FAQ

Do you do in-person therapy?

Sessions are either Telehealth or in-person. When we talk we can decide what’s right for you.

What is telehealth?

Thank goodness for technology! Telehealth is a widely used way to communicate face-to-face from the comfort of your own home, office, car, or anywhere else you have an Internet connection. The format is the same as a traditional in-person session. (See the services page about telehealth).

What is your fee?

My fee is $175 per session – with some exceptions. I take some insurances. I’m in network with Aetna, United Behavioral Health, Optum, Anthem and CIgna. If you have one of these, your fee will be determined by insurance, and I will bill you according to your insurance plan.

I also have a few spots in my practice for clients in need of therapy and unable to pay the full fee. If you would like to work with me and are unable to pay the full fee, we can discuss your needs. If I have a sliding scale spot available, I will do my best to negotiate a fee you can afford. If that is not possible, I will give you a couple of good referrals.

How do I pay?

Payment is due at the end of each session unless we have made other arrangements. I accept all major credit cards, check, HSA/FSA cards, or you can pay by Zelle. When our sessions are in person again, I also accept cash payment.

Do you accept insurance?

Yes. I am in-network with Aetna, Untied Behavioral Health, Optum, Anthem and Cigna. I will do all the insurance paperwork for you and charge only your co-pay after each session.

For all other clients, my fee is $175 per session.

What’s your cancellation policy?

I ask for a 24-hour notice to avoid a charge for a full session.

I know life can get hectic and things come up, and I don’t like implementing this policy.

Remember, this policy is because I have reserved that hour especially for you, and the 24-hour policy gives me time to fill that time with someone else.

What is HAES?

Health at Every Size is a philosophy and a social justice movement that endeavors to include body diversity rather than weight-centered approaches to health. The HAES movement celebrates the fact that we are all different and have naturally different-sized bodies.

That our society favors thin bodies has created a whole industry based on the idea that the only way to be healthy and beautiful is to be thin. This belief has created untold harm to people who were born into larger bodies.

The thin ideal is not realistic for most people, and the diet industry has found many-many-many-many ways for us to blame ourselves for not “fitting” into the thin body that we believe is the only way to ideal health and beauty.

My work with eating disorder clients has moved more and more in helping people become healthier and happier in the body that they are in now.

Sometimes, changes in eating behavior and physical activity have the side effect of weight loss. Still, our work together is centered around the underlying causes of eating behaviors developed over a lifetime.

Sometimes, food becomes your only comfort if you lived in a home where love was less openly shared or not felt at all.

Genetic differences in some people’s bodies make them more prone to being in a larger body. And often, once a client comes to therapy, they have been on more diets than they can count and are still blaming themselves for their “bad self-control.”

What if you were happy in your life with the body you are in today? Let’s start there!

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is related to HAES. It comes from the idea that our bodies already know what foods we need for our full nourishment. I liken it to when babies first learn to eat. They are not yet conditioned to understand our cultural ideas about “good” and “bad” foods.

But everyone has seen a baby push away food when they have ceased to be hungry. We are born knowing the amount and the type of food our bodies need to thrive.

As clients recover from an eating disorder, they begin the journey of rediscovering their internal cues of hunger and fullness. They understand that they can eat anything they want, so the urgent need for cake may now give them a clue into an unresolved feeling from the past when the cake was not allowed.

If you have had trouble eating foods that seem “all bad” or are almost obsessed with eating foods that are “all good,” then intuitive eating is a way to discover what underlying messages are waiting for discovery.