1. optional meet + greet call
We can start with a free, 15-minute meet-and-greet phone call to briefly get to know each other and see if we're a good fit to work together. If we decide to move forward, we'll book our first session and I'll send you the paperwork to get started!
2. intake appointment
Our first session will focus on learning all about you and what's concerning you. I'll share more about my approach and how we can set up therapy to be successful. We'll identify your goals for therapy and how we can work together to help you achieve them.
3. therapy begins!
Phase 1 - Building the Foundation
The first few sessions are about getting to know each other, building our shared understanding of you and your concerns, and starting to get to work on tackling your goals.
Phase 2- Symptom Reduction
We start building you a toolbox of strategies to help you manage the symptoms that brought you to therapy so you start to feel more capable and in control.
Phase 3 - Processing
As therapy progresses, we start to dig into the deeper stuff that contributed to your symptoms developing in the first place. This might involve exploring and challenging long-standing unhelpful beliefs, reprocessing impactful events in your life, or learning new ways to improve your relationship with yourself and your emotions.
Phase 4 - Maintenance
At the start, we'll meet more frequently to help you gain momentum, and then as you progress, we slowly start to taper off the frequency of our sessions. By this time you'll be feeling well-equipped with the insight, understanding, and tools needed to manage your mental health and our sessions will focus on navigating new challenges as they arise and helping you maintain your progress.
Throughout the course of therapy, we'll check in every few sessions to make sure we're focusing on what's important to you and that you're getting what you need from our sessions.
how long will therapy take?
The length of therapy will vary person-to-person. Some people come to therapy with a specific goal (i.e. to learn strategies to manage burnout at work) and once they achieve that goal, they are good to go!
Other people come to therapy wanting to work on ongoing concerns (i.e. a lifelong sense of not being good enough) that may be linked to trauma or other challenging life circumstances. In these cases, therapy tends to be longer as we are digging deeper into the roots of the issue.
Other people view attending therapy as an important part of their routine health care and are looking for ongoing support. They are interested in connecting with a therapist on a long-term, consistent basis who can give them support through life's challenges and whatever they are navigating at the moment. In these cases, therapy can last years and be a place to receive consistent support from someone who really knows you and understands how you work.
Wherever you happen to fall, I'm happy to help and can give you a better idea of the length of therapy I'd recommend after our intake session.
my therapy toolbox
I use evidence-based therapies tailored to fit your needs and help you reach your goals.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Develop a healthier relationship with your inner world and refocus your life on your personal values.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Challenge and reframe distorted thoughts that are causing you problems.
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
Reprocess traumatic or significant experiences from your past so they stop impacting you in the present.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Gain the skills needed to regulate, tolerate, and be mindful of tough emotions.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Gain the confidence to face your fears and regain control over anxiety and OCD.
Structural Dissociation Theory
Learn to accept the different parts of yourself and understand why you do the things you do.