I treat OCD, Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and chronic worry, and Separation Anxiety Disorder. Many of my patients have ADHD/ADD, depression, and interpersonal stressors which I also address in treatment.

During the first appointment I will review my office policies and procedures with you and gather basic information regarding you and your life situation. Then we will begin a detailed assessment of the problem you are experiencing and any factors that might be contributing to it. When this assessment is complete (usually after several sessions), we will discuss my recommendations for treatment. Together, we will establish goals and agree on the methods of treatment, based on the results of my assessment.

Sessions last for 45 minutes.

Ideally, we will meet once week during the initial phase of treatment; I can do the best job of gaining an understanding of your situation and generating a plan if we meet weekly at the beginning of treatment. This also helps us to gain momentum in working toward your goals. After therapy is underway and gains are being made, we can gradually increase the time between sessions as your symptoms improve and your confidence grows. However, individual situations vary greatly and this timing is often adjusted depending on the severity of your symptoms, your progress, personal schedule, or financial contsraints.

CBT is an active, goal oriented approach to treatment that involves teaching patients a new skills for managing and reducing their symptoms. When using CBT, therapists are similar to teachers, coaches, and advisors, and the patient and therapist form a team to achieve the best results from treatment. In between sessions, patients will have "homework" (specific tasks to work on) to put their new skills to work. Specific therapy techniques include exposure and response prevention, in-vivo and imaginal exposure, self-monitoring, modeling, cognitive restructuring, diaphragmatic breathing, and stimulus control.

I do not do "traditional family therapy" in which addressing family relationships is the primary means for achieving change in your symptoms. However, when patients are comfortable with doing so, I often work with family members, including parents, spouses, and siblings when doing so can enhance the individual work we are doing. Educating family members and providing them with strategies to assist in treatment or cope with symptom related family stresses can often serve a crucial role in treatment. In addition, decreasing conflict in these relationships can help to reduce stress for all involved and enhance treatment effectiveness.

You will automatically receive an invoice via my patient portal the day after our session. Patients pay me at the time of each session, using Zelle for online payments through their bank, with a check or cash, or with a credit card (*which adds an extra 3%). Note: to use a credit card, you need to let me know you agree to the 3% fee that the credit processing company charges and then I make that an available option in your portal account.

I do not participate with any with insurance companies, including Medicare. If you are able to see out-of-network providers in your plan, you can submit claims on your own to receive the reimbursement you are entitled to. Once a month, my portal will automatically generate a “Superbill” that contains the information you will need to submit a claim to your insurance company. I can not determine how much you may be reimbursed; this depends on your particular policy.

Yes, home visits and in-vivo sessions can serve an important role in CBT, particularly if you have difficulty applying the skills we work on during sessions to the "real world." For these sessions, the total time away from the office is charged (i.e., including travel time), so sessions sometimes need to exceed the usual 45 minutes to allow for travel time.

I do not do child custody evaluations, court work, substance abuse treatment, or formal academic assessments.