The Money Stuff

How much does therapy cost?

Sessions are $125.

Do you accept insurance?

No, Courtney is an out-of-network, self-pay therapist. If your insurance plan includes out-of-network mental health benefits, though, you may be able to get some of that money back.

How do I use my out-of-network benefits?

Courtney works with Mentaya, which handles the annoying insurance paperwork for you. You can check your benefits to see whether your insurance company will reimburse you for part of your sessions. To see if you qualify for reimbursement, you can use this link:

Out-of-Network Benefits

If you decide to use Mentaya, they charge a 5% fee per claim. It is completely optional, and Courtney does not financially benefit from you using it.

How do I pay?

You’ll receive an invoice via email (as well as text if you'd like) and can pay securely with QuickBooks' pay portal built into the invoice. Easy peasy. 

Therapy Stuff

How do I know if I need therapy?

You don’t need to be falling apart to go to therapy.

Maybe you’re anxious. Maybe you’re burned out. Maybe your relationships keep following suspiciously similar patterns. Maybe you understand exactly why you do the things you do and yet, irritatingly, you keep doing them anyway.

That’s therapy stuff.

You also don’t have to know exactly what’s wrong before you show up. Figuring that out is part of the process.

What happens during the first session?

The first session is mostly about getting to know each other.

Courtney will ask about what brought you to therapy, what’s been happening in your life, what you’d like to change, and some background information that helps put everything into context.

It’s also your chance to figure out whether Courtney feels like someone you actually want to talk to about your life. Therapist fit matters.

How often will I come to therapy?

Most clients start with weekly sessions. As things improve, sessions may become less frequent.

We’ll figure out what makes sense for you rather than arbitrarily keeping you in weekly therapy until the end of time.

How long does therapy take?

The deeply unsatisfying therapist answer: it depends.

Some people come to therapy to work through something specific and don’t need very long. Others are untangling years of patterns, trauma, relationships, and nervous-system fuckery. That takes longer.

The goal isn’t to keep you in therapy forever. The goal is for therapy to actually help.

Is therapy confidential?

Yes—with a few legally required exceptions.

There are situations where Courtney may be required to disclose information, particularly when there is an immediate safety concern or suspected abuse or neglect. Courtney will go over confidentiality and its limits with you before you start therapy.

Working With Courtney

What kind of therapy does Courtney do?

Courtney uses a combination of mindfulness, somatic work, nervous-system regulation, perspective work, and other evidence-based approaches depending on what you need.

Translation: we are probably not going to spend every session sitting around analyzing your childhood while you become increasingly good at explaining why you’re anxious.

Understanding yourself matters. But eventually, your brain and body have to learn something new.

Do I have to be good at mindfulness?

Absolutely not.

You do not need to meditate. You do not need to clear your mind. You do not need to become a peaceful little woodland creature who never gets irritated.

Mindfulness is really about learning to notice what is happening while it is happening—which turns out to be pretty useful when you’re trying to change something.

Is Courtney LGBTQ+ affirming?

Very.

Courtney works from a queer-affirming, sex-positive, feminist perspective. Your sexuality or gender identity may be an important part of what brings you to therapy—or it may have absolutely nothing to do with why you’re there.

Either way, you don't have to explain or defend who you are before getting to the actual therapy.

Do you only work with women or LGBTQ+ clients?

No.

Courtney works with adults whose needs and personalities are a good fit for her approach. Identity matters, but so does whether you want the kind of therapy Courtney actually provides.

Telehealth

Is therapy online?

Yep. Sessions are provided through secure video telehealth.

You’ll need an internet connection, a device with a camera and microphone, and somewhere reasonably private where you can talk freely.

Does online therapy actually work?

Yes. For many people and many mental health concerns, telehealth can be just as effective as in-person therapy.

It also means no driving to an office, sitting in a waiting room, or making awkward eye contact with the person whose appointment is after yours.

More importantly, you get to do therapy somewhere you already feel comfortable—which can actually be pretty helpful when the work involves learning how to feel safe in your own body.