I’m glad you asked!

Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and sometimes we successfully navigate through challenges using the skills and resources we already have. Other times we get stuck and can’t seem to make the changes we want, stick to our goals or find the tools to cope with change, loss or difficulties you’ve faced.

There is nothing wrong with seeking extra support when you need it.

In fact, therapy is for people who have enough self-awareness to realize they need a helping hand, and that is something to be admired.

Seeking therapy is taking responsibility by accepting where you are in life and making a commitment to enact change.

Therapy provides lasting benefits and support giving you the tools you need to move through stuck places, process difficult emotions and find connection with others and best of all, yourself!

Therapy is a collaborative relationship between the client and counselor. The process varies from person to person and the experiences, training and personality of the therapist but I can tell you how I structure our time together.

The first phase is getting to know each other. It is important to work to build trust in both the process and in me.

I take my time to really listen to your story and work to understand how your experiences have shaped your life and explore what changes you seek.

Once we have a clear understanding of what is getting in your way of feeling well, we explore goals and treatment options.

I am extensively trained in helping people process traumas, explore relationship problems, using a wide variety of modalities to create a healthy lifestyle, whatever that may look like for YOU.

Though therapy is collaborative, I believe you are the true expert on you and my job is to deeply listen, ask you thoughtful questions and support you as you create the life you seek.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma, post traumatic stress, anxiety, panic attacks, complicated grief, addiction, and countless other disorders.

EMDR can be thought of as a physiologically-based therapy that helps people experience disturbing memories in a new and less distressing way. Individuals still remember what happened, but through “processing” –a standardized protocol, which uses bilateral stimulation– targeted memories are less upsetting.

While many types of therapy have similar goals, EMDR appears to be similar to what occurs naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

The goal of EMDR therapy is to process completely the experiences that are causing problems, and to include new ones that are needed for full health. “Processing” does not mean talking about it, but rather, to create a learning state that will allow experiences that are causing problems to be “digested” and stored appropriately in the brain.

That means that what is useful from an experience will be learned, and stored with appropriate emotions in the brain, and be able to guide individuals in positive ways in the future.

An intensive is a powerfully focused bout of EMDR, movement and somatic work where I facilitate multiple EMDR sessions per day or over a weekend.

For individuals who are prepared and ready to dive into processing trauma, the intensives can be extremely effective on symptom reduction in a much shorter treatment window.

If this sounds like a path you are interested in, let me know and we can assess if an intensive is right for you.

I wish there was a straightforward answer to this. There are just so many factors to consider, such as:

• What sort of life have you had before coming to therapy?
• Why are you deciding now to come to therapy?
• How long has the problem been in the making?
• How have you coped with the problem up until now?
• How have your ways of coping compromised your deeper sense of well-being?
• What are your goals or hopes for therapy?
• How will we know when they have been met?

(I know! So many questions!)

These questions take time to find answers to but treatment is solution focused knowing our work together is generally short term.

The process of therapy has a lot of good weeks and hard ones too, yet as your skills and insights grow, we will begin to have a shared sense that you’re ready to wrap up our work together.

I should add: It’s thrilling watching my clients grow, heal and become the very best version of themselves, so I am as motivated as you to get to the root of your symptoms and build the needed skills to really thrive!

Having the conversation about ending therapy is bittersweet, but it means you are resourced and ready to move onto the new things.

My standard fee for a 50-minute session is $140; longer sessions and intensives are charged on a pro-rated basis. Fees are payable at the time services are rendered.

I use an encrypted, HIPAA compliant EHR called Simple Practice where your records and credit card information is stored.

With your permission, I charge your card on file as I complete your chart note each session. I accept cash, checks, and credit cards.

Yes, a few. I currently accept Blue Cross, Aetna and regence Blue Shield. If I am not in network with your provider, I will provide you with monthly statements of payment along with a “super bill” which you may submit to the third-party of your choice to seek reimbursement of fees already paid. The amount of reimbursement and the amount of any co-payments or deductible depends on the requirements of your specific insurance plan. You should be aware that insurance plans generally limit coverage to certain diagnosable mental conditions (i.e. your insurance may refuse payment of your claim without a diagnosis). If you do not meet criteria for a diagnosable mental condition I will not be able to submit a claim for you and the cost will be out of pocket. Current and prospective clients are responsible for verifying and understanding the limits of their insurance coverage. To determine if you have mental health coverage, the first thing you should do is check with your insurance carrier. Check your coverage carefully and find the answers
to the following questions:

• What are my mental health benefits, deductible and co-pay?
• What is the coverage amount per therapy session?
• How many therapy sessions does my plan cover?
• How much does my insurance pay for an out-of-network
  provider?
• Is approval required from my primary care physician?

In cases of financial hardship, and depending on the limited-availability of such slots, I may offer a partially-reduced (or, “sliding scale”) fee for therapeutic services.

This is on a case-by-case basis and is done with the intention of providing/continuing services with those in serious need.

If my pro-bono or sliding fee sessions are full, I provide the opportunity for clients to work with one of my qualified, graduate level interns at a reduced cost.

Please visit my group practice at https://www.boiserivercounseling.com/

Start by filling out the contact form on this website.

If you have a sense that you want to move forward, let’s schedule a 10 minute phone consultation so we can chat and see if we would be a good fit for one
another.

If it feels like a god fit, I will send you an email with a link to set up your online client portal where you can schedule your first session and find the intake paperwork which needs to be filled out before our first session.

Show up with the intention to be as open and honest about yourself as you can be. I totally get how nervous you might be, for most of us being vulnerable is unnerving, but don’t worry, this is where my love for the work and my clients really shines.

It can be helpful for us if you have put some thought into the intake questionnaire and have ideas of how you might describe your concerns and symptoms.

The first step is just getting comfortable and learning the ropes. I will go over your rights as a client, and what to expect during the course of our work together.

By the end of the first session we will each have a sense of each other and how we might proceed.

Research has shown success in therapy is determined more by the quality of the relationship than the strategies used.

Please know, if the fit doesn’t feel right to you, then you owe it to yourself to keep looking.

If after the first few sessions you are looking for services I don’t typically provide, I will talk with you and make a good referral to someone who I think will be able to help you.

My main office is in Boise, at 410 S Orchard St. Suite 128 where I also provide opportunities for group work, and movement and yoga therapy.

My other office is nature! If the circumstances are appropriate, I can meet you outside in the foothills, or nearby park to walk and talk. Nature and movement facilitate great therapy.

Please note, most insurances do not cover out of office sessions so those would be private pay.

I also provide telehealth of individuals living in Idaho who prefer to work from the comfort of their homes or work.