I have made the intentional decision not to accept insurance in order to provide you with the quality of care you deserve. Here are a few of the reasons why:

1.) By not working with insurance, you have more control over your therapy experience that is personalized to fit your needs. Insurance companies dictate standards of care that favor company profit over client needs and experiences by mandating general, standardized guidelines regarding the number of sessions, the type of therapy provided, and even requirements around the diagnosis itself and justifying necessity for therapy without considering the individual receiving care. If you don’t need therapy from the insurance company’s perspective, they will not cover your treatment. Insurance often also requires the use of a small range of specific types of therapy despite the validity and evidence-based findings of a variety of modalities. Therapy should be available to everyone and should be specifically tailored for you.

2.) By not taking insurance, you are more protected from any potential repercussions related to a diagnosis being part of your official medical record. Working with insurance companies means less confidentiality and privacy for you because it means your mental health information (like your diagnosis, progress, and records) are able to be stored and accessed by various parties within the insurance company. Once a diagnosis becomes part of your medical record, it can unfortunately have negative impacts down the line on your future care and qualification for services/insurances. Unfortunately under the current political circumstances, it’s unclear how mental health diagnoses might be used in stigmatizing and discriminatory ways, so I am inclined to be protective and cautious.

3.) By not going with insurance, you can receive treatment that approaches your mental health holistically. Insurance companies view mental health from a Westernized, pathological, medical model, meaning they see therapy as an intervention and the goal of treatment is to fix or cure. A diagnosis can be personally helpful for individuals in making sense of their experiences and identity, but often diagnoses rely on individual factors without consideration of larger systemic and environmental factors that may be contributing and a diagnosis is required after the very first meeting. Receiving a diagnosis can also be harmful for some.

4.) By not working with insurance, I am able to be a more present and energized therapist for you. Working with insurance requires a significant amount of time, effort, and patience in order to jump through their hoops, pursue reimbursements, fill out paperwork with excruciating attention to detail, make phone calls and wait on hold, and push back on denied claims. This is time and energy I would rather be able to devote to you during your sessions, thoughtfully preparing for your sessions, or in trainings to better myself as a clinician.

I recognize that therapy can be a costly investment into your or your child’s current and future well-being, and fully support helping therapy be more accessible. Check out my sliding scale policy for more information!

For adults, I strongly encourage weekly sessions to gain momentum and build the therapeutic relationship. After starting to make progress and meet goals is when it usually makes sense to meet less often. However, we can discuss your specific needs and make a plan that’s right for you!

For more information on children sessions, please check out the Play Therapy FAQs here!

Adult appointments are 50 minutes long.

For more information on children sessions, please check out the Play Therapy FAQs here!

Prospective clients can opt to initiate a free 15-minute clarity call, which is a low pressure opportunity to ask questions, share about what you’re looking for, and see if we might be a good fit. If that feels right, we then schedule an initial intake session/diagnostic evaluation, which takes 60-75 minutes and is used to give me a comprehensive, holistic understanding of your history and who you are, what’s bringing you to therapy, your goals, and other influential factors that may impact your treatment (For children, this is done with just the parents/caregivers).

Then we often spend the first few sessions building up rapport and creating a therapeutic relationship and space that feels genuine, safe, and supportive to set a strong foundation before digging into the deeper, more difficult areas. But remember: they’re your sessions, so YOU will ultimately get to set the pace!

Unfortunately, I cannot ethically provide individual sessions to both a child and a parent as it creates a potential conflict of interest and dual relationship. I’m happy to provide referrals for either a child or adult therapist as needed!

I am allowed to give any diagnosis listed in the DSM-V-TR if the symptoms meet the criteria. However, since I do not work directly with insurance, I do not technically need to assign one. Whether or not I give a diagnosis depends on a variety of factors including specific issues being addressed in therapy, your preference/desires, insurance involvement, and the helpfulness or harm that a diagnosis might bring. It’s important to remember that a diagnosis is just a name for a specific set of symptoms, and it’s worth considering the short-term and long-term impacts a diagnosis can have. Before giving a diagnosis, I prefer to discuss more in-depth with my clients on what is best for them and give the most lenient diagnosis possible.

For certain diagnoses, even if I have the technical ability to diagnose them, additional neuropsychological evaluations or testing may be recommended to ensure accuracy and rule out other potential diagnoses that can present similarly.

I am not able to do medication management or prescribe any medications as it is outside of my scope of practice. However, I am happy to consult/collaborate with your prescribing provider and make referrals for psychiatric services.

At this time, I am primarily working with children 3-12 y/o and adults 18 y/o+. I do not work with children whose parents are going through a high-conflict divorce/separation, and I am legally and ethically unable to provide custody evaluations or recommendations.

I currently do not provide therapy services for include eating disorders, personality disorders, psychotic disorders, or severe depression and active suicidality to name a few due to these areas being more specialized and needing higher levels of care. I am happy to provide referrals if you are looking for support in these areas!

Because of the nature of my licensure, I can only see individuals who are residents of Virginia at this time.