We often get calls from people asking if we accept insurance, we don’t. We are relational therapists, so we believe working to improve your relationship will benefit your mental health and beyond. Accepting insurance requires a mental health diagnosis that an insurance company will cover and is considered necessary by insurance (not the counselor). Marriage/Couple Therapy and other relational issues such as family adjustment following a divorce or the death of a loved one impact how we interact, think, and feel. These issues are important whether an insurance provider considers them medically necessary for treatment.
How do I pick a therapist or counselor?
Picking a therapist or counselor is a personal choice. An important point to consider
would be the type of training a therapist has, in other words if the therapist offers couples counseling check to see if he or she has experience or training in couples counseling. There are many types of therapy and learning more about therapies offered by a particular therapist may help build your understanding. Checkout the therapist's experience related to your particular issue, if you cannot find information on their website, contact them and ask. READ their information! Don't jump to schedule an appointment without first taking the time to review the therapist's information. You may find something that makes or breaks your interest, trust yourself.
When you do couples counseling, do you take sides?
By practice, no. My job is to build and establish rapport with you and your partner, not one over the other. I strive to relate to both of you in a nonjudgmental and life affirming manner that creates safety and fosters a felt sense of warmth and security. There are times in the course of therapy where patterns that are unproductive in a couple relationship can be brought to the surface in order to facilitate growth. It can be difficult at times for an offending partner to suddenly become aware or learn that something they were doing was unhelpful and even hurtful to their partner. My goal is to help both partners face these difficulties together, while receiving support from me.
How do I know if counseling is right for me?
Only you can decide if counseling is right for you. Some important points to consider are the commitment, time, finances, and benefits. Therapy is a commitment, which means you need to to be able to invest yourself in it because it requires energy and effort on your part. It also requires a weekly commitment of time, not to mention the time you will invest in yourself and your relationship(s) outside of therapy. Cost is important because counseling occurs weekly, while some issues take fewer sessions than others to achieve satisfaction or desired change more complex issues can also mean more time and money invested in counseling. Most importantly, consider what you believe would be the benefits of counseling, such as new coping skills or improvement in an important relationship. While all counseling aims to help clients achieve improvement, counseling is not a guarantee of improvement.
How would I know I need counseling?
That depends on you. People do not always go to counseling because they are in a crisis. For some, counseling is an opportunity for enrichment in life and relationships. Just as some people utilize preventive healthcare, people also use therapy to address issues early or foster continued personal growth. Yet for others, counseling is used to address currently distressing issues and concerns in order to work toward improvement. It takes courage and awareness to recognize when you need counseling. Even though you may have successfully faced difficult times in your life, many people can find themselves overwhelmed and unprepared to handle certain situations. In fact, knowing when to ask for help shows strength.
Counseling didn't work for me before, so why should I try again?
Well, there can be several answers for this. Consider timing, what was your life like when you tried counseling before. Were you busy? Were you able to commit to the process of counseling? Perhaps you realize you just weren't ready for it, that's okay too. Sometimes counseling does not meet the client's expectations, but clients are too kind and hospitable to tell the therapist. Actually, sharing your concerns helps a therapist to better serve you. Therapists know that their relationship with you is important in counseling. Sometimes there is just not a good fit between the client and the therapist, it happens. I would encourage you to bring up any concerns you have with your therapist, discussion is key.
What exactly is therapy or counseling?
First, that will depend on what you would like to accomplish in therapy and your reasons for seeking therapy. You should expect to discuss your personal and relationship history, current life events, and family. Once you and your therapist determine what to focus on, your weekly sessions will focus on facilitating growth. For example, in couples counseling aimed at improving communication and interaction sessions may initially focus on identifying areas of conflict to clearly define for the couple and therapist the most significant relational issues. In the course of therapy, clients can expect to apply skills outside of sessions, discover resources to broaden their knowledge, discuss the usefulness or uselessness of different skills or activities, discuss their ongoing progress in therapy, provide feedback to the therapist, address difficult issues, and build connection in relationships.
How long does therapy or counseling last?
There is no magic number of sessions that works for every person. People attend therapy for many different reasons and in many different situations. However, you get to work with your therapist to determine what works best for you. On average I see clients from 8-20 sessions, but keep in mind that many factors impact the amount of time clients stay in therapy. At times clients achieve their desired change in very few sessions and therapy ends, other times clients achieve their goals and then seek to establish new ones.
Why should the whole family come, when you could just see my child?
Relationally based therapy views people in terms of their relationships and ability to be seen, heard, and understood in close relationships. Including the whole family system in therapy, helps all members gain a better understanding of issues. More importantly, children exist in many different systems such as school, church, social activity organizations or clubs, family, extended family, and so on. Children exist within the rules and boundaries of all these systems, with family acting as one of the most significant. Family counseling is an opportunity to surround a child and each family member with support in hopes of finding common ground and new ways of interacting that help one another grow.
