Therapy can provide the opportunity for a great experience. Therapy requests commitment, work, consistency, accountability, vulnerability, honesty, and openness. The experience of each individual in therapy is unique. Clients report experiencing a better understanding and gain of insight into the presenting issues.

Often clients report finding freedom in being a new sense of who they are – rooted in connection, understanding, and self-compassion and freedom. To aid healing and growth, we complete monthly assessments to check in on the process and progress and make adjustments if we need to.

Find out more about what this therapist wants you to know during your work together.

During the first therapy session, we spend time going over the process and procedures of psychotherapy as well as answering any questions you may have.

The remainder of the time is spent focusing on exploring and discussing what brought you into therapy, and the intention, purpose, and goals for our time together.

More importantly, we spend some time connecting, easing any nerves you may have had about coming in and beginning this process.

This is all part of creating a safe and comfortable space for exploring, discovering, healing, and growing.

In the first few therapy sessions, we dive into getting to know you, understanding your journey in life, and your goal and or intention for our time together. This may be clear or it may be our beginning point.

We focus on gaining clarity and understanding of what is and has happened in your life and the impact on your experiences, and the way you live your life. We also discuss your current coping strategies (if there are any sometimes there aren’t any), adding more if we need to, and making sure we are a good fit.

We then continue with doing the deep work with compassion and support to help you cope, feel, understand, heal, and grow.

One of the questions that often comes to mind is, how long will I be in therapy? Doing healing work at the level that will sustain long-term change takes time. It’s a commitment. Most people wait to begin therapy and come in after they have been experiencing difficulties for some time. For that reason, it is very important that we create time to explore and create a foundation that allows you to move towards your ideal goals and intention. 

Therefore, we meet on a weekly basis usually on the same day and time. Want to find out more on weekly sessions here. From tracking outcomes from clients - I have figured out that weekly therapy sessions work best for my client’s unique needs. My clients find weekly therapy appointments allow for more accountability, the ability to reflect on stuck points, growth,  and progress. Weekly therapy appointments provide an opportunity to practice, implement, and maintain growth long-term – as there are more opportunities to implement changes and obtain support in fine-tuning as needed. What about graduation from therapy?

Preparing for termination/graduation begins during our first session. What? Yes, we begin by having clarity on what is bringing you into therapy, goals, and doing the deep work. The monthly assessments allow us to have a clear understanding of what is currently happening and what needs to be addressed. Preparing for termination/graduation is an ongoing conversation.

You know therapy is not for everybody even when we have the best of intentions. During my work with clients, we complete monthly check-in assessments to provide us with opportunities to discuss how things are going. If we find something is not working during therapy – we will discuss how we can address this matter. I integrate your feedback and take your needs into account in tailoring sessions to you. Even after we make changes we may find therapy is not working – in that case we discuss your options which may include changes in our approach, referrals to another therapist, health care workers, healers, or other members in the community, outside resources. 

Let’s be honest sometimes things just don’t work out. Having a good fit between therapist and client is important, as this is crucial in the experience of therapy and outcomes. Know if you or I feel we are not a good fit - let’s talk about it. I am happy to adjust what we can and provide you with referrals if needed.

If you are in an actively abusive relationship couples therapy is not appropriate. Here are some resources for you: National Domestic Violence Hot Line 800.799.SAFE (7233) Crisis Text Line 741- 741, Haven Women’s Center (Stanislaus County) (209) 524-4331, and 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

LMFT stands for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (often you will hear the term psychotherapist or therapist more commonly used). This person holds a Master’s degree and has completed the necessary training to become licensed in that state, in this case, California. Therapists in California are governed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences to assure ethical standards and best practices are being used with clients and in the field.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California. I provide in-person services in Modesto CA and via Telehealth throughout the state of California. Please note due to current laws when participating in therapy via Telehealth you, the client, must physically be residing in the state your therapist is licensed in.

I work with Individuals (18 years of age and older) and Couples (18 years of age or older for each partner). My current areas of focus are anxiety, grief, self-compassion, and couples counseling. 

The assessment session is 60 minutes in length. Ongoing therapy sessions are 45 minutes.

I request clients make a minimum commitment of 4 months. If you are attending once a week this would come out to about 16 sessions.

Doing healing work at the level that will sustain long-term change takes time. It’s a commitment. Most people wait to begin therapy and come in after they have been experiencing difficulties for some time. For that reason, it is very important that we create time to explore and create a foundation that allows you to move towards your ideal goals and intention. 

We meet on a weekly basis usually on the same day and time. From tracking outcomes from clients - I have found out that weekly sessions work best for my client's unique needs. My clients find weekly appointments allow for more accountability, the ability to reflect on stuck points, growth, and progress. Weekly appointments provide an opportunity to practice, implement, and maintain growth long-term as there are more opportunities to implement changes and obtain support in fine-tuning as needed. 

Depending on the needs of each client(s) we may have more than one session a week. Scheduling needs are addressed and discussed as part of every client’s care plan.

Don’t worry if you are unable to commit to a weekly available time slot, I will provide you with referrals to other providers or resources that may be able to best accommodate your scheduling needs. 

You won’t have to worry about scheduling a therapy appointment weekly because rather than having to change your schedule on weekly basis, we have a dedicated standing appointment time and day for our ongoing work. This will allow you to plan and make arrangements as needed with the other parts of your life (e.g. childcare, school, work, family, friends ect.).

You have an ideal time in mind and it happens to be occupied my suggestion is you start sessions with a less ideal time and begin your work until your ideal time is available. New time slots are offered to current clients and then to new clients.  

Currently, appointments are offered Tuesday’s through Thursday’s.

Currently, I do not offer evening or weekend appointments. My latest appointment is at 2:30 pm.

Life happens and sometimes things come up and we adapt. If you need to cancel your Therapy appointment for any reason, make sure you provide a 48 business hours cancelation notice, if less than 48 business hours cancelation notice is provided the full fee of your therapy session is charged. 

If you are ill or need to cancel your session – I require a 48 business hours cancelation notice. If possible we may be able to complete your session via telehealth. If you are on vacation in the state of California we may be able to maintain your session time and complete it via telehealth.

I offer both in-person therapy sessions and telehealth video therapy sessions through a secure HIPPA compliant platform, Psychology Today.

For telehealth therapy sessions, I ask that you are in a quiet private, and confidential setting. If you care for children make sure arrangements are made for their care. This will allow you to focus in session as this is your time.

Just as it would be for in-person therapy sessions we want to make sure we clear away any distractions so please make sure you are not driving, trying to complete another task at hand, or actively working. This allows for you to be fully present during your therapy session time and focus on your goals. 

When utilizing insurance to cover the cost of Couples Counseling, Insurance requires a diagnosis (meeting the criteria for medical necessity) for at least one of the individuals who are involved in couples counseling. Insurance then is essentially reimbursing for the work and support around the mental health diagnosis, and not the work for the couple.

When I work with couples my perspective is the couple as a whole is the client and focuses not on one specific individual. Focusing on one party only of the couple would not be in alignment with how I work and practice couples counseling. Therefore, we work to understand and create change within and between the couple. If you, the couple, choose to work with me, you understand and agree you will be paying out of pocket and not be able to submit claims to your health insurance for reimbursement.

Sessions are offered in-person at 1604 Ford Ave Suite 1, Modesto Ca, 95350, and via telehealth.

I do not focus on working with domestic violence, however, here are some wonderful resources:

Haven:

(209) 524-4331

Haven 24-hour Crisis line:

(209) 577-5980

National Domestic Violence Hotline 800.799.SAFE (7233)

National Domestic Violence Text Line

Text: 88788 “START”

The following are other therapy resources to explore that may align with your needs: Therapy Den, Latinx Therapy, and Open Path Collective (reduced-fee therapy options).

If you are a student, your school may provide free or discounted therapy services. You can also check in with your insurance to inquire about providers.

You can also research nonprofits in the community that may be more affordable.