frequently asked questions
How can therapy help?
Many times when we run into troubles, the impulse to turn to a friend and share it with them. Depending on the friend, our concerns might be calmed as we are validated, empathized with, and given advice on how to respond to the troubling situation. On the other hand, we might not feel we have someone to turn to without having our concerns minimized, ignored, or brushed aside. In many cases, we are influenced to respond in a way that might better reflect our friend's priorities, personality, and disposition rather than our own. Often times, our friend might have a stake in what we are distressed about, making it difficult to feel we are getting what we are seeking.
Therapy is different. Meeting with a therapist who is trained in mental and relational health to listen, coupled with our own insight into our feelings, creates a partnership where we can discover resources within us to answer our own questions and to guide us to view ourselves and the circumstances that confront us in a different manner. Therapy can help us identify the ways in which we get in our own way to living a life that is fulfilling.
In addition to gaining insights into our situation and selves, the therapy office can be a safe place to experiment with new ways of being with support and encouragement that might be harder to do in other environments we find ourselves in. While the internet is full of helpful advice, it is not always easy to remember or know when to apply that advice. Therapy can be beneficial in helping us to identify our own emotions as they occur in the moment and be instructed in techniques to manage them through experiential application of skills.
What is the different between therapy and counseling?
Therapy and counseling are often used interchangeably. While they both address mental health and overlap in many areas, they are distinct in their training and licenses.
Counseling tends to be for a limited amount of time with a specific issue at hand. It aims to reduce symptoms and to feel better often through providing knowledge to understand our diagnosis and symptoms better and learn skills and techniques to help us to feel better we move through the current issue.
Therapy, on the other hand, tends to be more long term and, in addition to addressing current issues, aims for a deeper understanding of we are. It can shed light into our current concerns by identify recurring themes in our life, including characteristic ways we think, feel, and act, and makes connections between our past and current behaviors.
How long will I need to participate in therapy before I feel better?
Often times simply putting words to our feelings with a supportive person does wonders to making us feel better. In this regard, we can feel better relatively quickly. It often instills hope that will lessen the weight we feel. This is great but can be fleeting.
As we begin to dive below the surface, we might experience feelings we haven't allowed ourselves to feel in a while, the feelings that our automatic behaviors try to hide from us. This doesn't feel so good initially, and it can seem that things are getting worse. Don't worry. There is good reason for us to do the things that end up causing us grief. That's why we developed them! While becoming aware of things we usually hide from ourselves, we often feel "bad" but hopeful at the same time as we realize that the deeper understanding gives us more freedom. While it might not feel good, we are developing ways to identify and meet underlying needs and wants, and as we do learn to do so more regularly, it creates a sense of confidence and wellbeing.
How much do you charge?
Private pay fee for therapy is $135 individuals, couples, and families. Non-private pay, such as through an insurance or employee assisted program (EAP) depend on the particular plan you or your employer has with the program. I am an in-network provider for the following EAP and insurance companies:
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Anthem
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Blue Cross
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Blue Shield
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BlueCross and BlueShield
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BIND and Evernorth
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CIGNA
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EMI Health
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HealthEZ
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Lyra Health
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Optum
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Regence
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Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah
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SelectHealth
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UMR
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UnitedHealthcare UHC | UBH
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UnitedHealthcare StudentResources
For each of these companies, there are various rates (the "negotiated" or contracted rate) that I charge, which varies from the private pay rate. According to the specific plan that you have, you will be required to all pay of the contracted rate (until the deductible is met) or a portion in the form of coinsurance or a copay, and the insurance company pays the rest.