How are you responding to COVID-19? I take the health and safety of my clients and our community very seriously. I have responded to COVID-19 by converting my practice to telehealth. This means that all my sessions are conducted over a secure video program that can be run by a webcam, such as those built in to most laptops and smart phones. I am not offering any in-person sessions at this time. Because my MFT license is tied to the state of Ohio, clients must be physically located in the state of Ohio during our sessions.
What is the first step to scheduling? The first step is for us to schedule a free 30-min phone consultation. This allows me to learn about what is bringing you in to therapy, and to answer any questions you may have. If it feels like my approach would be a good fit for your situation, then we can get you scheduled to come to your first session. For couples, the initial phone consultation can be with both partners together or with just one partner.
What is a first session like? Your first session gives me a chance to get to know you in more depth, and for us to discuss in more detail what our sessions will be like. It is common to feel nervous or even anxious about the first session. However, it can help to remember that I am here for you and your needs, so there is no need to discuss more than you are comfortable discussing at the first session.
How long does therapy take before I feel better? I wish I had a nice, clean anser to this question! Length of treatment varies wildly depending on the presenting problem, and the nature of therapy / counseling makes it impossible for me to predict a precise timeline for any client. Research on EFT often suggests 10-20 sessions can be effective. In my experience, this is true for many couples, especially those seeking therapy early in their relationship. However, these are controlled studies usually performed with young couples in university settings. For most real-world couples who have been through significant stressors, the work tends to take longer - often 6 months to a year of weekly sessions. And, for couples who have been through profound life-altering stressors, including but not limited to trauma, grief and loss, betrayal, infidelity, medical stressors, children with special needs, it is not uncommon for the work to take more than a year of weekly sessions. If you would like to know which end of this spectrum I believe your situation might fall on, feel free to ask. I encourage all my couples to see my blog article on how you can get the most out of your EFT sessions. To some extent, the process just takes time, but there are many things you can do to help EFT work optimally for you and your partner!
What is your rate? Please see the Payment portion of this website.
Why do you not take insurance? I deliberately decided not to take insurance at Redwood Counseling. Insurance has many advantages, but it also has some significant disadvantages:
Insurance often limits the number, length, and type of sessions. This can create pressure that is not conducive to everyone's healing process.
Insurance requires the therapist to spend a significant amount of time on documentation and phone calls. This takes my time and energy away from YOU!
Private pay allows me to keep my practice small so that my clients get my full attention and I can help you thrive in your therapy work, relationships, and life!
Are you welcoming of LGBTQ+ clients? Yes! I welcome clients of any sexual orientation and gender identity to individual and/or couples therapy. It is important to me that all my clients to feel welcomed, respected, and understood. I try to bring this to all my sessions, and in particular, try to conduct my couples therapy sessions in a way that minimizes gender-based expectations.
Um… Can we talk about sex in couples therapy? Yes - we certainly can! Physical intimacy and sex are often integral parts of our relationship bond. When couples are seeking Couples Therapy, it is common for them to be experiencing conflict or disconnection. This often translates into the couple’s intimacy, and many couples may feel disconnection or even anxiety around sex. I welcome couples to share any thoughts or challenges in the area of intimacy. I will try to ask about this at our first session, but couples are also welcomed to bring this up at any time.
Do you use spirituality in your counseling? I love working with clients from diverse spiritual (or non-spiritual) backgrounds. I welcome clients to discuss spirituality in their therapy work, if they would like to. When this happens, I try to learn about the client's spiritual beliefs, and ask questions to learn how their spirituality interfaces with the topics we are working on in therapy. I do not bring a particular religious perspective into this work, but rather work within whatever the client’s spiritual framework may be. This may include major religions, more unique or individualized senses of spirituality, or also agnostic and atheist clients.
What are your credentials, and how do I know you can help me? I have a masters degree in Couple and Family Therapy, and have been working in the field since 2011. I have always taken my training very seriously, and am proud to have earned a 4.0 in my masters program. After graduate school, I continued to pursue advanced training by completing Parts 1 and 2 of EMDR training, and beginning the long road of obtaining ICEEFT Certification in EFT Couples Therapy, which made me the first EFT-Certified therapist in Cincinnati in 2020. I am currently in the process of becoming an EFT Supervisor to help others learn the complex and rewarding craft of EFT therapy.
However, research shows us that it is not necessarily a therapist’s credentials that are most important. The greatest predictor of success in therapy is the sense of “fit” between the therapist and the client. Do you feel comfortable talking with me, and does my approach gel with the way you and your partner think? The best way to see if we would do well working together would be to schedule a phone consultation to get to know me and my approach a little more. I welcome the opportunity to speak with you!
Where are the pictures on your website from? The pictures I’ve chosen for my website serve to communicate a felt sense of Redwood Counseling’s Vision, including connection to nature and the arts. They are also of personal meaning to me, capturing, whenever possible, images of the places (and canines) that have brought joy and healing to my life. I’ve included photos from my personal experiences outdoors, and from friends or colleagues who have been part of my life journey, as well as some photos taken by professional photographers. I am grateful to Sam Schmidt (personal friend), Zane Muir, Erica Li, Ceci Bravo, Priss Enriquez, Ken Goulding, and Boris Smokrovic of unsplash.com, and Andrew Mathewson of Endless Forms Photography for these beautiful images. (Photos are currently under construction, so some citations may be forthcoming - 6/7/19)