The fact you are considering this question may mean you may benefit from talking more about therapy in a free consultation.

Here are 3 criteria that can help you know if it is time to reach out for therapy.

1. Time:  how much of your time is taken up by your mental health? Do you find that your worrying, avoiding, or doing things because of your mental health is taking up a significant amount of your time you would rather be doing other tasks? 

2. Distress: are distressing emotions present more of the time than not? Do you find yourself taking frequent actions (such as avoiding triggers, distracting, disassociating, numbing etc) to avoid feeling your emotions? Are you scared of your emotions? Do your emotions seem to be getting in the way of the life you want to be living?

3. Interference with daily life: is your mental health in general interfering with your life? Are there things you want to be able to do that mental health is making harder for you or things you feel like you have to do that if the worries or obsessions weren’t present you would not be choosing to do? 

If you answered one or more of these questions with a yes either for yourself or for your loved one, then it is likely therapy would be beneficial.

Living with chronic illness(es) is hard and has many impacts on mental health. Living in a body that loses abilities and frequently doesn't feel well is tough and involves so much loss. Some of the losses are short term and temporary while others are long term and permanent. There can be fear of the future losses and impacts that come with your diagnosis and ways in which society can interplay with the losses. Many individuals with chronic illness feel they are behind where they should be in life, because of the impacts of their health on their school, work, being able to pursue and maintain relationships, financial hardships of paying for healthcare related costs, and so much more. It is a lot to navigate no matter your age or stage in life and likely will be accompanied frequently by the various stages of grief. It may feel like at times you reach acceptance only to have your health throw another curve ball at you and hurl you back into grief. It is a lot to cope with and navigate. Within the field of therapy for chronic illness the diagnosis of medical trauma is very common. The trauma may come from treatments and procedures, experiences with health where you felt at risk of not surviving, working with medical providers who minimize, invalidate or gaslight you, hearing of friends and others with the same diagnosis who pass away, having to endure severe pain especially if prolonged, and any other experience with healthcare where safety and/or control are or feel threatened. With chronic illness it is common to have experienced multiple medical traumas. It is hard to go back to the setting where the traumas took place and as someone living with a chronic illness it is frequently required. Is it any wonder that diagnoses like depression and anxiety are also common in this population? I know how hard this all can be and I would love to be there to help you learn to hold space for your grief, navigate through your diagnosis, work through your traumas, and be able to find meaning and move towards what is important to you regardless of the circumstances you are in.

I am in network with Selecthealth, Optum (United), DMBA and PEHP insurance. I can provide super bills for clients claiming out of network benefits.

No, all sessions are held virtually through a telehealth platform.

A consultation is a chance to meet each other prior to starting sessions to see if it is a good fit. This means that I will be learning more about what is bringing you into therapy and ensuring that my clinical knowledge and skills are appropriate to meet your needs. During the intake I will provide education on the therapeutic approaches I would recommend and use in our sessions. It is also a time for you to get to know me and ask any questions you may have prior to scheduling an intake session. If either of us feel like it is not a good fit, I can provide referrals to other clinicians. If we both feel that it is a good fit and you feel ready to begin the journey then we can work on scheduling an intake session and starting therapy. 

I have worked with each of these forms of OCD and many others. I know how scary it can be to share about these thoughts and how distressing they are for you. I have extensive experience and training in treating OCD and I know these thoughts are the opposite of what you want, intend and hope for. OCD makes you doubt yourself and causes so much anxiety and distress. I would love to work with you and teach you how to navigate this disorder and build your trust in yourself.