Getting started
What happens when you reach out
Not knowing what comes next is often the hardest part of starting. Here is what to expect, from your first call to your first session.
- Before you call
- Nothing to prepare. No paperwork, no notes, no summary of your life.
- You will need
- To be physically located in Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts during sessions.
- If you get voicemail
- Leave a name and number — that is enough for me to call you back.
Four steps
From first contact to first session
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You get in touch
Call, or send an email with your name, a good number, and the state you’re in. That is the whole of it — you do not need to explain yourself in writing first.
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We talk on the phone
A real conversation, not a screening script. You say what’s going on in whatever order it comes out, and we work out together whether I’m the right person for it.
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We get you scheduled
If it’s a fit, we take care of the paperwork and find a time that works with the life you actually have — including evenings and around caregiving where I can.
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We begin
The first session is mostly me listening and asking. Nothing is required of you beyond showing up and being honest about what you want to be different.
Practical questions
The things people ask before they book
None of these are awkward and none of them will annoy me. They are the questions a careful person asks, and asking them is a good sign.
What sessions cost
- First session (intake) $160
- Therapy, 53–60 minutes $140
- Coaching, 45 minutes $100
- 15-minute consultation Free
A sliding scale is available for a limited number of places on my caseload. If cost is what is stopping you, ask — the worst that happens is I say the places are full.
Have a question about insurance or out-of-network benefits? Ask me on the call — I would rather give you an accurate answer for your state and your plan than have you work it out from a webpage and get it wrong.
What if therapy isn’t what I need?
Then coaching might be. It is a different thing: short-term work, usually 4–8 sessions, for changing something that is holding your perspective in place rather than treating a condition.
Because coaching is not licensed care, it is open to anywhere in the United States — not only my four therapy states. $100 for 45 minutes. More about coaching.
Do I have to turn my camera on?
No. Some weeks a voice is all anybody has, and a session you attend with the camera off is worth infinitely more than one you skip.
What if I’m not sure therapy is the answer?
Then say exactly that on the phone. Working out whether this is the right thing at all is a legitimate use of a first conversation.
What if I live somewhere else?
I can only see people located in Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. Call anyway — helping you aim your search at the right place is a better outcome than silence.
One thing to know
Email is not a secure channel
Ordinary email travels through systems neither of us controls, so please keep health details, history, and anything you would not want sitting in an inbox out of it. A name, a phone number, and the state you live in is genuinely all I need to call you back — everything else belongs in the conversation itself.
The same goes for voicemail: say as much or as little as you like. “It’s Sam, please call me back” is a complete message.