FAQ About Therapy
What are your qualifications?
- I have a Masters degree in Social Work (2016) and Undergraduate degrees (2015) in Social Work and Criminal Justice; all from Aurora University.
- I hold a license in Clinical Social Work in Illinois and my license number is 149022218
- I have 10 years of experience working in the mental health field with a significant focus of trauma and abuse
- I am a 40-hour sexual assault crisis-trained advocate
- I am Basic Trained (2023) in EMDR from EMDR Chicago (EMDRIA approved)
What does a typical therapy session look like?
Virtual and in-person therapy will be very similar with the only real difference being navigating coming into a building or logging online!
Prior to working together, there will be some paperwork that needs to be completed which will help me:
When a session is booked, emailed directions will be provided to you detailing how to either log on and access our virtual telehealth therapy session through Therapy Notes
The first few sessions are used for you to talk about what may be bringing you into therapy and answer some questions I will have during our assessment and intake processes so that I can best capture who you are and what some of your life has been like up until this point. This allows me to rule out any other medical problems that may be causing or contributing to the situation and move forward with a course of treatment.
From there, we can work together to identify goals for treatment and move forward with our work together. Sessions are typically weekly and 45-60 minutes long. There is normally no limit on how many therapy sessions you can have unless otherwise noted by your insurance policy.
I cannot tell you how many sessions "this will take" because truly everyone is different and working through concerns and discomfort can take time. Healing is not linear. Sometimes we will take 4 steps forward and 2 steps back, and that is expected! I will be with you through this journey and support you in all ways that i can.
Prior to working together, there will be some paperwork that needs to be completed which will help me:
- Collect contact, demographic, and billing information from you
- Provide you informed consent information and telehealth consent for treatment
- This will all be done through a secure TherapyNotes Portal, which is also where your telehealth sessions will take place
When a session is booked, emailed directions will be provided to you detailing how to either log on and access our virtual telehealth therapy session through Therapy Notes
The first few sessions are used for you to talk about what may be bringing you into therapy and answer some questions I will have during our assessment and intake processes so that I can best capture who you are and what some of your life has been like up until this point. This allows me to rule out any other medical problems that may be causing or contributing to the situation and move forward with a course of treatment.
From there, we can work together to identify goals for treatment and move forward with our work together. Sessions are typically weekly and 45-60 minutes long. There is normally no limit on how many therapy sessions you can have unless otherwise noted by your insurance policy.
I cannot tell you how many sessions "this will take" because truly everyone is different and working through concerns and discomfort can take time. Healing is not linear. Sometimes we will take 4 steps forward and 2 steps back, and that is expected! I will be with you through this journey and support you in all ways that i can.
What type of therapy interventions do you use?
The type of modalities (always through a trauma-informed perspective) I utilize when working with clients are:
CBT
DBT
EMDR
IFS
Person Centered
Polyvagal
How much does therapy cost?
Therapy session costs can vary depending on your insurance policy coverage or if you are not using insurance at all.
The best way to find out your insurance benefits is by calling the member services number on the back of your insurance card and asking the representatives what your coverage for outpatient mental health services is. From there, I can support you in understanding what your price per session with me would be.
If you are not using insurance, please contact me for session pricing.
The best way to find out your insurance benefits is by calling the member services number on the back of your insurance card and asking the representatives what your coverage for outpatient mental health services is. From there, I can support you in understanding what your price per session with me would be.
If you are not using insurance, please contact me for session pricing.
How does insurance work?
Insurance benefits vary from person to person. This is due to the unique plans that many people sign up for through their place of employment, or the marketplace.
If you have mental health benefits on your insurance and it is an insurance company that I am paneled with, you will be able to provide me your member ID and group number for your insurance policy and after a therapy session is completed between us I will send documentation to your insurance company and they will work off your current benefits to either cover all or some of the session cost, or apply it to your deductible.
The best way to find out your insurance benefits is by calling the member services number on the back of your insurance card and asking the representatives what your coverage for outpatient mental health services is. From there, I can support you in understanding what your price per session with me would be.
If you have mental health benefits on your insurance and it is an insurance company that I am paneled with, you will be able to provide me your member ID and group number for your insurance policy and after a therapy session is completed between us I will send documentation to your insurance company and they will work off your current benefits to either cover all or some of the session cost, or apply it to your deductible.
The best way to find out your insurance benefits is by calling the member services number on the back of your insurance card and asking the representatives what your coverage for outpatient mental health services is. From there, I can support you in understanding what your price per session with me would be.
