Common Queries
Why don’t you take insurance?
By decreasing my entanglement with the medical industrial complex I can spend more time doing therapy. We get more time to work on your goals and we don’t have to get hung up on diagnoses and billing codes that may not be helpful for you in your healing process.
I can provide invoices, receipts or superbills if you have out of network coverage or a Health Savings Account. If you are unsure about your out of network coverage call your insurance. In general if you have a PPO you likely have some degree of coverage for out of network providers and if you have an HMO it is unlikely that you have this coverage.
More information about the sliding scale structure is located on Fee page.
What about diagnosis?
We can talk about it and in what ways that it may feel important to you. There are a lot of problems with the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual) that is used for diagnosis in the US. The parts dealing with gender identity and sexuality are especially problematic and pathologizing. Being trans is not pathological but if you are seeking gender affirming medical interventions you may need a diagnosis of gender dysphoria for support letters and what not. We can discuss these things in the course of therapy. Also sometime having an official diagnosis can make you eligible for services and supports that you otherwise might not have access to. I am not saying this is right but knowing how the system works can help you learn to navigate with a sense of knowledge and empowerment.
This topic is complex, I think I’ll have to write a blog about this at some point.
What kind of therapy do you do?
I have an eclectic approach. I am grounded in body-based psychotherapy as my MA's degree is in Dance/ Movement Therapy and I have also completed yoga teacher training. I describe my work as creativity driven, self- accceptance focused, person-centered and strengths based. If you are looking for manualized application of DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) for instance, I am not the therapist for you. While DBT is an extremely useful modality and I absolutely draw from DBT my style is a bit more free-flowing.
I specialize in gender affirming care and in trauma work but also have a lot of experience working with people with chronic illness and disAbility, healthcare workers, and artists- who may also be trans/ GNC and or have trauma or not.. we can hold multiple identities.
How do I know if you are the right therapist for me?
Well...if the information you read thusfar is interesting to you that might be a good start. But to know for sure I would say we should schedule an consultation, which can be over the phone or a video call. In this call you can ask me additional questions and I will also ask you some questions to make sure it is a good fit for both of us.
I will definitely be adding a blog post on this topic soon!