Do I really need therapy?
How can therapy help me?
What is therapy like?
Are there people you are most effective in helping?
How do psychotherapy and medication work together?
Do you accept insurance?
Is therapy confidential?
Is therapy right for me?
There are many reasons people come to therapy. Some want to deal with long-standing psychological issues or problems with anxiety or depression. Others are responsing to unexpected life changes like divorce or work transition. Some are troubled by self-defeating patterns they have not been able to understand or change, or repeated disappointments in work or relationships. Many seek psychotherapy as a way of pursuing their own growth and development.
Working with a therapist can provide insight, support, and new experiences for help facing all types of challenges. Therapy can address many types of issues including depression, anxiety, conflict, grief, stress management, body-image issues, and general life transitions. Therapy is right for anyone who is interested in getting the most out of life by achieving greater self-awareness and better understanding of others and relationships with them.
Do I really need therapy? I can usually handle my problems.
Everyone experiences challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficult periods, there is nothing wrong with seeking extra support and added insight when you need it.
Therapy provides lasting benefits. The benefits of successful therapy enable you to continue on a path of growth and development even long after the duration of therapy is complete.
How can therapy help me?
People can experience many benefits from participating in psychotherapy. Therapy can help relieve symptoms of depression, anxiety or phobias; provide support, improve problem-solving skills, and enhance coping strategies for issues such as relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, perfectionism, grief, overwhelming stress, body image difficulties and creative blocks. Therapy can help people come to transformative insights about their lives so they know themselves more deeply and in new ways, sometimes helping people identify ways they may be contributing to their difficulties without realizing it. Many people also find that therapists can help them achieve personal growth and greater satisfaction with life. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the benefits available from therapy include:
- Attaining a better understanding of yourself, your motivations and history
- Improving your self-esteem and enhancing true self-confidence
- Increasing authenticity or consistency between inner and outer life
- Discovering better ways to solve problems in your family or relationships
- Reducing perfectionism or procrastination
- Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
- Finding resolution to long-standing issues or concerns that led you to seek therapy
- Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
- Improving communication and listening skills
- Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
Are there people you are most effective in helping?
Clients with whom I am most effective have significant strengths but can't reliably mobilize them to solve certain life challenges on their own. Often they are highly motivated, but can't get enough traction to make lasting change. They are willing to look at things that are painful or hard. People who work with me often develop a real curiosity about inner life; they consider our work in between sessions; they are willing to engage in a demanding and meaningful process, aware that their contributions are crucial to the therapy's results.
Every therapy is unique and alligned to the individual and his or her specific needs and goals. During therapy sessions, you can expect to discuss the things that have been on your mind since the previous session. This can include your thoughts, your feelings, or things that have happened at work or in your relationships. It is common to schedule a series of session weekly or more often, where each session lasts around forty-five minutes. Therapy can be short-term, focusing on a specific issue, or longer-term, addressing more complex issues or ongoing personal growth. For therapy to be most effective you must be an active participant, both during and between the sessions. Here are some things you can expect out of therapy:
- Compassion, respect and depthful understanding
- Perspectives to illuminate persistent patterns and difficult feelings
- An environment designed to promote a safe and collaborative therapeutic alliance
How do psychotherapy and medication work together?
In some cases a combination of medication and therapy is the right course of action. Working with your physician you can determine what's best for you. It is well established that the long-term solution to mental and emotional problems and the pain they cause cannot be achieved solely with medication. Instead of just treating the symptoms, therapy addresses the underlying cause of distress and the patterns that inhibit growth. You can best achieve lasting change and a greater sense of well-being with an integrative approach to health.
Do you accept insurance? How does insurance work?
To determine the extent of your mental health coverage, you should check with your insurance carrier. Check your coverage carefully and find the answers to the following questions:
- What are my mental health benefits?
- What is my copay amount and has my deductible been reached?
- Are there limitations on how many therapy sessions my plan covers?
- How much does my insurance pay for an out-of-network provider?
- Are there limitations on the providers I can see?
- Is approval required from my primary care physician?
I am an in-network provider with UCare. I also work on an out-of-network basis with other insurers and am able to submit claims directly to those insurance providers if desired.
Is therapy confidential?
The law protects the relationship between a client and a psychotherapist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission.
Exceptions include:
- Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse, for which I am required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
- If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, I must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
- If a client intends to harm himself or herself, I will make every effort to enlist the client's cooperation in insuring his or her safety. If the client does not cooperate, I will take further measures without permission that are provided to me by law in order to ensure the client's safety.
