How does therapy with you work?

You’ll reach out to me via email or the contact form with a little information about you and what’s bringing you to therapy. We’ll then set up a free 15-minute consultation where I can learn more about your goals for therapy and you can learn more about my therapeutic approach. From there, if you feel like we’d be a good fit to work together, we’ll establish a regular date and time to meet. In our first session, we’ll discuss what’s bringing you to therapy in more depth, as well as what’s happened in your life history that’s brought you to this point. This allows me to get a better, more holistic understanding of who you are in order to be a better therapist to you. 

After this first session, figuring out how therapy is most beneficial for you is a collaborative process. While I offer some skills-based approaches (particularly as it pertains to exposure therapy for OCD), my style is largely client-directed talk therapy. I let clients lead the flow of sessions while providing some directional guidance along the way. This doesn’t mean I just sit back and nod–I’m an active participant in the therapeutic process, gently but firmly pushing my clients toward frequent self-discovery. 

My therapeutic approach is eclectic—I use a variety of modalities (types of therapies) to suit each client’s unique needs. Some of my preferred modalities include Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and psychodynamic therapy. I work through an anti-oppressive lens, and lean heavily on disability justice, fat liberation, and trans liberation to guide my beliefs.

What are your fees?

My rates for sessions are:

Individual therapy: $275 (50 min)
Partners’ therapy (2 people): $335 (60 min)
Partners’ therapy (3+ people): $385+ (60 min)

I also offer sliding scale rates on a limited basis—please feel free to contact me about this. We can discuss how to make therapy financially sustainable for you.

Do you accept insurance?

I don’t accept insurance at this time. However, I’m happy to provide insurance documentation for folks who have out-of-network benefits, which may cover 50%-100% of my fees. Using out-of-network benefits looks like this: you pay the session fee following our visit, I provide you with a "superbill" (itemized receipt) that you submit to your insurance, then your insurance sends reimbursement for that session. If you’re unsure of your benefits, there should be a member services phone number on the back of your insurance card that you can call for assistance. Here are some helpful questions to ask your insurance provider to learn more about your out-of-network benefits: 

• What is my out of network deductible?

• How much of my out of network deductible has been already met?

• What is my policy period?

• What is my co-insurance?

• (If they ask for a CPT code: Individual Sessions = 90834, Couples/Family Sessions = 90847)

• How do I submit for reimbursement?

• How long do I have to submit my superbill?

I’m also happy to try for a single case agreement (SCA) where possible. An SCA is essentially a contract with your insurance company to have my services count under in-network benefits. Using an SCA looks like this: you contact your insurance company to ask about establishing an SCA, after which point I will connect with your insurance to provide the necessary documentation. Once approved, you pay an in-network co-pay (aka a fraction of the session fee) as dictated by your insurance after each session and your insurance pays me the remainder of the fee. This is possible on a case-by-case basis, as not every insurance company permits SCA’s, but I’m always happy to give it a try.

Why don’t you accept insurance?

Fair question! Insurance companies reimburse therapists at very low rates and are notoriously slow with payments. Unfortunately, I too need to eat and make rent.

Why is therapy so expensive?

The short answer is capitalism. The long answer is multifold–one, social work, like any other “helping profession,” is routinely undervalued. Expectations about how much therapy “should” cost often belittles its value. Two, I do not take home all $275 I charge per session. Much of that goes toward group practice fees and taxes, causing me to charge more in order to actually make a living. Three, being a therapist is expensive. I did two costly years of graduate school to become a therapist and any opportunity to further my learning–like books, workshops, institute training–is similarly expensive.

What are your hours of availability?

I’m available to meet Monday - Thursday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. If this doesn’t work for your schedule, I’m open to meeting outside these times on a case-by-case basis. As a staff therapist at Triska Psychotherapy, I use Sessions Health, a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform. I’m not currently offering in-person sessions but am hoping this will change sometime in the near future.