Frequently asked questions.

Starting Therapy

  • Many of the people I work with are thoughtful, psychologically minded, and interested in understanding themselves at a deeper level.

    You may be a particularly good fit for my work if you have already developed significant insight but continue to feel stuck in certain emotional, relational, or nervous system patterns.

    I frequently work with people navigating complex or relational trauma, betrayal, intimacy concerns, attachment injuries, compulsive sexual behavior and its relational impact, relationship rupture, and patterns that have remained unresolved despite previous therapy.

    I tend to work collaboratively and directly. I am actively engaged in the therapy process and will offer observations, ask questions, help identify patterns, and gently challenge something when doing so may serve the work.

    You do not need to know exactly what type of therapy you need before reaching out.

  • No.

    In fact, intensive work often benefits from having enough stability, support, and internal capacity to engage thoughtfully with deeper material.

    You may be functioning very well in much of your life while still recognizing that something important deserves focused attention.

    What happens after I submit a consultation request?

    I will review the information you provide and consider whether your needs appear to fall within my scope of practice and current availability.

    If working together may be appropriate, the next step may include a brief consultation or a more comprehensive assessment, depending on the type of service you are seeking.

    If I do not believe I am the right fit, I will let you know and offer recommendations or referrals when I am able.

    Submitting an inquiry does not establish a therapist client relationship.

Therapy Intensives

  • A therapy intensive is an extended period of psychotherapy organized around a focused treatment goal.

    Instead of dividing the work into short weekly sessions, an intensive creates a larger protected window for assessment, preparation, therapeutic work, regulation, and integration.

    The purpose is not to force healing to happen quickly.

    The purpose is to create enough time for meaningful work to unfold without repeatedly stopping just as something important begins to emerge.

    How is an intensive different from a regular therapy session?

    An intensive is not simply several therapy sessions placed back to back.

    The process is intentionally structured around a defined treatment goal.

    Depending on your needs, this may include assessment, preparation, EMDR, somatic work, parts work, relational therapy, attachment focused interventions, integration, and coordination with an ongoing therapist.

    The additional time also allows us to slow down when needed rather than feeling governed by the clock.

  • An intensive may be worth exploring if you:

    • Have already done meaningful therapy and want to work more deeply with a particular concern

    • Understand your patterns intellectually but continue to feel stuck inside them

    • Want focused work around trauma, betrayal, intimacy, or a relationship injury

    • Have a specific experience or treatment target that remains unresolved

    • Find that important material often emerges near the end of regular sessions

    • Want to dedicate concentrated time to therapy rather than adding another weekly commitment

    • Have a demanding personal or professional schedule

    • Already have a therapist and want specialized adjunctive work

    • Value depth, preparation, individualized treatment, and collaboration

    Whether an intensive is actually appropriate is determined through assessment.

  • Not necessarily.

    Therapy does not follow a predictable timeline, and longer sessions do not guarantee faster healing.

    The potential benefit of an intensive is having more uninterrupted and intentionally structured therapeutic time.

    Sometimes having more time allows us to move more carefully rather than more quickly.

  • There is no single format that is appropriate for everyone.

    Some clients benefit from one focused extended session.

    Others may benefit from a more comprehensive process involving assessment, preparation, one or more intensive sessions, and integration.

    The recommended structure depends on what you want to address, your history, your current supports, and what is clinically appropriate.

  • Individual intensive packages currently begin at $1,500.

    The exact investment depends on the length and structure of the intensive, the amount of assessment and preparation needed, and whether additional integration or treatment coordination is recommended.

    You will know the full investment before committing to the intensive.

  • Couples intensive packages currently begin at $2,500.

    Couples work generally requires additional assessment because I want to understand each person’s experience and determine whether conjoint intensive work is clinically appropriate before beginning deeper relationship work.

    Extended or customized intensive experiences may involve a larger investment depending on the treatment plan.

  • Yes, when a multiday format makes clinical sense.

    Some treatment goals may benefit from more than one extended session or from work spread across multiple days.

    Multiday work is customized rather than offered as a standard one size fits all package.

EMDR and Trauma Therapy

  • Yes, when EMDR is appropriate for your treatment goals and you have adequate preparation for the work.

    An intensive does not mean immediately beginning trauma processing.

    Assessment, stabilization, preparation, and pacing remain important.

    EMDR may be one part of the intensive rather than the entire treatment experience.

  • Virtual EMDR can be appropriate for many clients.

    We will also consider your privacy, physical environment, access to support, ability to regulate, and the nature of the material being addressed before determining whether virtual intensive work is appropriate.

  • No.

    Trauma treatment does not require a perfect narrative or complete memory of everything that occurred.

    The work may focus on specific memories, emotional responses, body based experiences, beliefs, relationship patterns, or present day reactions connected to earlier experiences.

    Treatment is guided by what is accessible and clinically appropriate rather than by forcing memory retrieval.

  • Many of the people I work with understand their histories exceptionally well.

    Insight matters, but understanding why something happens does not always change what your body, emotions, or relationships do when the pattern becomes activated.

    Our work may focus less on explaining the pattern and more on understanding what happens in real time and helping your system develop new options.

Betrayal and Intimacy

  • Betrayal trauma can occur when someone you rely on for safety, attachment, trust, or intimacy becomes the source of significant deception, secrecy, infidelity, sexual betrayal, or another major relational rupture.

    People may experience intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, emotional flooding, difficulty trusting their own perceptions, intense attachment distress, changes in sexual safety, and a strong need for answers or certainty.

    These responses can be deeply disruptive even when the person remains highly functional in other areas of life.

  • Yes.

    I work with individuals and couples affected by compulsive sexual behavior, sexual betrayal, secrecy, intimacy avoidance, and the relational impact surrounding these concerns.

    Treatment may include betrayal focused work, trauma treatment, relationship assessment, or coordination with other specialized providers depending on the situation.

  • The term is sometimes used to describe persistent patterns of avoiding emotional or sexual intimacy.

    I use this language thoughtfully because intimacy avoidance can arise from many different experiences, including trauma, shame, attachment patterns, fear, compulsive behavior, relationship dynamics, sexuality concerns, or other factors.

    The goal is not simply to apply a label.

    The goal is to understand what function the pattern serves and what would be required for greater emotional or relational capacity to become possible.

  • Yes.

    I work with individuals and couples navigating infidelity, sexual betrayal, attachment injuries, disclosure related trauma, trust rupture, and questions about whether repair is possible.

    The treatment process depends heavily on what has occurred and what each person currently needs.