In general, therapy is a process where a trained professional helps someone understand themselves and their problems better so that they can gain more control, satisfaction, and meaningfulness in life. In therapy, clients collaborate with their therapist to define problems they wish to address and to find solutions to these problems. Although, one’s experience in therapy will vary depending on that person’s unique goals, some of the things you can expect include:

Talking with someone who will listen without criticism or judgment

Talking with someone who will keep what you say private and confidential

Establishing a positive, trusting relationship with a professional focused on making meaningful changes in your life

Learning to gain greater control over your thoughts and feelings

Identifying your concerns and exploring new ways to deal with them

Getting involved in therapy can help you gain more control, satisfaction, and meaningfulness in your life. Research has shown that people who have been in therapy tend to be better off than 80% of those who haven’t been in therapy. Working in therapy allows you to gain a greater understanding of how your emotions, thoughts, behavior, attitudes, and lifestyle can affect different aspects of your life. The real power comes from learning where and how to make meaningful changes among these elements of your life. Other benefits of therapy include:

• Achieve more satisfaction in life

• Having a safe place to “vent”

• Increase your self-esteem

• Improve your physical health

• Improve your performance at work, school or in other activities

• Gain greater control over your emotions

• Improve your relationships with others

• Identify your abilities, qualities, hopes, and expectations and how to act on these

• Understand how unhelpful patterns and cycles are negatively affecting your life

• Learn new ways to deal with your concerns

• Have someone listen to your concerns with care, confidentiality, and respect.

A great deal of the initial worry about going to therapy often comes from not knowing what to expect. Therapy is not a mysterious process involving magical techniques, confusion, deception, and a lifetime of involvement. On the contrary, therapy is rather straightforward and easily understood by anyone. In fact, a good therapist should ALWAYS collaborate with their client and ensure an ongoing understanding and mutual acceptance of the goals (and the methods used to meet those goals) that are important to each client. Therapy should feel like an equal partnership.

The purpose of your first meeting with a therapist is to give you a chance to talk about your concerns and begin to collaborate on what may be the best ways to move forward. Some people find that this initial meeting is all they need to make changes and feel better about the concerns that brought them to therapy. For others, it may be helpful to schedule additional appointments or to discuss other options for help that will better match the person’s needs.

When more than one appointment is recommended, most people come to therapy sessions once per week for about 45-50 minutes. During these sessions, the therapist and client will continuously collaborate on the goals of the client, monitor the progress toward these goals, modify goals if necessary, and work toward positive changes. Some common concerns addressed by people in therapy include feeling lonely; low self-esteem; underperforming in areas of work or with other demands; problems at school, work or home; not feeling motivated; feelings of hopelessness; problems getting along with others; unhealthy eating patterns; depression; anxiety; and decision-making dilemmas.

This is a myth perpetuated by the social stigma we’ve promoted for too long. Everyone can benefit from psychotherapy. People see therapists for a wide-range of reasons such as dealing with painful emotions, fixing specific problems, or just getting to know themselves better. Psychologists and other therapists do not have any magical skills that can be used only by a chosen few or only by people with “major issues.” On the contrary, psychologists have specific skills that enable anyone to meet their individual goals and the process of psychotherapy is rather straightforward and easily understood by anyone. Being in therapy is about helping someone reach their full potential in the various roles of their lives (e.g., student, young-adult, romantic partner, performer, corporate executive, etc.) whether they are experiencing “major issues,” mild distress, or no acute problems at all.

Most of the time we are capable of handling our problems or figuring things out on our own. However, for all of us there are some problems and challenges that come up when we can use some additional help. The ability to recognize when you need assistance, and then getting it, is actually a character strength and a sign of good problem-solving ability.

Many people report that the decision to seek help through therapy is not an easy one. Our culture highly values independence, but sometimes to a faulty degree that may leave a person feeling like a failure when they reach out for help with problems “we should be able to fix ourselves.” The vast majority of people in therapy have reported that even when it was difficult to first come in to speak to a therapist, therapy has helped them to feel better about themselves and to overcome the challenges they were experiencing.

Yes, and this should be expected. It is difficult to talk to a stranger about the personal details of your life, especially in the early stages of therapy. However, therapists understand the difficulty in talking to a stranger and work with clients to make them as comfortable as possible. Sometimes, the beginning of therapy is just about working to establish a comfortable experience for a client to talk about their experiences and concerns. This may involve talking about the discomfort and figuring out ways to make it easier to talk. At other times, clients may not even know what they should be talking about and therapy can be used to figure this out first. There is no standard approach to talking in therapy. Therapists work at the pace a client is most comfortable.

Therapists understand that people may be skeptical about whether someone can help them if that therapist has not been through similar challenges. One of the therapist’s primary tasks is to learn from the client about their unique experiences and challenges to see how they may be able to offer assistance without making any assumptions about the client. In fact, it would be unfair for a therapist to even assume they could understand a client’s experience just because the therapist has been through something similar. No matter what a therapist has experienced, the goal is to get to know about the client’s own experiences. In addition, therapy is never about being “told what to do.” The process of therapy should always be collaborative where the therapist and client work together to find out solutions and answers. The therapist can only be effective with a client’s help. Therapy should always be more of a team experience, where the therapist and client work together sharing knowledge and information in an effort to enhance the client’s quality of life.

In accordance with professional ethics and state and federal laws, any information shared with your therapist in the context of professional services is considered confidential and generally cannot be disclosed to anyone without your permission. There are several exceptions to this rule including whether you are evaluated to be in serious danger of hurting yourself or someone else. Another exception to your legal right to confidentiality is if you are using your health insurance to see a therapist. So that they can coordinate your benefits, insurance companies require therapists to provide them with information about you such as (but not limited to) your concerns that brought you to therapy, your personal history, your diagnosis, and your participation in therapy. When this information is disclosed to insurance companies they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your records in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. More information about your rights to confidentiality when using your insurance can be found at: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

I recognize that seeing a therapist can be expensive and so to help manage the costs to clients, I participate as a provider in a variety of health insurance plans. Often, insurance can be a confusing thing to navigate as a client and we will work together with your insurance to simplify this process for you. In general, most health plans provide coverage to their members for various mental health services with a minimal co-pay or co-insurance that you will be responsible for. If I am not listed in your specific insurance carrier’s network of providers, your insurance may provide partial coverage of my services as an out-of-network provider, which basically means you may be responsible for paying an amount slightly greater than your co-pay. Again, whether I am a provider with your insurance or not, we will work together to simplify this process for you.

You’re welcome to contact your insurance carrier before we speak if you’d like to learn more about your particular mental health benefits. You can contact them by using the telephone number on your insurance card (usually listed under “Member Services” or “Member Benefits”) or by visiting their website. When checking on your insurance benefits, you will want to find answers to the following questions:

Do I need pre-authorization before seeing a psychologist for outpatient treatment?

Do I have to get a referral from my primary care physician to see a psychologist for outpatient treatment?

How much is my copay for seeing a psychologist for outpatient treatment?

How many appointments do I get per calendar year?

Can I see a psychologist out of network?

How much will I be reimbursed if I see a psychologist out of network?

Is there a cap on the total amount I can be reimbursement for out of network costs over a calendar year?

For more information about fees and payment options, please use the contact information found in this website and we can further discuss the various options that may be available to you.

I recognize that seeing a therapist can be expensive without using insurance. If you pay for services yourself, certain circumstances qualify clients for a lower fee- please contact me and we’ll determine whether you qualify for a reduced fee.