Frequently Asked Questions

Where are you located?

My office is in Michigan and see people virtually from all around the globe. My time zone is EST and EDT in North America and UTC-5, globally.

What are your specialties?

I specialize in anxiety, depression, trauma, and panic attacks.

What age ranges do you see and in what format?

I see adults virtually. I will see couples if both partners are genuinely invested in working together on their relationship.

What can I expect in a session?

Our first session will consist of me getting to know you a bit more with you sharing some of your personal and family history. This allows me to assess the best ways we can work with the goals you have set for yourself.

All further sessions will be checking in to see how things have been since our last meeting, following up on anything we worked on previously and working collaboratively to decide on what the agenda for that session will be.

What modalities do you use with your clients?

I blend elements from different approaches and tailor treatment according to each individual client’s needs and history. We can work from the present forward or work with the past and how it influences you in the present.

Here is a list of some of the approaches I utilize:

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level 2 practitioner
“Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is a method for facilitating the processing of unassimilated sensorimotor reactions to trauma and for resolving the destructive effects of these reactions on cognitive and emotional experience.

“These unresolved sensorimotor reactions condition emotional and cognitive processing, often disrupting the traumatized person’s ability to think clearly or to glean accurate information from emotional states (Van der Kolk, 1996). Conversely, cognitive beliefs and emotional states condition somatic processing. For instance, a belief such as “I am helpless” may interrupt sensorimotor processes of active physical defense; an emotion such as fear may cause sensorimotor processes such as arousal to escalate.”
www.sensorimotorpyschotherapy.org

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). CBT emphasizes what people think rather than what they do. CBT works with dysfunctional thinking that leads to dysfunctional emotions or behaviors. By changing our thoughts, we can change how we feel and what we do.

Yoga Philosophy

Breathwork (pranayama) and meditation are great tools to help cope with the stressors of life. The ‘8 limbs of yoga’ is a wonderful tool to use as a template for creating a more balanced, healthy and happy life.

What are your fees?

Call me and let’s talk.

What is your cancellation policy?

Cancellations without 24-hour notice will incur the full fee for the session missed.

Do you take Insurance?

I am in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan insurance and I also accept HSA and FSA cards. I am happy to share with you why not participating with insurances can be beneficial for your privacy during our initial consultation.

How frequently should I see you?

That all depends. I never tell people how often they need to attend, but I can tell you that most people begin with weekly sessions and will decrease to bimonthly when they start to feel better. People will often then reduce to monthly sessions for maintenance and staying the course.

How long we see each other is also subjective, depending on each person. I always say that the goal is that you outgrow your need for me, but the door is always open for life events and things that happen long the bumpy road of life, be it every couple of months or once a year to get a tune-up.

Are you LGBTQIA+ friendly?

Yes, I am LGBTQIA+ friendly as well as being open-minded to all religious and spiritual beliefs.

What are you like?

Well, I’m prolific in profanity, for better or worse, and my mouth can let words slip, so let me know if that makes you uncomfortable and I will behave myself. I like to believe what they say that people that swear are more honest.

I’m an introvert. I’m direct, funny, sarcastic and really get into a flow when I teach people new skills.

What makes you different from other therapists?

Not only has it been proven, but I believe that “talk therapy” does not work. If we could just will our way out of our struggles, we’d all already be doing that.

That’s why sessions with me are different from with most therapists. First, I firmly believe in the mind/body connection. We will work with your entire being, your thoughts, feelings and how those manifest in your body. What that looks like can take many forms, but it’s almost always interactive rather than passive.

We will gather baseline numbers as needed for depression, anxiety, and self-compassion, and these give us measurements to track improvement over time.

Then, there are lots to learn about ourselves, and we will do that by learning some basic neuroscience that informs why we do what we do. Once we have those understandings, we now have a new framework to look at the things that continue to bother you.

We will learn many skills including breath work, meditation, self-compassion, shame resilience, distorted thinking patterns, cognitive restructuring, do experiential exercises that can help to resolve trauma from incidents as well as our childhood wounds, just to name a few.

You will also be given assignments to practice outside of my office as we have to do something different for things to change. You will have an accountability partner in me to help you stay on track to build new, healthier habits and coping skills.

Are you available for public speaking or facilitating groups?

Yes! I love teaching to groups and larger audiences. I have presented to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Spectrum Health on topics ranging from emotional intelligence to trauma.