FAQs

Getting Started  ·  Fees  ·  How I Work  ·  Couples Therapy  ·  Privacy

Getting started

  • My practice maintains a limited number of openings for new clients and often operates on a waitlist. I begin with a consultation to understand what brings you to therapy, discuss my approach, and determine whether I can offer an appropriate appointment. If my availability or expertise is not a good match, I can provide referrals to colleagues whose work I know and respect.

    Because my availability changes from week to week, the best way to see current openings is through the Work With Me link at the top of the page. If you don’t see a time that works for you, contact me directly. Cancellations and changes in existing clients’ schedules sometimes create openings that aren’t reflected on the calendar.

  • Both.

    I offer in-person therapy from my office in Hermosa Beach for clients throughout the South Bay, including Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and the Palos Verdes peninsula. I also offer virtual therapy throughout California.

    For clients with demanding professional schedules, telehealth can make it easier to maintain regular therapy without adding another commute to the week. I also have select evening and weekend appointments available.

  • I am warm and engaged, but I am also direct. I don't believe therapy should consist of simply sitting back and listening while you repeat the same story every week.

    I pay close attention to what is happening beneath the surface of a conversation and will tell you what I am noticing. Sometimes that means asking a question that changes the way you are looking at a problem. Sometimes it means pointing out a pattern that has become so familiar that it is difficult to see from the inside.

    I want you to feel understood, but being understood is only part of the work. I also want you to leave therapy with a clearer understanding of yourself, your relationships, and what you can do differently.

  • The consultation gives us an opportunity to talk about what brings you to therapy and what you are hoping will change. I will answer questions about how I work, and you can get a sense of whether you feel comfortable with me.

    Finding the right therapist matters. There is no expectation that you need to make a decision simply because we have spoken. The consultation is really about determining whether the fit feels right.

Fees

  • My practice is private pay.

    • 50-minute individual session: $325

    • 50-minute couples session: $375

    • 90-minute session: $550

    • Half-day intensive: $1,800 for 3 hours, including a 50-minute pre-intensive intake and a post-intensive integration session

    • Full-day intensive: $3,500 for 6 hours, including a 50-minute pre-intensive intake and a post-intensive integration session

    • Multi-day intensives: Pricing discussed during consultation

    Monthly superbills are available for clients seeking potential out-of-network reimbursement.

  • I do not participate directly with insurance plans, and I do not submit claims to insurance companies.

    If you have a PPO plan with out-of-network mental health benefits, your insurance may reimburse part of your therapy fee. I provide monthly superbills that you can submit directly to your insurance company.

    Because coverage varies considerably between plans, I recommend contacting your insurer before beginning therapy to understand your out-of-network benefits, deductible, and reimbursement rate.

  • A private-pay practice gives us greater flexibility in how we approach your therapy. Treatment isn't shaped around an insurance company's authorization requirements or definition of medical necessity.

    Privacy is another consideration for some clients. Because I don't submit claims to insurance, there is no need to share treatment information with an insurance company in order to receive reimbursement through my practice.

My approach to therapy

  • I understand why people become frustrated with therapy that feels like an ongoing recap of what happened that week.

    Talking about your life is important, but I don't think it should be the entirety of the work. I pay attention to the patterns underneath the immediate problem and help you understand why something keeps happening even when you already know you'd like it to change.

    I am an active therapist. I will offer observations, ask difficult questions when they are useful, and point out patterns that may be difficult to recognize on your own. The goal is not to challenge you for the sake of challenging you. It is to help you understand yourself more clearly and make changes that actually hold up outside the therapy room.

    If what you're looking for is simply a place to talk without being challenged, I may not be the right therapist for you.

  • I tend to work particularly well with intelligent, driven people who are accustomed to functioning at a high level and have reached a point where their usual ways of solving problems aren't working as well as they once did.

    Many of my clients are executives, entrepreneurs, business owners, attorneys, people in finance and technology, and professionals whose work carries significant responsibility. Some come because of anxiety or burnout. Others are struggling with a relationship, a major transition, or a recurring pattern they haven't been able to resolve on their own.

    You don't have to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. Often, people come in because something in their life has become harder than it should be, and they want to understand why.

  • I bring considerable experience in business, finance, technology, and law into my work with professionals, but therapy is different from executive coaching.

    Coaching generally focuses on performance, leadership, decision-making, and specific professional goals. Therapy gives us room to look at the person underneath those goals, including the emotional patterns and relationships that can influence how you work, lead, make decisions, and respond to pressure.

    For some people, the professional problem is relatively straightforward. For others, the same difficulty keeps appearing in different forms. That is where therapy can go further than strategy alone.

Couples therapy and relationships

  • I take an active role in couples therapy. I ask questions, offer observations, challenge assumptions, and help each partner understand how their own responses contribute to the relationship they are experiencing. I am interested in the arguments you have, but even more interested in understanding why those arguments keep happening, what each of you is trying to communicate, and what gets lost between you.

    Couples frequently come to therapy with very different accounts of the same events. Both may have understandable reasons for feeling hurt, frustrated, or misunderstood, and both may be so focused on explaining their own position that they have difficulty hearing the other. Part of my work is helping you recognize what happens in those moments, including the ways you protect yourselves that may inadvertently make connection more difficult.

    I will challenge you, and I will explain why. If I notice that an apology is being used to end an uncomfortable conversation, that one partner is consistently accommodating to avoid conflict, or that an otherwise reasonable solution is reinforcing a longstanding problem, we will examine it together. I want each of you to understand your own behavior well enough to make different choices.

    Our work includes understanding the experiences that shaped you, the expectations you bring into your relationship, and the meanings you attach to each other's behavior. We also focus on what happens outside my office. I help couples develop more effective ways to communicate difficult feelings, respond to conflict, express needs, and take responsibility for their part in the relationship. My couples work draws on Relational Life Therapy (RLT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Gottman Method training, and depth-oriented approaches.

    My style is warm, engaged, and direct. There is room for humor, difficult conversations, and perspectives you may not have considered. I care about helping both partners feel understood, and I am equally committed to helping you recognize what needs to change.

  • I have completed Level 1 and Level 2 clinical training in the Gottman Method and have great respect for the research behind it.

    I am not exclusively a Gottman Method therapist. My couples work also draws heavily from Relational Life Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy, along with depth-oriented psychological approaches.

    Different couples need different things. I find that an integrative approach allows me to work with the immediate conflict while also paying attention to the deeper patterns that keep bringing the couple back to the same place.

  • Yes. This is an area of particular interest in my couples practice.

    I work with couples dealing with differences in income, spending and saving conflicts, financial secrecy, undisclosed debt, investment losses, business ownership, inheritances, trusts, and other situations in which money has become a source of conflict or mistrust.

    My previous career in finance, law, technology, and fintech means that I am comfortable with the financial complexity that can exist behind these conflicts. That allows our sessions to focus on the relationship rather than spending time translating the financial details.

  • Yes. I work with couples after infidelity as well as other significant breaches of trust, including financial betrayal and broken agreements.

    Betrayal can change the way someone experiences the entire relationship. The injured partner may question what was real, while the partner who caused the injury may feel overwhelmed by shame, fear, or the consequences of what happened.

    The work begins with understanding what happened and creating enough stability for both people to engage in the process. From there, we can look at accountability, the patterns that contributed to the betrayal, and what rebuilding trust would actually require.

  • Yes. This is a common reason couples seek therapy.

    Some couples have become very good at managing a household together while gradually losing the sense of being a couple. They may still love each other and function well as a family, but feel more like roommates or business partners than romantic partners.

    Rebuilding connection isn't simply about learning to communicate better. We need to understand what has happened to the emotional and physical relationship between you and what has made it difficult to be vulnerable with one another.

    For couples who have also lost sexual or erotic connection, we can address that part of the relationship directly rather than treating it as something separate from the rest of the marriage.

Therapy for professionals, entrepreneurs, and business partners

  • Yes. I work with co-founders and business partners when the relationship itself has become part of the problem.

    Disagreements about control, strategy, compensation, responsibility, or the future of a company can become much harder to resolve when there is a history between the partners. A business relationship can also become strained when one person feels that they are carrying more of the work or taking greater risks.

    My own experience as a lawyer, investment banker, product leader, and fintech founder gives me familiarity with the professional environment in which these conflicts occur. In therapy, we can look at the interpersonal dynamics that are making the business problem harder to solve.

    This work is not business consulting or legal advice. It is a place to address the relationship so that difficult professional decisions can be discussed more productively.

  • Yes. Therapy can be helpful when you are dealing with a relationship that repeatedly leaves you feeling responsible for someone else's emotions, unsure how to set limits, or pulled into conflicts you don't know how to navigate.

    We can look at the relationship itself as well as your own responses to it. Sometimes the most useful change isn't getting another person to behave differently. It is becoming clearer about what you will participate in, what you won't, and how you want to conduct yourself when someone else is difficult.

    I often use the concept of differentiation in this work: remaining grounded in your own values and judgment while staying connected to other people, even when there is considerable pressure to react.

Trauma, betrayal, and difficult transitions

  • Yes. I work with adults dealing with the effects of trauma and significant experiences of betrayal, loss, and relational disruption.

    People respond to trauma differently. Some become highly vigilant and focused on controlling their surroundings. Others become detached or have difficulty trusting their own judgment. Especially among people who are accustomed to functioning well under pressure, distress isn't always obvious from the outside.

    When it is appropriate, I use Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) to help clients process traumatic experiences and reduce the emotional impact that those experiences continue to have. I also draw from cognitive and somatic approaches, depending on what a particular client needs.

    The goal isn't to erase what happened. It is to help you process the experience in a way that allows you to feel less controlled by it and more able to move forward.

  • My individual practice focuses on adults dealing with psychological and relational issues that are interfering with the life they want to lead.

    I frequently work with anxiety, burnout, difficult relationship patterns, career and identity transitions, grief and loss, family dynamics, and the pressures that can accompany professional success. I also work with executives, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and other professionals who are navigating demanding careers while trying to maintain satisfying personal lives.

    Sometimes the problem is obvious. Other times, someone simply knows that the way they are living or relating to other people isn't working anymore. Therapy can be useful in both situations.

Group therapy

  • Yes. Dr. Mike Collins and I co-facilitate an in-person, co-ed adult process group at our offices in Hermosa Beach.

    The group is limited to 10 members and currently meets Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m. for 90 minutes. There is currently one opening, and we are also forming a waitlist for a Monday evening group.

    If you're interested in learning more, please contact me directly.

Privacy and fit

  • Privacy matters to every client, and it can be particularly important for people whose professional or public lives make discretion a priority.

    My practice is private pay, and I do not submit claims to insurance companies. I also take care to maintain a discreet office environment in Hermosa Beach and can discuss scheduling and communication preferences during the consultation.

    For virtual sessions, I use HIPAA-compliant telehealth technology and follow appropriate privacy and security practices.

    If you have particular concerns about privacy because of your professional position or circumstances, I am happy to discuss them before we begin.

  • My practice is focused on adults, couples, and families. I do not treat children, and I consider older adolescents on a case-by-case basis.

    I also do not provide couples therapy when there is active physical violence or significant coercive control in the relationship. In those circumstances, joint therapy may not be appropriate or safe.

    As a private practitioner, I am not equipped to provide the level of monitoring required for acute psychiatric crises or situations requiring a higher level of care, including active untreated substance dependence, severe eating disorders, or acute suicidality requiring stabilization.

    Although I have a law degree, I do not provide legal advice, custody evaluations, forensic assessments, or court testimony for therapy clients.

    If I don't believe my practice is the appropriate setting for what you need, I will be straightforward about that and, when possible, help you identify a more appropriate level or type of care.