Frequently Asked Questions

I don’t consider myself a caregiver, can I still meet with you?

Yes absolutely! In my choice to specialize in supporting caregivers, I’ve come to find that caregivers come in all variations. From adults who care for their loved ones, to teachers & other service professions fighting for systemic change on their behalf and/or behalf of their team or clients, and even the c-suite executive who is looking to foster a more holistic and sustainable work environment for themselves and their teams.
I define caregivers in this way, “a caregiver is a person who provides intentional service to and for other humans - mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually, financially, or practically - in a way that is full of heart, passion and commitment.”
If that sounds like you and you’re interested to work together, contact me and let’s have a conversation see if I’m a good match for what you’re looking for.

Why caregivers?

In short: Caregivers need care and deserve to be well, too.
In long: I come from a long-line of caregiving figures and being that I loved people, I became a caregiver myself when I set out to get licensed as a clinical social worker. Years later, I had reached “the top of my career” and was giving it my all working with some of the highest risk & under-resourced populations in Los Angeles. I loved them, my team and was passionate about my work. I would receive recognition and positive feedback from peers and higher ups constantly. It was also at this time, I was the heaviest I’d ever been, often working 50+ hour weeks, commuting 3 hours a day only to do more working from home. I was feeling increasingly disconnected from my friends, family and my spouse.

I even tried to go on medical leave a couple of times to “fix it” (aka “fix me”) just so I could come back more full force, more gas in my tank. Only to find that shortly after, I would find my tank back at empty & operating on fumes. I didn’t know what my problem was - I was in my “dream job” why couldn’t I just… keep going? “It’s all part of it” & “This is how it goes” - I would tell myself. It took an event that was a threat to my life to take place from that job leading to a hospitalization for me to have the tiniest bit of insight that, whatever my problem was: I was burned out, in incredibly poor physical & mental health, and, after that incident, afraid for my life.

Because of my experiences and the experiences of my loved ones, I noticed that caregivers often will continue giving long past their boundary point and then some. Then we will give some more, justifying that “we can, so we do” - leaving us feel neglected, beyond exhausted, and maybe even a bit resentful. Even still we continue to care, because the alternative we learned was to “not-to-care” and that’s something we just cannot bring ourselves to do. Awareness of my own feelings and wants was a bust - I barely knew that I was more than a body in a room, let alone a person with feelings and wants. I didn’t know how to listen to myself, despite all the years, training and “success” in learning to listen to others.

I set out to learn how to really listen to myself, be present and live my life with intention. I learned the hard way that difficult feelings and experiences are part of what it means to live a full life & that we are not meant to rid ourselves of them. We are meant to learn how to move with, live with and thrive with them. Taking care of ourselves and learning how to remind ourselves that “just because we can, doesn’t mean we should” becomes an act of self-preservation and, should we choose to, sustainability of that care.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, I get it and I want to help you to receive that care you so generously give to others. I hope to hear from you.

Do you accept insurance?

I am a cash-pay therapist and do not accept insurance for a variety of reasons - I can share those with you if you wish during a consultation call. However, I do work with out-of-network (OON) coverage if that is helpful for my clients. Basically what happens is that clients pay for services after each session, I can help to file the OON claim, and as soon as their OON deductibles are met, those OON benefits cover a percentage of the session and clients often can be partially reimbursed for their session (sometimes up to 70%!). If you are interested to see if this is an option for you, please let me know. Alternatively, you may also visit Mentaya, a company I partner with to ensure folks access to care and utilization of their benefits to their advantage, and plug in your information to see how your insurance might be able to help cover the cost of your therapy sessions.