Frequently asked questions
Questions, answered plainly.
If your question is not here, please just ask me. No question about starting therapy is too small or too practical, and you should not have to guess at any of this before you decide.
Telehealth only, by secure video or audio, for people physically located in California. Laurie, LMFT.
Getting Started
How to reach me, and what the first steps look like.
- How do I reach you?
- Text or call (831) 477-7007, or send the consult request form on the contact page. Text is usually the quickest way to reach me. Please keep anything you send to logistics — the form and text are not secure channels, so no protected health information through them.
- What is the free 20-minute consult?
- It is a free 20-minute conversation, by phone or video, to see whether we are a fit. You can describe what is going on in as much or as little detail as you want, ask me anything about how I work, and decide afterward. There is no charge and no follow-up from me if you decide against it.
- What is the first full session like?
- Fifty minutes. Mostly you talking and me listening carefully, with questions about what brought you now, what has already been tried, and what you would like to be different. We will also cover the practical frame — confidentiality and its legal limits, fees, cancellations — so nothing is a surprise later. You do not need to arrive with your history organized.
- How quickly do you reply?
- Usually within one business day. If you have not heard back, try again rather than assuming an answer — messages do occasionally go astray. I am not a crisis service and I do not monitor messages overnight or on weekends. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.
Fees and Insurance
Published openly, so nothing has to be negotiated in the room.
- What do sessions cost?
- $250 for a 50-minute individual session and $325 for couples. The 20-minute consult is free.
- Do you take insurance?
- I am out of network, which means I do not bill insurance directly. I provide superbills — itemized receipts you can submit to your plan for possible out-of-network reimbursement. What you get back depends entirely on your plan, so it is worth calling your insurer and asking about out-of-network outpatient mental health benefits before you start. Full detail is on the fees page, and you are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate of expected costs.
- What is the cancellation policy?
- Seventy-two hours notice to reschedule without paying in full. Inside 72 hours the session is charged at the full fee. Prepaid sessions are non-refundable. The reason for the notice period is simple: that hour was held for you and cannot usually be filled at short notice.
How Therapy Works
Length, rhythm, approach, and the honest limits of what I treat.
- How long and how often are sessions?
- Fifty minutes, usually weekly at the start. Weekly matters early on because momentum does most of the work; once things are steadier, some people move to every other week. Longer intensive formats are possible where they suit the work.
- How long do people stay in therapy with you?
- It varies genuinely and I will not pretend to a number. Some people come for a focused stretch of a few months around one situation. Others stay a year, years, a decade or decades. Some work out an issue, feel complete and come back for another season in life, requiring support on something new. We review it out loud rather than drifting, and ending is a decision we make together.
- What is your approach?
- Integrative, and chosen to fit you rather than applied as a template. Internal Family Systems, somatic and mindfulness work, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and my own Positive Re-Narrative and Repatterning. I am trained in EMDR and I am a certified hypnotherapist, and my PhD is in expressive arts psychology. Beyond solving problems, my work is designed to help you find more peace, joy, purpose and fulfillment in your relationship to life, self, other and God — and people have many names for that, so I honor and respect your own framework. If your framework is secular, you are equally welcome and nothing will be brought in that you did not invite.
- What if you don't share my political, religious or spiritual views?
- I have genuine respect for people from a wide and diverse set of lifestyles, practices and beliefs. As long as your intention is benevolent, I can honor your life in the way you wish to construct it. Therapy is also a good place to work out the parts of ourselves that don't fully align with our own deepest values.
- Is therapy always serious? I like to be playful.
- I spend a lot of my life laughing, and I laugh in sessions with clients often. Life is meant to be playful too. We can work creatively with the things that bring happiness and joy into your life, and from there into the lives of everyone you touch.
- What do you think about meditation?
- I was a daily, eyes-closed meditator for decades and later became a more spontaneous one. Life and meditation often co-exist. It can be deeply helpful, and it is one of many things we might draw on if it suits you.
- Can Christian or other faith beliefs be part of the work?
- Yes, if you would like them to be. Biblical teachings of love and endurance, kindness, forgiveness and a focus on the Creator are part of my own foundation, and I am glad to work within them with you. I hold practices and wisdom from both East and West, and I honor whatever framework is yours. Nothing here is imposed on anyone who does not want it.
- What do you not treat?
- I do not treat bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. That is not a judgment about anyone with either diagnosis — it is that both are best served by a treatment team and a level of psychiatric coordination that a solo telehealth practice cannot provide, and you deserve the right care rather than the nearest care. I am also not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911.
Telehealth and California
Where I can see you, and what happens when you travel.
- Is this only online?
- Yes. I see clients by secure video or audio only. Many people find it easier: your own room, your own chair, no waiting room and no drive home while you are still open from the session.
- Do I have to be in California?
- You have to be physically located in California at the time of the session. My license is a California license, and that is what it permits. Where you live permanently matters less than where you actually are when we meet.
- What if I travel out of state?
- We pause until you are back in California. Tell me your travel dates ahead of time and we will schedule around them rather than cancel late. If you live outside California entirely, therapy is not available to you here, but Positive Life Coaching may be — coaching is not therapy and is not licensed mental-health treatment. It is not a substitute for clinical care.
Privacy
What is protected, and what is not.
- Is the contact form secure?
- No. The contact form, email and text are not HIPAA-secure channels, so please do not send protected health information through them — no diagnoses, no medication lists, no clinical detail. Use them for scheduling and for saying that you would like to talk. Everything clinical belongs in session, on the secure platform.
- Is what I say in session confidential?
- Yes, with the ordinary legal exceptions, which I will state plainly at the start: a serious risk to your life or someone else's, abuse of a child or a dependent adult, or a valid court order. There are no testimonials, reviews or client quotes anywhere on this site, by design, and I do not name or describe clients. The full detail is in the Notice of Privacy Practices.
- Does contacting you make me a client?
- No. Contacting this practice does not establish a therapist-client relationship. That begins only when we have met, agreed to work together and completed the intake paperwork.
Still wondering something?
Ask me directly. A free 20-minute consult is the easiest way to find out whether this is a fit, and you are welcome to spend it on questions.