How do I schedule an appointment?

Prior to scheduling an initial appointment, we have a brief, complementary (up to) 15min call. Call or text (941) 289-1049.

For how long do we meet?

Individual sessions are 50 minutes. We can meet for a single consultation or for ongoing sessions. Some days we may go for a walk outside and some we may incorporate a few minutes of yogic breathing exercises into our session. We skillfully use tools like that to remember that problems and solutions are not "all in our head."

How much does it cost, and how can I pay?

$120 per individual session.

I don’t take insurance, so it’s an out-of-pocket expense.

You may be able to, at your discretion, pay or be reimbursed for the cost of therapy via your HSA or FSA account if, per the IRS, “the therapy is treatment for a disease. For example, an amount paid for therapy to treat a diagnosed mental illness is a medical expense, but an amount paid for marital counseling is not.” I take a cautious approach to providing diagnoses, wary of the labeling effect, so may not be able to certify a “diagnosed mental illness,” if any, until we’ve met for several sessions. You may want to see if your physician or another healthcare professional can offer one more efficiently.

Why don’t you accept insurance?

I concluded this was the right choice after reading these insightful words of the eminent psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom:

“The contemporary managed-care movement in health care poses a deadly threat to the field of psychotherapy. Consider its mandates: (1) that therapy be unrealistically brief, focusing exclusively on outward symptoms rather than on the underlying conflicts that breed those symptoms; (2) that therapy be unrealistically inexpensive (which is punishing both to the professionals who have invested the necessary years for in-depth training and to the patients who are forced to consult inadequately trained therapists); (3) that therapists mimic the medical model and go through the charade of formulating precise medical-like goals and conducting weekly evaluations of them; and (4) that therapists employ only empirically validated therapies (EVTs), thus favoring brief, apparently precise cognitive-behavioral modes that demonstrate symptom alleviation.”

And, he continues: “But of all these wrongheaded and catastrophic assaults on the field of psychotherapy, none is more ominous than the trend toward protocol-driven therapy. Thus, some health plans and HMOs require that the therapist follow a prescribed plan for the course of therapy, at times even a schedule of items to be covered in each of the allowed sessions. The profit-hungry health care executives and their misguided professional advisers assume that professional therapy is a function of information obtained or dispensed rather than the result of the relationship between patient and therapist. This is a grievous error.” 

What’s your cancellation policy?

Cancellations made within 48 hours, up to 24 hours before our scheduled session, are charged half the hourly rate, $60. Cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice or no-shows will be charged the full hourly rate, $120.

Where are you located?

I’m in mid Sarasota, on Southgate Circle. Specifically, 3205 Southgate Cir., STE 8, Sarasota, FL 34239

Will we be a good fit?

I hope so, but as someone who has been a therapy client myself, I recognize that choosing the right therapist can be a process of trial and error and I respect your decision to choose (or not) and continue (or not) to work with me. If we’re not a good fit, I’ll do my best to refer you outward and onward.