Welcome to my practice! I am looking forward to our sessions together. My approach is active and supportive, using strengths and working as a team. I use solution-focused therapy, emphasizing specific goals and expecting positive change.

Psychotherapy can have benefits and risks. Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, psychotherapy has also been shown to have many benefits. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress. But there are no guarantees of what you will experience.

What to Expect from Our Sessions

In your first session of therapy, we will create a written treatment plan together. This plan will be based on questions I ask you about your history, information you tell me about the problems which made you decide to come for therapy, and the results of some basic screening questionnaires you fill out.

From all of this data, we will agree on goals for therapy, a general time frame for achieving these goals, and the steps for moving from where you currently are to where you want to be psychologically.

Throughout the sessions we have, I will give you homework assignments to complete between sessions. Homework will often include reading, writing, and practicing things we have talked about during the sessions. It is very important to your progress that you complete the homework between sessions.

At each session we will evaluate how you feel you are doing toward reaching your goals, and we may modify your treatment plan if necessary. When we feel you have accomplished what you wanted, we'll stop our sessions, with the understanding that if you need to come back for additional work in other areas in the future that you may call to schedule.

What is a Psychologist?

A psychologist is a specialist in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating emotional and behavioral problems. Psychologists have a doctoral degree and typically spend about seven years in graduate study after completing their undergraduate degree in college. A psychologist with a Ph.D. also writes a lengthy, scholarly research paper called a dissertation in an area of special interest and must present an oral report on that research in front of a panel of faculty members from the university. A practical pre-doctoral (before the degree) and post-doctoral internship with supervision from experienced clinicians must be completed before a psychologist can practice independently.

Psychologists are licensed in the state where they practice and must pass a standardized written test and oral examination by the board of psychologists after completing their degree and internships in order to be licensed.

Psychologists are subject to a strict code of professional ethics, must complete continuing education classes, and are accountable for demonstration of ongoing clinical competence.

Getting Started

New clients, download all the necessary forms in .pdf format here.

To make an appointment for therapy, you should first check with your insurance company to see if they require you to get an authorization for sessions.

If so, write down the name of the person you spoke with along with the authorization number, the time and date of your call, and the number of sessions authorized.

You may also verify your deductible (if applicable), your copayment, and/or patient responsibility at this time. You will need to bring this information with you to your first appointment.

If your insurance does not require pre-authorization, simply call our office (770)435-5453 to make arrangements to fill out our initial client intake forms. The initial paperwork, which will need to be completed prior to scheduling, includes requests for insurance information, office policy review and signing, and completing brief checklists about what you have been feeling that led you to begin therapy.

When you call, either speak directly to my office manager, or if the office manager is unavailable, leave the times you are available to come for an appointment on the voice mail system. Be sure to provide the best way to reach you by phone and your insurance information.

I schedule appointments and am in my office from 7:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. on an alternating workweek schedule. This schedule is Monday through Thursday one week and Tuesday through Friday on the other.

My office manager typically is in the office from approximately 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on the days I am in the office. During these hours, the phone will usually be answered by my office manager. If the office manager does not answer, you will be able to leave a message on the voice mail system if all lines are busy or if the office manager has temporarily left the office. You can expect your call to be returned promptly (within one hour) if you leave a message under these circumstances.

If you call when the office is closed or on the weekend, your call will be returned the day the office reopens if it is a routine matter such as scheduling or re-scheduling an appointment or asking questions about your bill or insurance payments. IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY, you will hear recorded instructions about how to contact me, or the on-call therapist if I am out of town or on vacation. Follow these instructions and you should hear from me or the on-call therapist within a few minutes. If for any reason you do not get a return call, there may have been a problem with either how you followed the instructions or with my communication system. If, after trying a second time, there is no return call, contact the emergency room of the hospital covered by your insurance company or call 911.

My office manager will assist you should you have any questions. For more information, please call (770)435-5453.