I am a licensed Psychologist and AASECT certified sex therapist who specializes in helping people improve the quality of their intimate relationships using couple/relational therapy. I help partners experiencing distress in their relationships, partners who are managing a specific issue or challenge, and partners who want to enhance an already good relationship. In addition to more general relationship quality issues, my training in sex therapy can help you address a wide array of sexual issues, difficulties, and concerns (either individually or with your partner). I love helping people find their way to experience more passion, playfulness, and pleasure in their lives. I also have extensive experience providing individual cognitive-behavioral treatments for those experiencing anxiety, depression, grief, insomnia, and/or trauma. Here are common concerns/issues that I provide services for: *Relationship distress/ambivalence *Relationship transitions (e.g., engaged/newly married, parenthood, retirement) *Couples coping with medical and mental health issues *Navigating challenges related to marginalization as a couple/relationship *Navigating or exploring consensual non-monogamy (polyamory, open relationships, swinging, monogamish) *Exploring interests in diverse sexual practices (e.g., kink, BDSM) *Sexual desire discrepancies between partners *Dissatisfaction with the quality of sexual activities *Problems/concerns regarding sexual desire, sexual arousal, and orgasm *Sexuality and aging, menopause, and medical conditions *Navigating issues around sexual orientation, gender identity, and sexuality *Sexual pain disorders *Reclaiming sexual pleasure after sexual trauma *Out of control or compulsive sexual behavior *Sexual shame *Infidelity *Depression *Anxiety *Trauma and PTSD I work collaboratively with you to carefully assess your history, difficulties, and strengths so that I can tailor treatment to your context, identities, and experiences. I am queer, kink, and polyam identified. I provide affirming services to diverse expressions of gender, sexual orientation, sexual practices, relationship structures, as well as those who do (or have done) sex work. My approach is culturally-informed, trauma-informed, and integrates important aspects of identity in an intersectional manner in order to better understand your experiences and goals for treatment. My approach to therapy is evidence-based whenever possible (meaning the interventions have been shown to be helpful in well-designed research studies), active, and collaborative. My goal is to help you find ways to build a meaningful, satisfying, and enjoyable life. I am currently accepting new clients. FEES My fee is $225 per session. I do not bill insurance. Online credit card payments, cash, and check payments are accepted. Upon request, I can provide a 'superbill' for you to submit to your insurance company, but I cannot guarantee they will reimburse all (or any) of your payments. Ultimately, you are responsible for payments of all fees for services. Why don't I work with insurance? I know it can be frustrating to find a psychologist who accepts insurance or is in network for your insurance. Insurance companies often fill their provider networks with masters-level therapists, and may not doctoral level psychologists. Even if they do include psychologists, they have difficulty recruiting and retaining them because the reimbursement rates are inadequate, and the insurance company can be intrusive in monitoring the care provided to clients. There are additional insurance billing problems specific to relational or couple therapy. For a therapist to bill insurance for couple therapy, one member of the couple serves as the "identified patient" and needs to have an individually covered mental health diagnosis. This is not clinically warranted in many instances. The insurance company may then require that the couple therapy treat that diagnosis, even if the couple did not seek therapy specifically to address it. In some cases this system works well (e.g., a couple hoping to address the impact of one partner's trauma symptoms on their marriage, or a partner-assisted therapy for OCD). However, many couples, even those who come to therapy with individual mental health diagnoses, are looking to do more than manage individual symptoms with their partner. By charging a private-pay fee, I am able to provide the therapy you and your partner actually need and want, without risking insurance fraud. Psychologists as a profession are working to improve access to insurance coverage, but insurance companies won't change unless the community demands it. You may consider calling your insurance company and demanding more access to doctoral level psychologists and coverage for couple/family therapy.
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