Frequently Asked Questions
Everywhere and nowhere. I work exclusively through secure telehealth with clients located in Tennessee and Arizona. That means no commute, no waiting room, and no awkward eye contact with someone you vaguely know from church, hot yoga, or the PTA.
With your laptop or your smartphone. What’s most important is that you have a private place to meet with a good internet connection.
Reach out through my contact page, email, or phone. We’ll schedule a free 20-minute consultation, talk about what’s bringing you in, and figure out whether we’re a good fit. Therapy works best when both people are saying, “Yeah, I think this could work.”
It’s a chance for us to meet briefly. You can tell me about yourself, I can tell you about how I work, and you can ask me any questions you like.
Most sessions last about 50 minutes. Long enough to get somewhere meaningful. Short enough that neither of us starts wondering what’s for dinner.
I will, on occasion, suggest that we go longer if need be. I have never and will never stop in the middle of a session when you are having a serious moment and leave you feeling emotionally vulnerable.
I offer appointments during regular business hours, with limited evening availability. If you’re looking for a 2:00 a.m. appointment because that’s when your existential crises usually hit, we may need to work on learning how to regulate your emotions in order to meet at a time that works for both of us.
No. I’m a private-pay practice. I realize that’s not everyone’s favorite answer.
The upside is that insurance companies don’t get to dictate your treatment, require a diagnosis, or decide when therapy should end. Many clients appreciate the additional privacy and flexibility that comes with private-pay therapy. If you request it, you can seek reimbursement from your insurance company using a superbill, which I will gladly provide.
I primarily work with adults and couples. Many of my clients are dealing with trauma, grief, addiction, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, or the lingering effects of childhood experiences that everybody hoped they’d simply “get over” by now. Spoiler alert: that’s usually not how it works.
Across the full adult lifespan, it’s never too early to begin and never too late to start.
Technically, I’m a therapist, so my specialty is helping people untangle the complicated messes that life, relationships, families, trauma, and occasionally their own decisions have created.
More specifically, I specialize in:
- Trauma and the lasting impact of difficult life experiences
- Addiction and recovery
- Depression and anxiety
- Men’s mental health
- Relationship and couples issues
- Childhood emotional wounds that somehow keep showing up decades later
- Grief and loss
I also have a particular passion for working with adults who lost a sibling during childhood. Many people experience that loss and then spend years feeling like nobody really talks about it, or how deeply it shaped them.
What I don’t specialize in is pretending that your struggles appeared out of nowhere last Tuesday. Most of the time, the challenges bringing people to therapy make a lot more sense once we understand the story behind them.
Absolutely. Many men come to therapy after years of trying to white-knuckle their way through life. They’ve spent decades hearing some variation of “man up,” “move on,” or “don’t think about it.” Most discover that strategy has a surprisingly short shelf life.
Yes, especially grief that never got the attention it deserved. I have a particular interest in helping adults who lost a sibling during childhood and have spent years carrying questions, pain, guilt, loneliness, or experiences that were never fully acknowledged.
Mostly we talk. But not in the way most people imagine.
We’re looking for patterns. We’re identifying what’s keeping you from moving forward.
We’re exploring the stories you’ve been carrying for years. We’re figuring out what needs healing, what needs changing, and what needs accepting.
Occasionally there are insights. Occasionally there are tears. Occasionally there is profanity.
All are welcome.
Then you’re exactly like a lot of people who start therapy.
You don’t need to know the rules. You don’t need to have the right words. You don’t need a tragic backstory worthy of a Netflix documentary.
You just need to show up.
There won’t be pop quizzes.
Not immediately. But if your childhood keeps showing up in your relationships, your anxiety, your self-esteem, your grief, your addiction, or your life choices, it will eventually become part of the conversation.
Nope. But I might HIGHLY RECOMMEND you consider doing work outside of session.
Therapy is a bit like going to the gym. The hour we spend together matters. What happens between sessions matters even more.
Show up. Be honest. Tell me when something isn’t working.
Stay curious. And try not to spend the entire session convincing me that everything is “fine” when your life is actively on fire.
I pull from trauma-informed therapy, family systems theory, attachment work, cognitive-behavioral approaches, and other evidence-based methods. Translation: I use what is helpful, not whatever happens to be trendy on therapist Instagram this month.
I have a Master of Marriage and Family Therapy from Trevecca University in Nashville, TN. I have a B.S.Ed. from The University of Memphis in Recreation and Parks Administration (I do not know Leslie Knope but I consider myself a modern day Ron Swanson).
After graduate school, I trained with Patrick Carnes and became a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist. I trained with Brené Brown and became a Certified Daring Way Facilitator. And I trained with Judy Crane and am a Certified Trauma Therapist.
Yes. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in both Tennessee and Arizona.
No. Although they may occasionally make a guest appearance in the conversation.
The goal isn’t to assign blame. The goal is understanding.
Once we understand where patterns came from, we can decide whether they’re still serving you.
No. Therapists are surprisingly bad at reading minds. We’re mostly just people with graduate degrees and student loans.
No. I’ve yet to meet the person who was somehow beyond the reach of compassion, understanding, or change.
You might be hurting. You might be exhausted.
But “too messed up” isn’t really a clinical diagnosis.
Absolutely not. I am a therapist, not a wizard.
Then you cry. You’re paying for the hour. Use all the emotions you want.
Also fine. This is therapy, not a hostage negotiation.
Highly recommended.
You tell me. I suggest a comfortable seating arrangement for yourself, one that’s cozy enough to settle in but not so comfortable that you’ll want to curl up and take a nap.
You don’t have to earn the right to ask for help. You don’t have to be falling apart. You don’t have to wait until things get worse.
You can simply decide that you’re tired of carrying something alone. That’s enough reason to start.