Frequently Asked Questions

There is no definite answer to this question. Typically, it requires more than a couple sessions to make headway on what brings someone to therapy. Some individuals find a few sessions are sufficient, others choose to continue long-term. Sometimes it can take anywhere from 10-20 sessions before noticeable changes start to occur, progress depends on your motivation and willingness to apply what is learned and discussed in the therapy office outside of sessions. I will provide you with my recommendations based on your presenting concerns and help you make the ultimate choice for yourself.

I believe everyone can benefit from therapy! Some of the common reasons individuals seek out therapy: emotional and mental distress, difficulty with relationships, difficulty regulating emotions, needing to process or problem solve experiences and challenges, needing to improve coping skills, wanting to improve your overall well-being, recent or past traumatic experiences, and ineffective behaviors negatively impact daily life. I have experience working with a wide range of emotional disorders and can help you by assessing and evaluating your current concerns.

Standard individual and family sessions are 50 minutes long, this is a full clinical hour and is standard across most practices. Longer sessions can be scheduled depending on the presenting clinical concerns and your needs, just let me know if you are interested in this and we can discuss it.

Initial contact can be made in several ways: you can fill out the new client inquiry form on my contact page, you can send me an email, you can call or text my cell phone number – no matter which way you choose, you can expect to hear back from me within 24 hours. Next, I will ask for a little more information about your current presenting concerns and reasons for seeking therapy at this time. It is also at this point that we can schedule a free 15-minute consultation call if you would like or we can move forward with the next step. After determining it sounds like I might be a good fit for your needs, I will set up your client portal thought my electronic health records system, Simple Practice. You will receive an email with a link to your client portal. This is where you will complete all paperwork. My paperwork will ask for your basic information (contact details, demographic information, some personal history). It will also contain my practice policies and procedures, confidentiality agreements, informed consent, financial arrangement, and a few other questionnaires that help me get a full picture of your current concerns.

I work with children and adolescents (Ages 9-18), late teens, college students, young adults, and families.

Intake sessions begin with both the parent and the child in the office, I do offer the child the opportunity to talk to me one-on-one at some point during the session time however this is completely their choice and not required. The intake session is important so that I can gather all necessary information to best help you and your child, this is usually done by asking you both a lot of questions. These questions are related to different areas of a child's life, not just the challenges and difficulties, this helps me know and understand all the complexities of the child. The questions I ask can be related to family relationships, school and academics, medical history, spirituality, social relationships, extracurricular activities, emotional presentation, and several other areas. It is important to start to build and strengthen the relationship with the therapist and child from the start. My goal is to not only focus on the negative things going on in the child's life but to also identify and celebrate their strengths. During the intake session we will also talk about goals related to your child and the progress you and your child would like to see throughout their time in therapy.

This can vary depending on the age of the child and their presenting concerns. For some children that are younger or presenting concerning behaviors at home, I might need a higher level of parental involvement in the therapy process - this means that you will likely be involved in about half to all of our session time. For older children or children who request one-on-one time with me, I will approach this scenario by providing parent check ins either briefly at the start of our session time or you are welcome to send me email updates between sessions. Most teens benefit from having the entire session time to themselves. Our communication might look different if your teen is participating in therapy with me, please know that I do value and welcome your feedback and input. I typically approach difficult topics that need to be shared with parents collaboratively with my teen clients and strive to empower them to use their voice to communicate their needs effectively. Sometimes this is done via phone coaching outside of therapy sessions, it can also be done through family sessions, or it can explored in session and might come up organically outside of session. At the end of the day - you are the expert on your child, your feedback, observations, input, and voice matter to me and I will do my best to find balance among all parties.

The first step is to contact us either by phone 901-295-4741 or send an email to hello@eastmemphiscounseling.com indicating you are ready to start the therapy process. After that, we will discuss your child's presenting concerns and determine if I am a good fit for their current needs. I will send you some paperwork to complete asking for some background information and your child, current concerns, and other intake paperwork outlining my practice policies and consent forms. Then we will get the intake session scheduled and go from there!

Providing your child with education and information on mental health and therapy can greatly improve their response to the process. You can let them know that mental health difficulties are actually quite common for many children and teens. You can let them know that sometimes individuals struggle with big emotions or actions and that it is okay to need some extra support with these things. It is also important that they understand, therapy does not meant you're "broken" or that there is "something wrong with you." Everyone is different and sometimes our brain can be wired a bit differently and sometimes we experience situations or interactions that greatly impact us and lead to mental health symptoms. I also encourage parents to allow your child to ask questions - listen and validate their concerns, show your support from the very start.

What is discussed in therapy is confidential between the child/family and therapist and is protected by law. Some exceptions to confidentiality include if a someone intends to harm themselves, if someone threatens to harm someone else, or if your child is being harmed. Building trust and rapport between the child and therapist is important to the success of the therapy process. I encourage and ask parents to honor the limits of confidentiality and give their child space to safely share what is on their mind with me. Please know that no matter what if your child is being hurt or harmed or threatening to hurt themselves or someone else in any way I will inform you immediately of that information.

Starting something new can be really scary! It is normal for children to feel unsure about starting therapy. Sometimes providing them with more information on the front end can be helpful. You can show them my website where they can see what I look like and what my office space looks like. You can let them know that I have a lot of fun, cool items in my office they can use while they are there - I have fidgets, puzzles, games, coloring books, and a lot of other great therapeutic activities! You can also let them know that therapy is a safe and private space for them to share things that have been bothering them and work on giving them the tools they need to feel better.

A superbill is a receipt that contains my business information, as well as your session and billing information. Superbills also require a diagnosis, to determine a diagnosis, I require a minimum of three sessions. Superbills can be requested 24 hours after an appointment via email.

Therapy is an investment in your well-being and can provide long-term benefits. My individual session rate is $155 per session. Family sessions are $175 per session. I also provide skills training sessions that are $155 per 50-minute session and $105 per 30-minute session. Skills training sessions are provided as an add on to individual therapy. Candidates for skills training sessions must be active in individual therapy either with me or another referring provider.

I do not accept insurance. I am considered an “out-of-network” provider. Some insurance plans provide members with out-of-network benefits, which means the members might be able to receive some form of reimbursement for costs spent on therapy services. This is typically achieved by submitting a superbill to the insurance company. It is the client’s responsibility to verify their out-of-network benefits with their insurance provider.

All payment is completed online via the client portal. I accept credit cards, debit cards, flexible spending accounts, and health savings accounts. I do not accept cash or checks.

Please don’t let my rate discourage you from contacting me! I can try to work out an arrangement that is acceptable for all parties or I can help you find a referral who might be able to accommodate your needs. I also offer a limited number of reduced rate slots.

I offer in-person appointments Monday - Thursday between the hours of 9:30AM - 2:30PM. I offer Telehealth appointments Monday and Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings. My current availability can be viewed through my booking link.

If you cannot keep your scheduled appointment, you must notify me (via email, phone voicemail, or text message) at least 24 hours before the scheduled appointment. I will do my best to accommodate a reschedule within the same week if I have availability however this is not guaranteed. Late cancels/no show appointments will be charged for the full session fee. I do understand that life happens, sickness, accidents, and emergencies are entirely unpredictable – in order to account for these types of circumstances I do allow 2 passes per year to clients to waive the fee for a late cancellation. No charge will ever be made when canceling due to inclement weather, safety always comes first.

You can use my booking link to directly book an appointment through my online practice management website. You can also contact me via email or phone to schedule.

Yes I offer telehealth sessions during specific weekday time slots. Telehealth sessions are conducted through the video conferencing software of my electronic health records system. Prior to the session you will be emailed a link to join the call at the time of the session then the session will progress via video conferencing.