Frequently Asked Questions

I’m exclusively online, so my office is wherever you are. I practice in the Napa Valley and throughout California.

I send you a secure Zoom link by email, and we meet weekly.

In your driveway! Or your favorite trailhead, or wherever you won’t get ticketed or towed. My office comes with you!

Send me an email with your name, phone number, and a brief description of what’s bringing you to therapy. I’ll get back to you to schedule a free phone consultation so you can decide whether we’re a good fit.

It’s a chance for us to begin building rapport and to decide how to proceed together.

A typical session is 50 minutes for individuals and 90 minutes for couples.

Right now I book all day on Mondays, and after 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

I don’t take insurance. I am willing to help you get your maximum reimbursement, either through out-of-network paperwork or through Mentaya, an agency that works directly with some insurance companies.

I ask for 24 hours’ notice on cancellations. That said, I understand that life happens. If an emergency comes up, I can be flexible.

I work with teens and adults.

Yes, yes, and yes. I also have experience working with non-binary, gender-fluid, and transgender people.

I have a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, and I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

I look at cases through an attachment lens, using Family Systems and Emotionally Focused Therapy.

My training and experience in Dialectical Behavior Therapy is extensive, and it’s an excellent skills-building modality.

And I’m conscientious about exploring your trauma through a trauma-informed care lens.

I use DBT, EFT, attachment, and trauma-informed care.

Most importantly, I try my best to meet you where you are and work with you collaboratively to develop the best treatment for you. No one approach is best for everyone. We decide how to proceed together.

I work collaboratively with you to develop a treatment plan that targets the issues you want to work on. I help you build a hierarchy of goals, and then we work through them at your pace.

When I know you can handle it, I’ll push you a little, and I’ll back off as soon as you tell me you aren’t quite ready.

Wait, what? Homework???

Actually, yes. Especially when we’re building skills. Practicing a skill makes it easier and more natural by the time the skill becomes necessary.

By being honest with me. If I suggest an assignment you know isn’t going to work for you, or you just don’t like it, tell me. I’m happy to find an alternative approach that suits you.

You don’t get better at something challenging by avoiding it. I can help you learn how to talk about your feelings in a safe, nonjudgmental space.

Oh! Please do! I want to know if I’m not getting it right.

Absolutely. You know you best, and I commit to getting to know you, what works and what doesn’t, so we can do this work together.

Well-timed irreverence can really shake up what’s happening. Life is sometimes absurd, and laughing about it can be delightfully healing.

I love Viktor Frankl’s: “Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

And, from Art Blakey: “Music washes away the dust of everyday life.”

You don’t, but you can. You can also sit in a chair, sit on the floor, or hike.

Yes, my sofa is reasonably comfortable, as is my style.

Absolutely not! Let your inner raccoon shine!

I have Kleenex for myself. You’re free to use whatever’s on hand: a kerchief, a tissue, your sleeve.

You can, but I reserve the right not to answer. If the question is clinically relevant, I’ll answer it. But our therapy is about you.

I’m a big fan of YouTube. I’ve learned how to do so many things there, from changing a fuse in my dryer to learning to crochet.

Cats. I love dogs, but cats are more independent. If they could text you back, they wouldn’t.