1. Welcome to my psychotherapy practice. I offer brief and long-term treatment for adults, as individuals or with a partner. If you’re looking for psychotherapy, I encourage you to investigate; to find someone who “gets you” and who is skilled, not just credentialed. It’s too important a personal and financial decision to limit yourself to the names on your insurance list or in your neighborhood.

   

   Finding the right match is vital to how effective (and lasting) your therapy will ultimately be. People who have had a therapist in the past often comment that he or she was a good listener, but not much beyond that. My approach is that we roll up our sleeves and get at the deeper issues so they won’t keep recurring in your life. It is very satisfying and can actually be sort of fun, but it’s work.
   
   Background. I’m a Counseling Psychologist. This clinical specialty is about working with patients who have complex issues but not severe mental illness. My training focused upon developing expertise doing psychotherapy - particularly with normal people who have complicated issues - and on scientific research of psychotherapy processes. Research I’ve published has been on laughter in therapy, divorce, anxiety treatment and dreams. 
   
   I also have experience supervising the clinical skills of mental health professionals working toward state licensure. Having directed a university training program, I truly enjoy helping therapists to appreciate and build upon their clinical strengths as well as to refine developing areas.
   
   Specialties. Counseling for depression (irritability, apathy, mood swings, over-sensitivity, suicidal feelings, sleep problems); anxiety (ongoing fears, perfectionism, temper, obsessiveness, panic attacks, difficulty relaxing); relationship patterns, family dynamics, divorce; desire to change compulsive behaviors (eating, spending, internet, cutting, drinking, smoking); life traumas such as sexual assault, financial/career loss and major accidents; grief and pet loss; coming out/

   
   

   Distinctive features
   
   

   Unconventional appointment hours
   
   Free initial phone consultation
   
   Strong professional preparation
   
   Refined treatment setting
   
   Treatment cost never increases
   
   

   

    

    

   GLBTQ issues; body image; shyness/social skills. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of the therapy issues we might work on together -- but by the same token, if you need help with something I think someone else could more capably provide, I’ll want to refer you on to him or her.
   
   Treatment approach. In session, expect to bring some gritty emotional honesty, a sharp mind for the patterns in your life, and your sense of humor. You’ll be struck by how concretely useful psychotherapy can be, despite the fact that it feels like a conversation.
   
   My treatment approach incorporates psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapies. This practice of matching the treatment to the each client’s symptoms and personality is referred to as integrative psychotherapy.
   
   Sessions are collaborative, characterized by a balance of understanding of your distress, insight about relational patterns, and uncovering thought or behavior patterns that sabotage you. Most of us have a tendency to either over-rely on contemplating things (and have trouble taking action) or leap to taking action when upset (and have trouble with insight.) I’d hope to help you understand root causes of issues and make lasting changes. For example, in counseling for depression, expect to examine past disappointments and to experiment with new coping strategies.
   
   Treatment cost. You may pay for treatment with or without an insurance company being involved. An ongoing, 50-minute individual therapy session, for example, costs $160. There’s more detail on the varying costs for couples therapy and initial evaluations (first sessions) on the treatment cost page (as well as a primer on how insurance coverage works.) Basically, if you have Premera Blue Cross, I file claims for you. If you have different insurance, I provide documentation of treatment, which you use for reimbursement from your medical spending account or policy. If you don’t have insurance (or choose not to use it) you simply pay the session cost. Clients “lock in” whatever the cost of service was when we began therapy, so your expenses never increase over time, no matter how long we work together.
   
   

How therapy works. No one ever really teaches us how to go about finding a therapist! You may know that you could benefit from counseling for depression, let’s say, but not know how to approach your research. You’re welcome to listen to a radio interview in which I discuss what happens in a first psychotherapy session. The conversation is with Megan Sukys, who hosted The Human Condition on KUOW-Seattle. There is also information in this conversation on what the various mental health professions can offer (psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors and social workers.) Many people have spoken with a professional before, but didn’t realize they’d been in counseling, not psychotherapy.

Making an appointment. The first session is special, because I’ll ask you to tell your story and describe your background, but also because we’ll both be assessing whether we should work together. If we do, sessions are typically every week or every-other week at the same day/time, but it’s also fine for you to come once, then play it by ear about future sessions. Your treatment is strictly confidential. To arrange a first appointment, call or email and we’ll have a phone consultation before we meet. If our schedules don’t match or if it would be wiser for you to work with someone else, I can easily refer you to other psychologists I have great respect for.