FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The questions people ask before they call.
Getting Started
Yes. I’m currently accepting new individual and couples clients. The first step is a free 20-minute phone consultation so we can talk about what’s going on, what you’re looking for, and whether I’m the right therapist for you.
Call or email to set up a free 20-minute phone consultation. You don’t need to know exactly what kind of therapy you need or have the right words to explain what’s going on. Tell me what’s happening. We’ll start there.
It’s a 20-minute phone call. You can tell me a little about what’s going on and what you’re looking for, and you can ask me questions. I’ll be thinking about whether I’m the right therapist for what you need.
If I think someone else would be a better fit, I’ll tell you. I’d rather do that on a 20-minute call than three sessions in.
No. Tell me what’s going on. We’ll talk about what you’re looking for and figure out where it makes sense to start.
It doesn’t have to be. You can come because something hurts. You can also come because you’re tired of repeating something, a decision is keeping you up at night, your relationship doesn’t feel right, or you simply want something in your life to be different.
You don’t need a crisis to have something worth working on.
Tell me about it on the consultation call. It’s useful information, not a strike against you.
Sometimes the fit was wrong. Sometimes it was the right therapist at the wrong time. And sometimes what people describe is an hour a week of pleasant conversation that never quite got anywhere, which is a specific kind of frustrating.
I’m active in the room. You won’t wonder what I’m thinking.
Yes, in my San Mateo office at 215 N. San Mateo Dr., Suite 8, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Yes. I see clients by video anywhere in California, Monday through Friday, including early evenings. Sessions are on a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform. Many of my clients do a mix of in-person and video depending on their schedule or travel.
I have early evening appointments available by video, Monday through Friday. In-person hours are during the day on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
I’m an out-of-network provider and don’t bill insurance directly.
I can provide a monthly superbill you can submit to your insurance company for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Because plans vary, it’s worth calling your insurer before we start to ask what your out-of-network mental health benefits cover.
I don’t publish my fees online. I’ll go over them during our free 20-minute phone consultation, so you’ll know what to expect before scheduling anything.
Individual sessions are 60 minutes. For couples, the first session is 90 minutes and sessions after that are 60 minutes.
I also offer half-day, full-day, and two-day therapy intensives for people who want more uninterrupted time to work on something.
How I work
I’m active and involved. I’ll ask questions, tell you what I notice, and point out things you may not have considered.
My work draws on psychodynamic therapy, attachment and relationship work, parts work when it’s useful, and EMDR.
I’m interested in where a pattern came from when that helps us change what’s happening now. But understanding why you do something isn’t enough if you keep doing it. At some point we have to work out what you can do differently.
I’ve been in practice since 1996, working with individuals and couples. I’ve been a Certified EMDR Therapist since 2022.
Some people come with something specific and finish in a few months. Couples doing real repair often think in terms of six months to a year. What I can tell you is that you should feel something shift within the first several sessions. If you don’t, say so, and we’ll change what we’re doing.
Instead of meeting for an hour, we set aside a larger block of uninterrupted time to work on something specific.
I offer half-day intensives of three and a half hours, full-day intensives of seven hours including a lunch break, and two consecutive full days. An intake session comes first so we can decide whether an intensive makes sense for what you want to work on.
It’s a different format that gives us more uninterrupted time. For some kinds of work that’s useful. For others, regular weekly therapy makes more sense.
EMDR
I also use EMDR with experiences and patterns you understand intellectually but still react to emotionally. That might be a breakup, rejection, betrayal, an old belief about yourself, or a reaction that feels much bigger than the situation in front of you.
I use EMDR with most of my clients, though not every client needs it and we don’t spend every session doing it.
If I think EMDR could be useful for what we’re working on, I’ll explain why and we’ll decide together.
You’re awake and aware throughout EMDR and can pause or stop at any point.
relationships and couples
You might be dating, married, going through a breakup, deciding whether to stay, struggling to set boundaries, or trying to understand why you keep ending up in the same pattern. The other person doesn’t need to come to therapy for us to work on your side of it.
You can still come on your own.
We can work on what’s happening in the relationship, what you’re experiencing, what you’re contributing to the pattern, what you’re tolerating, and what you want to do differently.
I will be direct about what I see, though. If one of you is doing something that’s hurting the relationship, we’ll talk about it. If you’re both contributing in different ways, we’ll talk about that too
If there’s violence or ongoing abuse in the relationship, couples therapy isn’t the right first step and can make things less safe. The same is true when untreated addiction is driving what’s happening.
If you’re not sure whether couples therapy is appropriate for your situation, reach out and we can talk about where to start.