Frequently Asked Questions

How can I set up an appointment with you?

You have a few options. You can use the questions contact page on this website, you can give me a call or text message at (703) 884-1520, or you can email me at LAMCounseling@outlook.com. Please note that this email is not encrypted and thus I prefer to use limited private client information in messages.

Whatever method you choose you can let me know your name, the service you are looking to schedule, a good day/time of day to get back in touch, and your preferred method of communication. Also let me know if you need privacy in any messages that I leave you. Some people prefer my messages not include that I am a therapist which is totally fine with me, I just need to know what feels comfortable for you.

What are your office hours?

My office hours tend to fluctuate based on my client’s needs. Typically I am available Mon-Fri sometime between 10am-6pm. I realize how busy people’s lives are and I wouldn’t want therapy to get in the way of living so if you need to meet sometime outside of these hours let me know, it might be possible for me to make it work.

Do you accept Insurance?

Currently I am not accepting insurance. This is due to many reasons and comes with it’s own benefits to you. I am able to make my own determination about your treatment needs without having to meet insurance criteria. You also have privacy in your treatment that would not be possible if we were to use your insurance benefit.

While I am not an in network provider many clients are able to use out of network benefits to get partial reimbursement that works out to be pretty close to the copay they would spend with an in network provider. I will help you with this if you need support getting things squared away with your insurance company.

If you are facing a financial hardship please let me know. I do what I can to provide options that help make treatment possible even when finances are tight.

What are your fees?

My session fees vary based on the type of session we are doing. I have a full fee schedule that I will share with you at intake so there are never any surprises. The fees range between $50.00 and $300.00. I realize this is a wide range but there is a wide variety of services I provide.

What is the age range that you work with?

I have experience working with people as young as 5 and as old as 81! I typically work with adults and adolescents but I don’t base my clients on age. I am more focused on if my skills fit your needs. If you are looking for services and worried about the age of the client just get in touch with me for a phone consultation. We can discuss if I would be a good fit.

What is it like to be in a therapy session with you?

Well every session is different but there is always coffee! My clients tend to tell me that they really enjoy that our sessions feel more like visiting with a friend than sitting with a stuffy doctor. Please don’t misunderstand that as boundaries are of the utmost importance to me and we are very clear that therapy is different than friendship. That said I believe there must be a good fit with a therapist’s style and personality for it to be successful. My personality is pretty casual and my style is very flexible and fluid so my clients tend to not even notice the therapy part they just notice that they start to feel better.

How many sessions will we need to meet?

The short answer is that it is up to you. I’m a big believer in trusting your own heart about the pace and duration of therapy. Your heart will tell you when you are feeling healthy and ready to end services. It’s hard to give a clear cut answer as to the average duration clients find helpful but I would say those who are struggle with a situational challenge typically meet for somewhere between 3-6 months. Those who have experienced trauma of any kind range somewhere between 1-3 years. But the frequency in those long term cases ebbs and flows and clients are often not meeting weekly.

How often do I need to come to therapy?

This is another question for your heart to answer fully. Typically I encourage people to start with weekly sessions so that we can get the ball rolling so to speak. Once we have met for several weeks I check in with you about how you are feeling about the progress and the frequency. You are always in control but I will also give you feedback if I get the sense that we are meeting too frequently or not frequently enough. Clients often begin meeting weekly, then transition to bi-weekly, then monthly. Once we get to monthly sessions some clients find that they feel confident to end or suspend sessions until a time when something new arises. Others find the monthly check in to be really nice and centering so they choose to continue for as long as it is convenient to them.