My Approach

I do accept insurance, I am currently in-network with Aetna & Blue Cross Blue Shield. 

If you have out-of-network benefits you’d like to use. I am happy to provide you with a superbill to submit to your insurance provider. 

COST

Cost will vary depending on your specific plan. I will do my best to verify your benefits and associated costs (co-pays, coinsurance, etc) but I strongly recommend you check your benefits with your insurance provider so we can be on the same page. 

Insurance can be confusing, if you have questions please ask! 

Without insurance, sessions are as follows:
$225 for an initial intake session (Psychiatric and Diagnostic Evaluation)

$175 per 53-60 minute psychotherapy session

$125 per 45 minute psychotherapy session

Learn about your right to receive a Good Faith Estimate.

REDUCED RATE 

I also have a few spots available at a reduced or ‘sliding scale’ rate. I don’t currently have a set sliding scale rate, instead we’ll discuss what would work for your budget and I’ll decide if I can accommodate. First Planet Therapy is a new practice and I may develop a more structured system for implementing reduced rates, for now though please ask if you have any questions and we’ll figure it out together. If you want more information on sliding scales or understanding how to assess financial need check out this sliding scale & reduced rates page.

I offer both!

Currently I offer in-person appointments on Wednesdays in the Greater Lansing/Holt MI area.

Virtual/telehealth appointments are available on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. 

**Due to licensing restrictions, you must be located in the state of Michigan at the time of the appointment - even if the appointment is virtual and remote.

I find myself most drawn to approaches that I feel center client autonomy and kindness. As I’m not committed to any one modality I will often ‘borrow what works and leave the rest.’ As an ‘eclectic’ therapist I’m happy to work within many frameworks and to try new things! Here’s some of the modalities I tend to find myself most often working within/borrowing from.

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • increasing our capacity to accept reality (even when it sucks) and take committed values aligned action (a cognitive behavioral approach)

• Strengths based approach with focus on building a growth mindset

  • we need to notice what’s going well too! our success (no matter how small) have just as much to teach us as our challenges

• Somatic Practices

  • practices & reflection questions to strengthen the mind/body connection

• Internal Family Systems/parts work

  • sometimes we’re ‘of two minds’ or have competing internal desires, sometimes we can even see that we have parts working against our goals - lets get curious and work to befriend & attend to those hurting parts

• Mindfulness

  • this is broad on purpose! there are so many ways to build mindfulness into our lives - the more present in the NOW we are the more ability we’ll have to live a life with intention

• Attachment Theory

  • understanding how our early relational patterns impacting our self & our relationships today

• DBT informed skill building

  • DBT (dialectic behavioral therapy)sometimes we just need better skills to help us get what we want - if you enjoy a worksheet this might be a modality for you! I am not a DBT certified therapist and can only offer DBT informed treatment  

Finding a therapist that is a good fit makes all the difference in how effective and comfortable the process can be. It’s hard to determine best fit without meeting a few times. After a few sessions you’ll get a sense of my style and ‘vibe’. We’ll work together to determine if I’ve got the tools that will best support your journey and if at any time (session 1 or 100) we determine you may need more specific or just different support, I’ll do my best to help you in finding and making those connections.

There are a few things that can make for a poor fit from the start. Such as, if the presenting concern is outside of my scope as a solo practitioner; this could include but is not limited to: eating disorders where food restriction is taking place, active psychosis, and suicidality with intent to act. Also the level of support can impact fit, as a solo provider I am not available outside of our scheduled session to offer support and rarely can offer appointments more than once a week.

Contact: if you think you might want to work with me reach out! You can do that on my CONTACT page, then…

Available?: if I don’t have availability I will reply to your request with a list of referrals. If I have availability I will connect with you via text or email to schedule a time for a free phone consultation.

Free Consultation: this is just a chance to touch base, get a sense of what you’re looking for, see if I think I could be helpful, and answer any initial questions you might have. We’ll also cover some logistics of therapy appointments, including your availability and payment method. If I have a time open in my schedule that works with your availability. 

On-boarding & Paperwork: if we both feel we might be a good fit after the consultation I’ll send you paperwork through a HIPPA compliant platform where you’ll create a profile & complete new client paperwork. If we’ve worked together before but more than 3 months have passed since we last saw each other, I’ll ask you to repeat this step.

First session: once paperwork is complete we’ll schedule an intake appointment. This will be different from a usual session; I typically schedule these for 90 minutes, as I feel it’s important to not rush these and there can be a lot to go over. My goal here is to learn more about what’s bringing you to therapy and how I believe I’ll be able to support you. While I do believe what I offer can help many, I am not the right fit for every client’s concerns. At the end of this appointment, we will decide whether or not to schedule future appointments. Determining good fit is a collaborative process; I welcome questions about my practice, therapeutic approaches, identities, experience with specific presenting concerns, and/or things that help you determine if we are a good fit for your needs.

Diagnosis: If you’re using insurance to pay for therapy a diagnosis is required, this is something we’ll discuss further. I make a commitment to make this process transparent and to explore with you the challenges to and benefits of diagnosis. (Diagnoses are outlined and defined in the DSM-5 which is part of a history of oppression meant to control and silence many people, but especially; black folks, indigenous folks, and women.  AND it’s only through diagnosis that we can bill to insurance making therapy more accessible to folks who can’t afford services out-of-pocket. I strive to hold that tension and not dismiss the impact of this historically or now.)

Treatment Planning: Typically at our second appointment we’ll really dive into your specific goals, getting detailed and I’ll share with you how I might be able to offer support and what that will look like. Once we come up with a plan that sounds good we can dive in and…

Sessions continue: Sessions are guided by you! I’m always happy to offer my recommendation on what I think may be helpful and we can refer to the plan we created to work towards your goals (taking detours as needed) and updating the plan when goals are met or if priorities shift. During sessions I may actively listen, ask questions to clarify or enrich your narrative, explore your viewpoints, perceptions, personal history and/or processes, provide insight or interpretation, offer another perspective, provide education or resources, etc. I may check in periodically to make sure you still feel that therapy is helping to move you toward your goals.

With some exception (we will go over this in our first appointment), everything that you say to me is kept totally confidential.

Goodbyes (aka Termination): Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of the treatment. My hope is this will be a collaborative process start and all the way to finish