Your most frequently asked questions about working with me, answered here.
Do you take insurance?
It would be great if insurance covered this work, but it doesn’t. I am well aware that financial challenges are often the norm for people navigating a withdrawal journey, and this is something I have done my best to take into account in the way I have structured my services.
What forms of payment do you accept?
I accept all major credit and debit cards. At this time I do not accept PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, or other forms of payment.
What modalities do you use?
While I do pull certain elements from my training as a therapist, a reiki practitioner, and an herbalist, know that I don’t think or work in the language of ‘modalities.’ Any modality itself is not what actually heals, and I find it generally unhelpful to try and frame the unique work I do in terms of specific techniques.
How exactly do you help people?
There are a variety of tools that I use when I work with clients, but the ‘how’ depends on where you are and what exactly you are needing during any given session. Here are some of the most common ways that I help:
- Validating and making space for the entirety of your experience
- Offering new perspectives and different ways of thinking about the process of withdrawing, healing, and beyond
- Reframing difficult experiences and symptoms
- Sharing practical or technical tools, strategies, and considerations
- Providing or otherwise directing you to the information most relevant to your specific needs
- Helping you recognize and make sense of patterns in yourself and your process
- Accountability for you with implementing supportive changes in your mindset and your life
- Seeing the full picture, often more clearly than anyone else you may be working with
- Serving as an empathetic, neutral ‘think partner’ as questions and concerns arise
- Answering ‘how to’ and ‘is this normal’ kinds of questions
- Being a level-headed, hopeful voice who never loses sight of the bigger picture–even when you may be feeling overwhelmed and confused.
- Encouraging you, and reminding you of all the ways you have agency and power
How many sessions does someone typically need with you?
That genuinely depends. People come to me with completely different personal histories and current circumstances, at all different stages of their journey, and with different specific goals. Additionally, the level of support each person wants can vary greatly regardless of personal history, where they are on their journey, and their specific goals. My services are designed to be completely customizable: you can book time with me a-la-carte, as frequently or as infrequently as you want or need. You are never locked into a commitment for a certain amount of time or money. Instead, I am here with you as needed for the duration of your process, however long it takes.
Are there any intake forms to fill out before our first session?
There are no intake forms to fill out. The New Client Foundation Session (your first session with me) is designed intentionally to facilitate a conversation between us where we explore your history, your present circumstances, and your future hopes and goals. This allows me to learn the foundational information I need to know in order to most effectively work with you. Anything we may not cover in that first session will come out naturally as our work together progresses.
Can you diagnose and/or treat what’s going on with me?
No. I am not a licensed medical or mental health provider, and I cannot diagnose or treat any disease or condition. But also, my approach to working with anyone is to look at the whole person. I was trained in the mental health system to diagnose and provide treatment for diagnoses, and I learned that this model of working with people was at best, grossly inadequate. I have also seen over the years that attachment to diagnostic frameworks can sometimes make it harder to heal and move forward. I will always see my clients as whole people, not as diagnoses requiring treatments.
Will you direct me on exactly how I should taper?
I don’t direct anyone’s taper. If you are looking for someone to tell you exactly what to do and when to do it, you’re looking for a medical provider. However if you’ve found your way here, you likely have experience with providers telling you exactly what to do and when to do it, and having that go badly. What I offer is information, resources, and support to help you learn how to feel confident in directing your own taper—whether you’re doing it yourself or in collaboration with a cooperative and open-minded medical provider. Getting well-informed and building the confidence and discernment necessary to effectively listen and respond to your body and your inner wisdom on a taper journey, is arguably more valuable than anyone outside of you directing anything.
Are you anti-medication?
No, I am not anti-medication. What I am is pro-fully-informed-choice. I have spoken to countless people over the years, and not a single one of them was fully informed about the medications they were prescribed when they began taking them. They were not fully informed about what we do and don’t know about how the medications work. They were not fully informed about the potential adverse effects. They were not fully informed about what eventually coming off of those medications might mean for them, or how to go about that process as safely as possible. I see the lack of fully informed choice as the problem, not the decision to use medications in the face of being fully informed. Along the same lines, I am also very much pro my clients doing whatever they need to do to be well and thrive in their lives. Sometimes in the course of working with someone, it becomes clear for that person that coming off of medication is not the right choice for them at present. I fully support my clients in the informed decision to stay on medication when they feel that is in their best interest.
I am in crisis, or otherwise experiencing a sense of extreme urgency around my current situation. Can you help me?
There is no universal definition of what constitutes a crisis in this context. I will hear you and make space for your experience, and I am often able to be helpful in situations that feel completely overwhelming and unmanageable. However I reserve the right to withdraw from working with any client if I sense that the urgency and unpredictability of the situation is moving beyond where I can effectively be of service.
1-on-1 work may not be right for me at this time. What other resources can I explore?
There are some incredibly comprehensive and supportive resources available, many of which are free or low-cost. If 1-on-1 work isn’t for you at this time, know that many people have found it possible to taper, heal, and rebuild their lives using only these resources. The following may be useful places to start: