What is Existentialism?

Great question! Existentialism is a philosophy/ theory that explores human existence and emphasizes a unique individual’s responsibility for making meaningful, personal choices in a world that feels purposeless or meaningless.

Essentially what it means in counseling, is that I help clients explore their own unique way of being, and help them find meaning, purpose, and rationality when it is especially difficult to do so by exploring thoughts and feelings related to death, grief, and our unique life paths and decisions.

I know you specialize in grief & loss- but can I still see you if that is not what I am looking for necessarily in a therapist?

Short answer: absolutely! Long answer: I work with all kinds of clients ages 18 and older with various needs/ concerns; including but not limited to: terminal illness, trauma, depression, anxiety, life transitions, lifestyle changes, divorce, and self care. All of which I believe have varying degrees of grief and loss associated with them where my specialization of my person-centered/ existential therapy approach helps to work through these issues! I welcome any person considering me as their therapist to request a free consultation to see if I could be a good fit for them and answer any questions you may have about my approach, specialization, and to see how/ if I can be of help!

What is an LPC Associate, and how does it differ from other therapists?

An LPC Associate stands for Licensed Professional Counselor Associate. An LPC Associate holds a Master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, has taken the NCE (National Counselor’s Examination), and has completed a minimum of 700 hours of counseling experience before graduation. Once graduated and licensed, an LPC Associate must complete 3,000 of supervised work in order to drop the title of Associate, and become a fully Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

An LMFT or LMFT Associate stands for Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and is similar in nature to an LPC or LPC Associate as far as obtaining similar education, training, supervision, and licensure, but they receive more specialized training in marriage/family/systems work in their Master’s program.

An LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) or LMSW (Licensed Master Social Worker) usually work as case managers at a hospice, hospitals, and other clinical settings and can also provide psychotherapy in a group or private practice like LPC’s and LMFT’s.

A Psychologist holds a PhD or PsyD in clinical psychology. They took it beyond a Master’s degree and went on to get a Doctorate degree (roughly 2 more years of grad school) and often conduct psychological testing.

A Psychiatrist holds an MD, meaning they went to medical school and are able to prescribe medication. None of the previous above licenses on this list (other than a psychiatrist) are able to prescribe medication.

This Website has a helpful article to describe the above!

Are you able to prescribe medication?

No. Like stated above, only psychiatrists or psychiatric NP’s (nurse practitioners) are able to prescribe medication. If you need help finding a medication provider, please don’t hesitate to reach out so I can help find a match for you! You can also take a look at my Resources page for a list of psychiatric providers that I recommend.

Do you take insurance?

At this time, I do not take insurance. However, I am able to provide a superbill that you can send to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Since you don’t take insurance, what do you charge?

I charge $135 per 50 minute session, $165 for an extended session (some people prefer this for an intake session if they have a lot of ground they would like to cover!), and $185 for couples and families. I save a handful of spots for sliding scale pricing that can be significantly lower than my usual rates. I use Open Path Collective for sliding scale clients- please check my profile on Open Path to see if I have current availability for sliding scale. Please note, rates are subject to change!

Are you seeing clients in person at this time?

I do currently see clients in person on a limited basis. My office is located at 1502 W. 6th Street, Austin, TX 78703. Please contact me to see if I have any current open slots for in-person therapy! I will also continue to offer telehealth therapy for the indefinite future.

Do you only see clients in the Austin area?

I currently see most of my clients through telehealth (online video meetings), and will continue offering telehealth sessions for the indefinite future. Because of this, I am fortunately able to virtually serve clients in the entire state of Texas!