Frequently Asked Questions
Where are you located?
I see clients at my home office located on a beautiful wooded hillside in Leverett, Massachusetts, or online through Zoom or FaceTime.
What are your rates and how long are your sessions?
Sessions are 60 minutes and are $150. If this is not within your reach, please discuss this further with me. I wish no one who is guided to this work be denied. It is my experience that the financial exchange is an important part of the exchange of energy that serves to support and uphold both the client and the practitioner.
Most clients provide me a credit card and I charge your card through Square at the end of each session and send you a receipt via email. This is the easiest way I’ve found because often people aren’t in a space to deal with money after a session and this way I can deal with it for you. If you aren’t comfortable with this I can send you a square payment link and you can pay before each session, but either way, I ask for a credit card on file for any late cancellations or no-show appointments.
What are your hours and times and will you see me online?
I see my clients weekdays within the hours of 9 am to 7 pm Eastern Time.
Do you have a cancellation policy?
Please cancel 24 hours in advance to avoid being billed for the session. If you do not show up, you are responsible for the session as I have set aside that time for you. If I can accommodate you at a different time during that week I will usually do so as a courtesy so that you can avoid being billed for a missed session.
Why do you use the word counseling and not therapy or psychotherapy, and do you take insurance?
Therapy and psychotherapy are both similar to what I do with clients, however, I am not a licensed therapist or psychotherapist and thus do not use those terms specifically to describe the mental health support that I give. Nor am I a licensed mental health counselor. I have worked as a therapist and have masters-level training in therapy, but I decided not to pursue licensure for a variety of reasons. Therapy or counseling is something that is personal and I believe should be between the therapist or counselor and the client. When you introduce insurance into the mix, the therapist is required to submit notes and diagnoses that become part of the client’s medical record. Insurance also decides when a client is sufficiently mentally healthy; a decision I believe the client should be in charge of.
I also feel that the 50-minute hour is rushed and I don’t want clients to feel they are just another client in a long day of clients coming and going on the hour. I prefer to give clients a full 60 minutes and to allow the needs of the moment to dictate when we wind down the session so that there is time allotted whenever possible between clients. This is much easier to accomplish when I am not under the dictates of insurance companies.
Most importantly, the work we do together is as deep and profound and full of self-knowledge as therapy, but it also incorporates the spiritual perspective. We begin each session with a guided meditation to go deep into the place of inner knowing and to give each client an opportunity to let go of the needs and pressures of the mind and of the moment and to reconnect with the divine stream of one’s life that is always flowing, even if we aren’t always aware of its gentle guidance.
I also call on the Realms of Light and the Angelic Realms for their support and healing throughout our work. These beautiful beings are here to assist us all in our spiritual journey from separation to reunion with our higher selves and with each other. The Divine energy of Love and Light is truly the most powerful healing force I have experienced personally and what I call on for the most profound healing in my work. This is so different from the psychological insight that comes from psychotherapy that it feels important to use different words to describe it.
Because of all of this, counseling held within a spiritual perspective feels most true to me to describe the journey my clients embark on.
What does counseling held within a spiritual perspective look like?
To start with, it looks like you walking into a peaceful, safe sanctuary, knowing that we will work together to serve your deepest needs.
I begin each session with a five-minute guided meditation called The Practice of Alignment. This meditation, created by GurujiMa, allows you to go right into the heart of your being and your soul and let go of the surface level of the mind.
We invite the participation of your Higher Power (by whatever name is comfortable for you) so that you can feel the light that can uplift and uphold you throughout the session.
As we talk about where you are, what you are feeling, and where healing is needed, sometimes I may be guided to ask you to close your eyes, put your hand on your heart, and explore what your inner self is telling you.
Sometimes there are revelations, and sometimes you simply exhale the burden and find strength to carry on.
Whatever happens, it is my job to help you to feel recognized and supported and to share with you insights from my spiritual perspective to give you a new and deeper experience of the divine love and light that is available to you at all times.
What does counseling held within a spiritual perspective feel like?
This depends on what is happening in your life, but most generally it can feel like the relief of laying your burdens down.
All your problems are not solved; but with attention to the process, life starts to feel more bearable, even joyful, with more light.
You begin to feel more compassion for your struggles and get new insight into why things hurt as much as they do. Connection to your interests and your love grow; new approaches to old issues arise.
And if it is not going this way, it needs to feel okay for you to say it’s not.
This happens when you feel safe and accepted with your counselor.
(Research shows that the single most important factor for counseling success is the quality of the connection between client and counselor.)
How long until it starts to get better?
I can only say generally the improvements that come with counseling build on one another.
There is often new hope in the first session, and then some peaks and valleys along the way. It is a good idea to plan on committing time over several months to the process.
It is wise to expect couples counseling to last somewhere between 8 to 20 sessions for a sustained shift. It really depends on the challenges you are facing and the time you are able to give to the process.
Often, after a concentrated period, people decide to come less frequently to remain on course, then in time just as needed.
Are you LGBTQ friendly?
Absolutely.
I have lots of experience working with folks in this community. I personally hold that we are all souls who have come to learn lessons and how to love. We do this with whomever we feel called to love.
What’s stopping me from calling you?
What a great question! If your heart is crying out for help, it is a good plan to listen as soon as possible to prevent the problem from getting worse and taking more time to work through.
Calling puts you under no obligation and only gives you information designed to help you figure out the best path forward.
You don’t have to know exactly what to say or do anything more than leave your name and number. I will reach out to you from there. If you want to tell me more about your situation in the message, great! But it is not necessary.