My clients typically schedule with me either weekly or every other week, but some check in as needed, while others are more once a month.

I recommend starting either weekly or every other week at the beginning, so that we can figure out what you need and how we can best work together. Then you can decide what feels right from there.

During the first session (the intake), we’ll talk about your counseling goals, your life context, and any information about you and your background that might help me better understand you.

In follow-up appointments, we’ll talk more about what might be helpful. This could mean…

• Helping you process through life concerns

• Exploring relationship patterns

• Clarifying your values

• Learning how manage unmet expectations

• Exploring new perspectives

• Setting strategic goals for work, health, relationships, family, etc.

• Establishing boundaries

• Challenging unhelpful beliefs

• Exploring family norms

• Exploring identity-based social dynamics

These are just a few examples of common counseling themes we might talk about in therapy.

It’s important to me that you find someone you’re comfortable talking to and who you can trust professionally. A good therapeutic relationship is the most important part of every client’s process. My recommendation is that you find someone who:

1. Feels like someone you could have a comfortable chat with. Therapy can be occasionally heavy and vulnerable; it’s not worth doing that with someone you don’t vibe with.

2. Demonstrates competence in the area you want to work on. Sometimes this can take longer to discover. Any therapist can demonstrate empathy, but competency in your mental health concern may take more time to gauge. It’s always okay to pivot to a new therapist if you feel like you need more specialized direction.

3. Can, with empathy, challenge some of your patterns and beliefs that are holding you back.

I take a very collaborative approach to therapy. That means I see myself as your teammate in whatever problem you’re working through. You’re in charge of your life and decisions, and I’m here to give you the best tools and perspective to help you step in the direction that makes the most sense for your life and goals. My hope is that we both can get curious about your thoughts, behaviors, emotions, relationships, and all the other things that make up your life. Out of that curiosity, we’ll gain more insight along the way to help you figure out how to take the next step in a way that aligns with your values and personhood. You're the hero and doer of your work. My job is to facilitate the space, offer tools/perspectives, and encourage you along in that work.

For more information about my clinical training and approach, see my bio.

For simplicity, I’m going to group the following disciplines into 3 groups: Therapy-focused licenses, assessment and therapy-focused licenses, and medication providers, though there are certainly exceptions to these umbrellas.

Therapy-focused licenses

LCMHC: Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. These are independently licensed clinical mental health counselors with at least 3,000 hours of post-graduate experience. Sometimes you may see an “S” or “QS” after their name, indicating that they are also a supervisor.

LCMHCA: Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate. LCMHCAs are provisionally licensed, often new graduates, with less than 3,000 hours of post-graduate counseling experience. They must meet with supervisors until they accrue their hours. After accruing their hours, they become LCMHCs.

LCSW: Licensed Clinical Social Worker. They are independently licensed clinical social workers, and they also may have an “A” (LCSWA) indicating associate, like LCMHCAs.

LMFT: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. These are independently licensed marriage and family therapists, and they may have an “A” (LMFTA) after their title— also indicating associate, again, like LCMHCAs.

LCAS: Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist. This is an additional license that can be added on to one of the above licenses.

All the licenses above can be earned at the master’s level, but some may have doctorates in their discipline—often to advance their research, supervision, and teaching skills.

Therapy and assessment-focused licenses

LPA: Licensed Psychological Associate. These are master’s-level licensed psychological associates under the supervision of a psychologist.

Psychologists (PsyDs and PhDs in psychology).

LPAs and psychologists have more training in testing and assessment, making them great resources for testing for learning disabilities, developmental disorders, and other diagnoses that may require more formal and complex testing beyond a self-report assessment. For example, I highly recommend that clients who suspect they may have autism or ADHD be tested by a psychologist before receiving a formal diagnosis.

Medication providers

Psychiatrists (DOs and MDs) are doctorate-level physicians. They completed medical school and residency training in psychiatry.

PMHNP-BC: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner – Board Certified, also prescribe psychiatric medication.

PA-C, CAQ-Psych is a board-certified physician assistant who holds a specialized certificate of added qualifications (CAQ) in psychiatry

My recommendation for clients seeking psychiatric medication is that they see a med provider with a background in psychiatry rather than seeing a general PCP (primary care physician). Specialization makes a world of difference.

There’s not. They’re all the same thing!