Time-frame: Counseling sessions usually last around 55 minutes depending on the service. Session can be long if needed and covered by your insurance or by using self-pay. Kindly be advised that we book each client for 60 minutes but also need to take payment, schedule your next appointment, and make progress notes during that hour.

The number of sessions depends on your particular areas of concern, your goals for therapeutic change, and the amount of sessions your medical insurance company will allow. Please check with your medical insurance company regarding mental health benefits for more information so that we can provide you with the best treatment plan that maximizes your time.

Usually a client will be in therapy for about a few to several months or more as it takes some time to settle in, build a working relationship with a therapist, and start working on your goals. If working on longer-standing issues, it may require quite some time to work through them and in a mindful way. Especially with Somatic Experiencing, it is a slower approach to healing to allow for the gradual release of stuck energy, so that your system is not overwhelmed (or flooded) with sensations, images, nervous system dysregulation, or further health complications if we were to try to work too quickly through issues.

Content: We will discuss your current issue(s) that brought you to therapy, explore your past and how it relates to the present, and create action plans based on your short-term and long-term goals. Sometimes figuring out what your goals are and relating your past to the present can take a quite a few sessions. There are benefits and risks to looking at yourself as counseling will bring you face-to-face with whatever needs healing. With subsequent sessions, we will review your progress with chosen interventions and determine future steps.

Support and Participation: What is considered "big T" and "little t" traumatic situations happen in an isolated state or frame of mind. Therefore, trauma or dis-ease/dis-order is healed in relationship with a caring and knowledgeable helper, and your therapist is a skilled navigator with you in the driver's seat. By relating to your struggles and helping you to personally grow from them, we can create growth and transformation. In this process, the client will need to put effort over time into that change. Change can sometimes be difficult but it always requires active participation on the part of the client. All in all, the therapist supports this change by providing interpersonal connection, tools, and guidance throughout the process.

In other words, counseling is a shared relationship and a microcosm (a smaller version) of what happens in your other relationships in the greater world. Know that it is normal to be triggered by your therapist in the therapeutic relationship; it's called transference. And, therapy provides you that safe environment to work through any transference issues and your goals by expressing your perspective and needs as well as transforming the limiting beliefs and actions into more adaptable ways of thinking, feeling, and acting in your life. This is your time to be a self-advocate and speak up for yourself.

Counseling Approach: Our counseling style uses research-based methods such as: