Getting started
What happens between deciding to reach out and actually walking in.
The honest answer: if you’re asking the question, that’s usually enough of a reason to try a consultation. You don’t need a diagnosis, a specific event, or a “good enough” reason to come in.
Most people I see fall into one of three camps: something specific happened and you’re noticing it’s still affecting you; something has been quietly off for a long time and you’re tired of carrying it alone; or someone in your life has suggested it and you’re not sure yet. All three are valid starting points.
It’s a 15-minute phone or video call — no commitment, no clinical intake, no questions you have to answer. You describe what’s bringing you in, in whatever words feel comfortable. I share how I work and whether I think I can help. If we both feel like it’s a good fit, we book a first session. If not, I’ll often point you to someone who’d be a better match.
The whole purpose is low-stakes mutual interview. No part of it goes on a record, and there’s no pressure to schedule anything afterward.
The first session is mostly getting to know each other. I’ll ask about what brought you in, what you’ve already tried, and a bit about your history — but only as much as you’re ready to share. You’re not expected to unpack everything in one hour.
By the end of the session we’ll have a rough sense of what we’re working on together and the cadence that makes sense. The deeper work begins in sessions 2 and 3, once we have a foundation.
You’ll receive intake paperwork to fill out electronically before we meet — basic info, history, what’s bringing you in. That’s it. You don’t need to write a journal entry, prepare a story, or organize your thoughts beforehand. Just show up.
Cost & insurance
How much it costs, what insurance covers, and what to do if money is tight.
A 53-minute session is $150 for private pay clients. That covers individual therapy and is the standard rate for most clinical work.
Sessions can be paid by credit card, debit card, HSA, or FSA. You’ll be billed after each session.
I’m in-network with select insurance plans. The list changes occasionally as I add or adjust panels, so the most reliable way to check is to ask during your consultation — I’ll verify your benefits before your first session so you know your exact copay or coinsurance going in.
If I’m out-of-network with your plan, I can provide monthly superbills that you submit to your insurance for partial reimbursement. Many out-of-network plans cover 40–70% of session costs after a deductible.
A few reasons come up often:
- Privacy. Insurance requires a diagnosis to be entered into your health record, which lives in your insurance company’s database. Private pay keeps clinical details out of that system entirely.
- Flexibility. Insurance can require shorter sessions, limit how many you have per year, or push toward specific diagnoses. Private pay lets us focus on what you actually need.
- No “medical necessity” requirements. Insurance only covers sessions tied to a billable diagnosis. Some of the best therapy doesn’t fit a diagnosis cleanly.
Neither path is better than the other — it depends on your situation. We can talk through which fits you in the consultation.
Under the federal No Surprises Act, every healthcare provider has to give uninsured and self-pay clients a written estimate of expected charges before treatment begins. You’ll receive yours after our consultation, before your first session.
It’s a transparency tool — not a contract. You can adjust frequency or stop treatment any time.
A few options are worth mentioning honestly:
- I have a limited number of reduced-fee slots for clients with financial hardship. Ask during the consultation — I’ll be straightforward about availability.
- Out-of-network insurance reimbursement (via superbill) often brings the effective cost down significantly.
- If I’m not the right fit financially, I’ll point you toward Open Path Collective, community mental health options in Washington County, and other therapists in the area who offer sliding scale rates.
Money should never be the reason you don’t reach out to ask. Worst case, I help you find someone else.
Sessions & process
How often we meet, how long it takes, and what therapy actually involves.
Most clients start with weekly sessions. Weekly creates the momentum that makes therapy actually work — there’s enough continuity between sessions to keep the threads alive.
As we make progress and you build skills you can use independently, we often move to biweekly. Some clients eventually go to monthly maintenance or stop entirely. The pacing is always a shared decision and we revisit it together.
The honest answer: it depends, and anyone who promises a specific number of sessions upfront is guessing.
For focused work on a single issue, many clients see meaningful change in 8–16 sessions. For deeper trauma work or longer-standing patterns, it can take longer — six months to a year is common. We check in regularly about whether what we’re doing is working, and the goal is always to make myself unnecessary as soon as is honest.
No. And specifically not in trauma-informed work.
Pushing into the hardest material before you have stability and trust built up usually makes things worse, not better. We build a foundation first — coping skills, nervous system regulation, the working relationship between us. Only then do we move toward the deeper material, and only at a pace your body can actually metabolize.
You’ll never be asked to share something you’re not ready to share.
Sometimes, but not in a school-assignment way. Often it’s something small: a thing to notice this week, a brief exercise to try, a journal prompt if that’s your style. It’s never required, and if it doesn’t get done, that’s information too — usually about what’s getting in the way.
The work is integrative — I match the approach to what you’re working on, not the other way around. Most often it’s some combination of:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) — for trauma and PTSD
- CBT and cognitive restructuring — for anxiety, depression, and unhelpful thought patterns
- IFS (Internal Family Systems / parts work) — for understanding the conflicting parts of yourself
- Somatic-informed approaches — for trauma stored in the body
- Attachment-informed therapy — especially for couples and relational work
If you’re curious about something specific, ask. I’m not married to any one method.
Privacy & records
What’s confidential, what isn’t, and who sees what.
Yes, with three legal exceptions every therapist in Utah has to honor:
- If you’re an imminent danger to yourself or someone else
- If there’s reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect of a child, dependent adult, or elder
- If a court issues a subpoena requiring records (rare, and I’d push back when possible)
Beyond those, everything you share stays in the room. I don’t share clinical details with your partner, family, or employer without your written permission. I’ll walk through this in detail at our first session.
If you use insurance, they’ll receive a diagnosis code and basic billing information — that’s required for them to pay claims. They generally don’t see clinical notes, but they can request a treatment summary in certain audit scenarios, and the diagnosis becomes part of your insurance health record.
Private pay clients avoid this entirely. No diagnosis is submitted anywhere unless you explicitly request it.
This is increasingly relevant, so a direct answer: I use AI-assisted tools to help with administrative work like drafting clinical notes from session content. When I do, I review and edit every note for accuracy, and the tools used are HIPAA-compliant with signed Business Associate Agreements.
No clinical decision-making is delegated to AI. Your therapy is provided by a human — me. If you’d prefer that AI tools not be used in any part of your care, you can opt out at any time.
Yes. Under HIPAA, you have the right to access your therapy records. Just ask and we’ll work through what’s most useful — sometimes a treatment summary is more helpful than session notes, but the choice is yours.
