Treatment begins with a free 15 minute phone consultation. I will ask about why you are seeking treatment, what your goals are, a few questions about your history, and your availability. This is all to ensure that working together makes sense for both of us.

If we decide to proceed, we will schedule a first appointment/intake in which I will ask more questions about your history, symptoms, and goals toward formulating a treatment plan. We will meet weekly and revisit your goals and progress regularly to make sure everything is on track.

There are pros and cons to each option. Besides the obvious advantage of seeing one another over Zoom, it’s important for therapy to begin over Zoom to make sure that you and I have time to learn each other’s faces and pick up on more subtle gestures. After a few sessions, the pros of a phone session should come into consideration. For some, doing a session over the phone allows for pacing or going for a walk, laying down or finding a more comfortable spot than zoom allows for, or closing their eyes and opening up more fully without the distraction of a screen or a face. I recognize the advantages to both and am open to either one or switching as needed.

I ask pretty frequently. I like to “zoom out” and check in about whether you are comfortable with our pace, the homework I may assign, my responses, the format of the sessions, etc.

I need to know if you are feeling heard, if I have made any mistakes or misjudged you, if you feel like we are making progress with the techniques being used, etc. I pride myself on being open to feedback. I welcome it at all times, and require it every few sessions (more often than that at the beginning of treatment) in case you aren’t comfortable bringing it up on your own (but we would work on that if it were the case!).

To me, therapy is a setting in which a wide range of things can happen. Therapy looks different for every person. At its core, it is a place where you can work on goals and come to better understand yourself. In practice, that will mean something different for each person. Some examples of what can occur in therapy are: gaining personal insights, learning coping skills, strategizing how to reduce stress, finding or increasing meaning in life, learning to communicate differently, becoming more productive, handling conflict more effectively, learning parenting skills, dating or making friends, managing mental health symptoms, reducing negative thinking, becoming more assertive, and the list goes on.

Yes! I do not subscribe to most conventions; rather, I emphasize embracing authenticity and living a life that makes you feel good. Personally, I have journeyed far from the tree I fell from, and I’ve had the honor and pleasure of helping many people do the same. My main philosophy is to make sure what we do in therapy is working. You will reflect often on whether the interventions we implement are helping you toward your goals or not. If it’s working, we stick with it. If it isn’t, we pivot. With the right environment and exercises, humans are really good at changing and have very few limits.

All of my experience has been in NYC so my caseload has always been as diverse as the city. Culture shapes us in many ways including our values and expectations. It’s vital I understand how your culture has shaped you, but I ask; I don’t assume. I learn about you from your words and through processing anecdotes with you. Even if we have a similar background, we are not the same. Every human is unique and assumptions lead to bad treatment. 

Definitely. There are circumstances where being in therapy long-term is reasonable and there are also times where the priority is to help you learn specific skills, or get you back on your feet and running on your own. There is no one-size fits all approach to this so your experience may vary. Typically when all goals are accomplished I will bring graduation up, sometimes sooner if you are applying skills and conquering goals effectively on your own. My goal is your goals.

I am big on homework! 45 minutes per week of talking helps with insight, skills acquisition, etc, but will not help you form new behavioral patterns. Changing your behavior is a vital component to getting the most out of therapy. Homework is not just assigned by me like a teacher to a student. We will come up with homework together and make sure it feels completely doable and appropriately targets the change you are looking to make. You will not have homework every session or for every issue. 

This varies considerably based on your goals and needs, and even session to session. I am always prepared to listen or speak, direct the session or sit back, ask questions, make observations, put pressure on you, etc. I rely on my experience, training, what we’ve learned about you, and feedback to guide each of our sessions.

I have a simple rule: I self-disclose when I think it would be more helpful to you than not, and I check in with you to make sure it is OK.  I am not a private person and will reveal almost anything about myself if it is relevant and helpful. 

One of my top priorities is always making sure we are using your session time in a way that makes sense for you. I will not hijack your session and speak about myself for any significant length of time except under very unique and rare circumstances where we both agree that it makes sense. If you have any questions about me or my life, I’ll gladly answer them but I may explore your curiosity with you as a way to learn more about you.