How do you know it is time to seek treatment? 

Have things started to becoming increasingly difficult for you? Feeling stressed, overwhelmed, emotional, irritable? Have you begun to wonder how things have gotten to be this way and wishing things were different? Or perhaps you are ready for a change and realize things cannot continue like they have for as long as they have. These are just a few of the signs that it might be the right time to start treatment and meet with a psychologist. 

Obviously, there are other factors that you must consider, such as cost, scheduling, and location. Those are important and can easily be addressed with the information available on this website. However, determining when is the “right time” to start can feel like a more difficult question to answer. 

There typically is not an “ideal” time to start. Most often, treatment is started after you have already tried several attempts to manage things, perhaps some healthy while some others might have been not so healthy. Also, if you have felt like nothing has really helped or led to the changes you want in your life, it might be a good time to start treatment. Lastly, if you’re reading this and have gotten to the point where you are considering treatment, let us consider that it might mean that now is the time to start. 

Let me help you determine if now is the time to seek treatment and also how I can help you. Contact me for a free, brief initial 15-minute phone consultation. 

How do you find the right psychologist for you?

Google tends to be the place where most people nowadays would ask this question. 

Let me offer you a general answer to this question along with a link from the professional organization that psychologists, such as myself, are a part of, the American Psychological Association (APA). 

Let me start by saying, there are several things that contribute to finding the right psychologist, or finding the right “fit.” Fit is the sense of connection and comfort in speaking with a psychologist. Fit tends to be something that occurs during the initial sessions of treatment. Although fit might include specific factors such as gender, experience treating specific issues, and types of treatments offered, fit tends to extend beyond these things. For example, I have met with individuals and after the initial session they were able to recognize that they felt comfortable sharing their difficulties and felt optimistic about initiating treatment. 

I believe fit is the feeling you get when working with an experienced psychologist that strives to help you address the difficulties that have negatively impacted your life. 

Let us schedule a free, brief initial 15-minute phone call and perhaps we can see if we are a good fit as you start your treatment. 

Here is the APA link related to fit and finding a good psychologist: https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/finding-good-therapist

How often do we need to meet?

In regards to frequency of meetings, I initially encourage meeting weekly for at least the first few sessions so that we can establish a foundation in your treatment and then decide together, whether we continue on a weekly basis, transition to meeting every other week, or meet every 3 to 4 weeks. I seek to help you achieve your treatment goals in the least restrictive manner, wanting to maintain the gains that we make in our initial sessions and meet at a pace that allows you to continuously build on those gains. I believe we can have an open conversation about this and decide together how to get you the help you need.