It can be difficult to pick a therapist, especially just by looking at a website. It's important to remember that, because you share very private parts of your life, you must feel a connection with and develop trust of the person with whom you are working!

A good rule of thumb is to first focus on their areas of specialty; find someone who can help with your specific problem. After one or two sessions you should feel comfortable and believe that your therapist understands you.

Your privacy is protected by federal and state laws. Information you share in counseling is treated with respect and is completely confidential. Even the fact that you are in therapy is kept confidential and not shared unless you give us written or verbal permission to share with someone.

We will review our confidentiality practices and policies in our first visit together and you can always ask for clarification if you have any questions.

NO!

We all have problems! Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is talk to someone who is outside of the problem. A therapist has specialized training and can be an objective third party to give you new insight and new ideas of how to approach situations.

The length of time in therapy is as personalized as the problems or issues you want to address. Some people use therapy for approaching crisis situations, meaning something major has occurred in their life like a death of a loved one or a break up. Others use therapy to work on more long term issues, like personal growth or learning to set boundaries around how others treat them.

Regardless of your need, I will work with you to develop a plan... and always remember, you are in control and can stop therapy at any time you see fit.

Friends are great and can be a fantastic source of support during hard times. However, friends and family members often have a hard time being objective about the problems you are facing. They care about you and, although they mean well, they may find it hard to be completely honest with you; they might "sugar coat" things and often can't be completely unbiased.

Most friends and family members don't have specialized training with researched and tested skills to help you approach your situation. And finally, therapy is completely confidential so it allows you to have total control over who knows about your situation, which may not be the case with family or friends.