Before your first session, we encourage a free 15-20 minute initial consultation. It is also best practice to do so. This gives you the opportunity to share what you are looking for in your therapeutic process and what you would like to work on.

If you choose to work with us and we believe we are a compatible fit, the next step will be to schedule your first appointment. If you would like to work with another counselor or we are unable to help—we can provide you with external referrals based on your preferences.

For your first appointment with us, you’ll receive an automated e-mail and link to create a Client Portal via Simple Practice for scheduling, payment, and completing electronic intake documentation. You can fill these documents out in the comfort of your home prior to your first appointment.

In addition to you getting a chance to ask us questions, some common question we ask you during a phone consultation include:

—What are your general therapeutic goals?

—Why are you seeking help, now?

—Have you received therapy before? How was your experience? What did you feel worked and didn’t work for you?

—Are you currently experiencing a mental health crisis or have a history of hospitalization, mental health emergencies, self harm, etc.? (We ask because we do not provide on call, 24-hr, crisis services and we what to be sure our treatment setting the most appropriate fit for your needs).

Our first session is commonly called an intake session, which is longer than your typical counseling session. A typical session ranges from 45-55 minutes long, whereas a intake session is 90 minutes long. This session allows us the opportunity to help us learn more about who you are and what's important to you. Additionally, we will use this time to describe our counseling approach, policies, and expectations for this process.

Just like any doctor’s office, you will be required to complete intake paperwork as a new client. This paperwork will be sent electronically through your Client Portal in our Simple Practice (EHR) system. You will be given a notice with a confirmation of our first appointment as well as a link to log in and complete your paperwork. This paperwork must be completed before the start of our first session. If this paperwork is not complete before the start of our first session, we will be unable to meet and we will reschedule your session after you have completed the paperwork.

The intake session also allows us to hear more about your reasons for starting counseling at this particular juncture in your life. Our first session will also help us understand the larger context of the struggles and difficulties you as well as the goals you have for counseling. We aim to make this an organic dialogue, with a few poignant questions in between. Finally, this session also gives us the opportunity to answer any questions you might have and to review paperwork, making sure we have all the information we need for counseling to begin successfully.

We do not hold standing or reoccurring appointments. This means we cannot guarantee that we will reserve a spot for you every week at the same time and day of the week. As we serve and work with many people with varying schedules and demands—it is difficult to accommodate everyone’s changing schedules.

Additionally, many of us are involved in community activism, volunteerism, and leadership roles related to mental health justice. We balance our time seeing clients with valuable work towards our community.

We do make our best attempts to see you regularly (weekly, biweekly, etc.)

Believe it or not, many of our healers schedule out months in advance, so working with our Administrative Assistant or directly with your healer will be important for scheduling.

Scheduling can be reserved by contacting your healer directly via email, reaching out to our Administrative Assistant via email, or requesting an appointment through your Simple Practice Client Portal. Most healers have options to schedule appointments weeks or months in advance.

In order to protect the integrity of our professional relationship and to preserve our therapeutic alliance, we do not have any contacts or connection on social media (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.) with any former, potential, or current clients. It is unethical for us to do so. In sum, please don’t be surprised if we are unable to accept a friend request, follow you back, or message you back after a comment.

Additionally, we do not receive text messages from clients regarding any matters outside of scheduling. However, you can also reschedule or cancel an appointment by calling, leaving a voicemail, or email. We do not use the messaging system through Simple Practice.

Once and a while you might spot us in the community. If you see us in person, it is our policy to not approach you. We will not greet you or engage in any conversation with you—unless you initiate a greeting first and appear welcoming. Additionally, we will not be able to discuss any of our work from our sessions. If you are with others, we will not share the therapeutic relationship we have with you. We want to respect your privacy and maintain professional boundaries.

Depending on when you contact us, if it is late in the evening or on the weekend, it may take 24-48 hours to respond. Thank you in advance for being patient with us!

If you are an existing active client and experiencing a dangerous or life threatening emergency, psychiatric or medical, you should call 9-1-1 immediately and go to your nearest hospital or emergency services.

Please note: We do not provide 24-7 on call services, inpatient, or acute outpatient treatment.

Afterwards, you can provide our contact information to the care facility or point of contact, so that we can coordinate care with you and those involved. We can also collaborate with you to create a safety plan to reduce acute distress.

As a result, if you are currently undergoing recovery for a pervasive and long term substance use issue(s), recent/frequent hospitalization, or severe mental health symptoms—our office setting and availability may not provide the best care to fit your treatment needs and your goals.

We can provide you with referrals during out phone consultation if we determine together that you need a different setting or help then we can provide.

Cancellation by the Client: Should you need to cancel your appointment, you have 48 hours from the time of your scheduled appointment date and time to notify your clinician (e.g., email, phone call, or voicemail). Please do not text as we do not frequently check this mode of communication.

You will be charged 50% of the service rate if we do not receive 48 hour notice of cancellation. Your insurance does not cover cancellation or “no show” fees. Therefore, this will be an out of pocket expense.

Running Late to Session: If you arrive 20 minutes or more to a session, we recommend rescheduling the session so that you are able to receive quality services for your time. If you are late, we can only meet for the remaining time left of the session you had scheduled. We cannot guarantee that we can provide you with additional time to make up for the time you were late. It is your choice if you would like to continue with the session for the remainder of your scheduled appointment. You will be charged the rate of the full session you scheduled.

Running late to a virtual session: Assuming we do not hear from you, after 10 minutes, we will reach out to you via email to check to see if you still plan on attending our scheduled session. After this follow up email is sent, if we still do not hear from you, we will wait approximately 10 additional minutes before leaving the virtual room. We will follow up to reschedule and this will be considered a “no show.”

Cancellation by a Healer or Inclement Weather: If we should have to cancel an appointment with you, we will contact you as soon as possible through your email. We will provide an option to reschedule your appointment at this time. This cancellation is at no cost or penalty to you.

Frequently missed sessions: If you miss 3 scheduled sessions, back-to-back, we will have to discuss if it is the right time for you to commit to counseling. We would not want to keep you on as a client if there isn’t progress being made or we are unable to help due to your schedule.