When you are looking for a therapist, sometimes all the letters we put after our names look a bit more like alphabet soup more than letters that will actually tell you something. Here is what the letters behind my name mean:

PhD - I earned my doctorate degree in Applied Developmental Science from Colorado State University. This degree focuses on how humans grow and develop over the course of our lives, and how our environments and experiences influence the ways that we develop. My research particularly focused on healthy relationships between couples, parents/children, and therapist/client.

LMFT - I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. This means that my clinical training specially focused on working with couples and families, in addition to working with individuals. In addition, MFTs are trained to view the experiences and problems a client is facing from a systemic lens. In short, MFTs look at how the world around you, your relationships, and your experiences, inform what you are experiencing.

CFLE - I am a Certified Family Life Educator. This is a credential provided by the National Council on Family Relations and focused on how to effectively provide research and information to people to help them to implement this information and make changes in their lives.

Currently, I only offer online/teletherapy sessions. All sessions are conducted via a secure, HIPAA compliant two-way video conferencing system. All you need is somewhere private with a good internet connection to join our calls. Often clients will join our sessions from their home or some even join from a private office at work.

If you are seeking couples therapy, you can be in the same place during our sessions or you can join from two separate locations, as well.

My current rate for a 60-minute session (50-55 minute therapy hour) is $180 for individual therapy and $200 for couples/family therapy. I also have a limited number of reduced fee spots available.

I also offer extended 90-minute sessions or abbreviated 30-minute sessions (for established clients only). These sessions are based on the 60-minute session fee and are prorated to the length of the session.

Fees in the Denver and Northern Colorado area range from $120-$250, with doctoral level therapists frequently charging over $200 per session. My fees are a fair value based on my experience, credentials, talents and education.

I am not in-network with any insurance or EAP programs but can provide services as an out-of-network provider. If you are wanting to use insurance for therapy, I recommend that you first contact your insurance company to inquire about your in-network benefits and whether your plan will cover some or all costs of therapy.

If you have out-of-network mental health benefits, I can provide you with a superbill (a specialized invoice that can be submitted to insurance companies for reimbursement). You will be responsible for paying for sessions at the time of service and then, at the start of each month, I will provide you with a superbill of all sessions for the prior month. You can submit this to your insurance company for reimbursement. I cannot guarantee that your insurance company will provide reimbursement, as this is dependent upon your health insurance plan and policies.

Some helpful questions to ask insurance companies include:

Do I have mental health benefits?

How many sessions will my insurance cover per year?

What is the coverage amount per therapy session?

Is approval required to use these benefits?

Do I have out-of-network insurance benefits?

There are some advantages to not going through insurance for therapy. Insurance companies require a mental health diagnosis to be applied to your record. Additionally, when you pay out of pocket you have increased privacy related to your therapy experiences as no records, diagnostic information, or authorization for services need to pass through your insurance company. You also have more autonomy to choose a provider that feels like the best fit for you versus making a choice based on clinicians provided to you by your insurance company.

Additionally, many insurance companies will not cover services that are not pertaining to a specific mental health diagnosis. Relationship stress or difficulties are not considered a mental health diagnosis so many insurances will not cover therapy for relational or personal growth.

I have a 24-hour cancellation policy. This means that anyone who cancels a session with less than 24-hours notice will be charged the full session fee. The cost of missed sessions will typically not be covered by an insurance company (in or out of network).

I know how important it is to receive a prompt response from your therapist. I attempt to respond to all communications within 24-hours Monday-Wednesdays (the days I am in the office). I additionally attempt to respond on Thursdays-Fridays, though I am engaged in teaching/other obligations on those days and may have a slower response time. You can expect a response from me no later than 72-business hours regardless of the day. If I am out of the office, you will receive an out of office notification on my voicemail/email.

Everyone’s circumstance and goals for therapy are unique which makes it difficult to specify how long therapy will take. The overall length of therapy depends on your goals, your motivation and readiness to make change, the degree to which you invest in the process between our sessions, and the details of the situations that are bringing you to therapy.

Short-term therapy can work well for specific concerns/goals. More long-standing or complex problems may require a longer timeline. I am happy to discuss more specifics about this with you during our work together.

One way we know helps create progress in therapy is through consistency. Just like any change we make, our brain likes consistency and predictability. Creating a regular, consistent schedule will help to promote more effective change. I typically recommend that we start with weekly sessions at the beginning at the start of therapy which includes what we call an “assessment period” or time to build our relationship, gather information and history about you and your experiences, and establish a plan to meet your goals.

Frequency after the initial sessions varies depending on each situation. I have clients who I meet with weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly to provide maintenance type support.

My office hours are Mondays-Wednesdays from 8am-6pm.

To start our work together, you can schedule a free consultation using the link at the top right corner of the web-page or at the bottom of this page.

If, after the consultation, we decide we are a good fit to work together, I will create a secure client portal for you. In this portal, you will have access to my calendar which you can use to directly schedule appointments with me based on your ability. I typically recommend scheduling a few sessions out at a time as there is more availability when you schedule out and cannot guarantee same-week availability.

Yes! I believe that having a free consultation is an important step of the process. The goodness of fit between client and therapist is one of the important elements of a successful therapeutic experience and lasting change for you. I want to be sure that you feel like I am the right fit for you and also that I am confident I can provide you with the proper support .

In our 30-minute consultation, we can briefly discuss your goals for therapy, you have a chance to ask any questions, and I will share a bit about myself and what therapy with me looks like. If you are wanting to meet as a couple, I ask that both partners attend the consultation so you can both make an informed decision related to whether we feel like the right fit to move forward.

After our consultation, I will send you some documents to complete and I will also review these documents with you in our first session. These documents are designed to provide you with informed consent about our work together. These policies outline your rights as a client, my practice policies, and the information that provides the structure of our work together.

We will then use the remainder of the session to discuss what brings you to therapy and your goals for our work together. I will also ask you some questions to help me get to know you and understand you better. This will help us to establish an effective plan to help you reach your goals.

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate”

explaining how much your medical care will cost

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have

insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical

items and services.

• You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total

expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes

related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and

hospital fees.

• Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate

in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item.

You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you

choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or

service.

• If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith

Estimate, you can dispute the bill.

• Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate,

visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call the Colorado Division of Insurance at

303-894-7490 or 1-800-930-3745.

If you need immediate support, the following resources are available to you.

Colorado Crisis Services

State hotline that provides 24/7 crisis care. The website also provides a listing of crisis centers close to you with walk-in therapy services.

Call: 1-844-493-8255

Text: “TALK” to 38255

Website: https://coloradocrisisservices.org/

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

This Lifeline number provides 24/7 free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress:

Call or Text: 988

Website: https://988lifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/

National Domestic Violence Hotline

Confidential, 24/7 national hotline to support those experiencing violence or abuse in their relationships.

Call: 1-800-799-7233

Text: “START” to 88788

Website: https://www.thehotline.org/