What can therapy do for me?
There are a variety of benefits that can come from psychotherapy. Therapists provide levels of support, facilitate self-understanding, teach skills, and help patients discover new coping strategies for anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, and other mental health conditions. Therapists may also assist personal growth in any aspect of your life. You can typically find the skills and resources through therapy to help with family problems, marital issues, and more. Essentially, a therapist offers a different way of looking at things – perhaps a perspective you haven’t yet considered, which makes it easier to point you in the right direction, and find the solutions you’re looking for in life.
Of course, therapists can’t just ‘fix’ everything on their own. Using the resources you learn in your everyday life is important to really turn things around. Still unsure about what therapy could do for you? A few examples of some common benefits are:
– Grasping a deeper understanding of who you are
– Identifying your goals and dreams
– Obtaining the right skills for bettering your life’s relationships
– Learning resources to put an end to the issues that brought you to therapy
– Managing problem areas in your personal life, like anger, stress, anxiety, depression, etc.
– Creating new patterns of behavior for yourself
– Changing your problem-solving perspective
– Boosting your self-esteem and confidence
What makes people go to therapy in the first place? How do I know if it’s the right decision?
Everyone’s reasons for coming to therapy are different, whether they’re struggling with mental health, going through a big life change, or a specific event like divorce, or just aren’t dealing with stressful situations ideally. Depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and even low-self esteem are often common reasons to seek out help. You may start out looking for one thing, and find on your journey that you can gain so much more through learning the right skills, and having the right kind of encouragement.
In terms of making the ‘right decision’ for yourself, of course therapy is a personal decision, but if you take a look at your life, and your desire is to make a change that starts from within, it’s likely that some form of psychotherapy could be a great benefit.
What can I expect from psychotherapy?
In the first few appointments we will review your background, life history and current difficulties in detail. I may also ask that you complete one or more questionnaires. At the end of this process we will develop a plan to help you achieve your goals. We will monitor how effective therapy is in meeting your goals. Just like the reasons for therapy are different for everyone, most people can expect different experiences. Therapy and treatment is completely individually-focused. A psychologist, I offer evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice in psychology is the integration of the best available research with my clinical expertise tailored to your specific situation.
What kind of psychotherapy do you provide?
I am likely to draw on the cognitive and behavioral therapies in my work with you. I also incorporate family systems, emotion focused, solution-focused and interpersonal approaches in my work. Consistent with evidence-based practice, effectiveness of the approach will be routinely evaluated.
How should one consider medication vs. psychotherapy?
While medication has been proven to help with many different disorders, it has also been proven that time and time again, it simply isn’t enough. Medication in combination with psychotherapy can be very helpful. A trial of psychotherapy prior to a decision to use medication is a choice made by many. The decision to take psychotropic medications or not, is a highly personal one, and your personal wishes will be honored. If in the course of treatment, you decided you might benefit from medications, I will refer you out to an appropriate provider.
People are turning more and more to holistic and natural alternatives to modern medicine to treat mental, physical and spiritual issues. I fully support alternative options such as yoga, diet/exercise, nutrition, chiropractic and massage care if they are proving effective for you.
How does insurance factor into therapy?
Insurance companies are different – some offer mental health coverage, while others do not. The easiest way to find out if mental health care is covered by your provider is to contact them, to make sure you understand their options. If you’re looking for a good place to start in asking them questions, you could consider asking what their coverage amounts are for psychotherapy sessions for in-network and out-of-network providers. It is also important to ask about any copay and deductible. I am an in-network provider for most Aetna and Blue Cross plans. I am out-of-network for all other insurance companies.