include:

• Diagnosis requirements: Not everyone who comes to therapy meets the criteria for a diagnosis in the DSM. Insurance companies determine reimbursement eligibility on preliminary diagnoses, putting the emphasis -- and the limitations -- of your care on a set of criteria that may not apply to you. This means therapists either need to turn away clients who don't fit those criteria or apply a diagnosis that may not serve the client in a clinically meaningful way.

• Determination of treatment: When working with insurance companies, they determine the framework and course of treatment based on diagnosis. This means that you and your therapist are not the ones collaborating on your treatment plan. If your insurance company decides you're only eligible for 10 sessions, your therapist won't be able to see you beyond that. This means that the context of any diagnosis (e.g. the impacts of undiagnosable trauma, how unexpected events may re-prioritize your therapy needs week-to-week, or what diagnoses you may actually have but won't be determined in our first few sessions) become irrelevant and unsupported. This makes it difficult for therapy to be a process of healing, taking a natural course rather than an arbitrarily rushed one.

• Access to records: When in-network with insurance companies, your confidential records go from being my-eyes-only to being accessible to many. While still kept confidential within the agency, insurance company providers, administrators, customer service representatives, and others within the organization will gain access to all or some portion of your records.

• Resource limitations: Remaining out-of-network, I'm able to give my full attention and energy to my clients. When working in-network, time slots that would otherwise be open for client meetings instead become allocated to long phone calls, paperwork, and client advocacy with no guarantee of success. As you might imagine, the clinical standards of a financial institution and the clinical standards of a clinician are not informed by the same values and priorities.

I understand this complex process can be frustrating, but my hope is that transparency around this issue illuminates why I choose not to include these barriers to treatment in my work with clients.

I have based my business on helping people and am very committed to helping anyone who finds me to getting the care they need.

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost.

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services.

You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services.

You can ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service.

If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises.