What to Expect

Starting therapy can be scary! Here is what you can expect when working with me.

  • During our initial 15 minute consult we will discuss the following topics:

    • Why you want to start therapy

    • Whether or not we are a good fit to work together

    • Any questions you have for me

    • Your / your family’s goals

    • Scheduling

    • Session Fees

    You can take as long as you need to decide if you want to start therapy with me. Sometimes people have consults with multiple therapists and want to wait to evaluate options, sometimes people want to schedule our first session right away!

  • When working with me one on one, the focus of treatment will be meeting your goals, improving overall life satisfaction and functioning, and working to reduce or stop symptoms.

    Our initial 2-3 sessions will be spent doing a mixture of formal and informal intake activities.

    • Formal: reviewing and completing consent for treatment paperwork, intake questionnaire, short assessments to measure symptom levels, and coordinating care with other providers as needed

    • Informal: In the first few sessions, we will spend time discussing your history, family, current life situation, symptoms, likes and dislikes, hobbies, etc.

    Ongoing work will differ based on your unique circumstances and needs. I work very collaboratively with my clients so you get a say in your treatment. Generally we will work on the following things:

    • Processing stressful or upsetting life events (past and current)

    • Bring awareness to patterns in your life

    • Develop effective coping skills

    • Identify areas of your life or self you want to change and create a plan on how to do so

    • Increase your overall satisfaction with your life

  • Family therapy can include many different family members: parents, kids, grandparents, caregivers, siblings, significant others, etc.

    We will work collaboratively together to identify who should attend sessions. This might even change from session to session!

    Intake for family therapy is similar in that I will go over consent for treatment, intake questionnaires, assessments, and questions in initial sessions. The biggest difference is in how long this takes. Depending on your particular family system, it may take around 5 sessions to get a full picture of your family.

    The goals of family therapy can differ from individual therapy. Generally, we will work on:

    • Parenting / Co-parenting skills

    • Communication

    • Family structure- specifically hierarchy and family roles

    • Strengthen family bonds

    • Learn how to effectively manage conflict

    • Process family life changes

    • Structural Family Therapy

    • Systemic Therapy

    • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

    • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

    I often bring in interventions or techniques from other theories as needed.