Get answers about telehealth therapy from Cultivating Capacity, including availability, payment options, insurance, scheduling, and cancellation policies. My approach prioritizes collaboration and informed consent, which starts with making sure you have all the practical information you need upfront. Browse the questions below to learn more about how we might work together.
Yes. Working with survivors of sexual violence, including assault, rape, and incest, is the core focus of my practice as well as my life's work. This isn't an add-on to general trauma work. It's shaped by years of clinical training, advocacy work, and an understanding of how sexual trauma affects the mind, body, relationships, and sense of self. As a survivor myself, this work is my soul's calling.
Trauma-informed therapy means you set the pace, not the timeline of a textbook. We work with narrative therapy, relational neuroscience, and somatic awareness to help you understand what happened without being defined by it. You won't be asked to relive details over and over again. You'll never be explained to or expected to do anything re-traumatizing. This is a conversation, not a procedure, and we work together in true partnership toward healing.
No. You're never required to share details before you're ready, and some people never need to in order to heal. According to psychotherapy and advocacy literature, most people who have survived sexual violence are often re-traumatized by traditional prolonged exposure therapy techniques. At Cultivating Capacity, we work with what makes sense for you using a blend of modalities, approaches, and techniques to create a treatment plan that is entirely personalized to you, where you're at today, and where you see yourself in the future. The story unfolds at whatever pace feels manageable and relevant for your journey.
Yes! Telehealth allows many survivors to access care from a space that already feels safe, which can lower the barrier to starting therapy at all. For survivors specifically, this often matters more than it does in general therapy, since safety and control over your environment are part of the healing work itself. Additionally, people are often limited by their insurance and geography to a handful of clinicians who may have experience with this particular topic. At Cultivating Capacity, I offer therapy for victims and survivors across 9 states (and counting!), bringing the benefit of my lived experience as a survivor and my professional training and experience in professional and volunteer victim advocacy and psychotherapy. In other words, I've lived and done the work from various vantage points, so you can trust that I am deeply attuned to your needs.
Yes. Incest and childhood sexual abuse carry their own layers, including loyalty to family and kin, betrayal, and disrupted attachment, that differ from assault by a stranger or acquaintance. This work is included in my practice and approached with that complexity in mind.
That's completely fine, and it doesn't change whether you can start therapy. You don't need a police report, a diagnosis, or a tidy narrative to begin. What you need is space and a supportive, nonjudgmental presence to explore the impact, and that's what this is.
My primary approach is narrative therapy, supported by relational neuroscience, somatic practices, and feedback-informed treatment, where your own input shapes the direction of our work. What makes my practice especially unique is that I take an eclectic approach, borrowing from time-tested and emerging approaches to develop a plan that is completely unique to you and your needs. The goal is integration, not just symptom management. You leave with more capacity to live your life, not just fewer symptoms on a checklist.
Example approaches and techniques that I incorporate into therapy include: CBT, ACT, WET, EMDR, bilateral stimulation, expressive arts, psychodynamic therapy, parts work (not exclusive to IFS), person-centered therapy, humanistic and existential approaches, and more.
I'm licensed to provide therapy in California, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. I am also permitted to offer telehealth services in Delaware, Idaho, and Vermont. If you're located in one of these states, we can begin working together via telehealth regardless of which specific city or region you're in. If you live outside of these states, don't let that stop you from reaching out. Licensure portability is expanding every day, and there is a chance I may be able to pursue licensure or permitting in your state relatively quickly, so we can begin working together. In fact, that's what grew my practice from California to the other states I serve now.
You don't need to feel "ready" in order to start. Many survivors begin therapy while still uncertain, ambivalent, or scared, and that's an appropriate place to begin, not a reason to wait. If you're asking the question, that's usually enough of a sign. Other times, it's a sense of stagnancy, stuckness, or just generally feeling antsy to cast off the long shadow of trauma that brings survivors to therapy for the first time.
Yes! Loving someone who has survived sexual trauma comes with its own confusion, helplessness, and grief, and that deserves support too. Sessions can focus on how to show up for your partner without losing yourself in the process, and on rebuilding intimacy and trust at a pace that respects everyone.
Individual, couples, and family therapy is the foundation of my practice, and group programming for survivors is something I'm actively developing. If group work becomes available, it will be rooted in the same narrative and relational principles as regular sessions, with an emphasis on shared witnessing rather than performance or forced disclosure. I'll be able to share more as that programming is finalized.
My practice is entirely virtual. Telehealth (also known as telemedicine and telemental health) enables you and your family to attend psychotherapy sessions from your computer, tablet, or smartphone from California, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. Telehealth services are not appropriate for all clients and all situations. During the Diagnostic Evaluation, I will determine whether telehealth psychotherapy services are appropriate and provide you with referrals if in-person services may better support your situation.
Currently, I only see clients on Mondays, though I occasionally offer weeknight or weekend appointments to established clients.
Visit my contact page to submit an inquiry or request a complimentary 15-minute consultation. If we both feel we’re compatible during your consultation, we’ll schedule your first appointment.
A consultation is a short, no-pressure conversation to see if we're a good fit, not an assessment or intake. We'll talk about what's bringing you to therapy now, answer any questions you have about my approach, and you'll leave with a clearer sense of whether this feels like the right place to begin. There's no obligation to continue afterward.
Appointments canceled or rescheduled with more than 24 hours in advance will not incur any fees. Appointments canceled or rescheduled with less than 24 hours’ notice may incur a missed appointment fee (50% of the original fee). If no notice is given, a no-show fee (100% of the original fee) applies.
When my schedule permits. I partner with 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations for those who cannot afford current market rates, lack adequate health insurance, or who have historically experienced barriers to mental healthcare:
I also offer reduced fee agreements for clients who cannot afford the established rate, don’t qualify for any therapy funds, and who are open to a Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) approach. Scholarships are also available to graduate students in training to become a mental health professional if the training program, state, or licensing body requires personal counseling as a condition of licensure.
Electronic payments via credit or debit cards, or Flexible/Health Spending Accounts (FSA/HSA) funds.
I accept only self-payment (or "self-pay”) for services, which offers several benefits that insurance cannot provide:
If you have a PPO or POS plan, you most likely have Out-Of-Network (OON) benefits. This means your insurance may reimburse you a percentage of any out-of-pocket costs as determined by your plan's coverage. I recommend calling your insurance provider directly to determine what your plan offers. If you choose to use your OON benefits, I can provide you with invoices or superbills directly to you to submit to your insurance company. I do not communicate with insurance companies or panels directly.
An estimate of the cost of services, as required by the No Surprises Act, which is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, is designed to protect clients from receiving unexpected medical bills. The Good Faith Estimate provision of the No Surprises Act is designed to give clients an estimate of how much they’ll be charged for the healthcare services they’ll be receiving, prior to their appointment. Under the No Surprises Act, healthcare providers (including psychotherapists like myself) must give clients who don't have or use insurance a Good Faith Estimate of the bill medical items and services, including psychotherapy. A Good Faith Estimate of expected charges is available upon scheduling or upon your request.
Intake paperwork must be completed 48 hours before your initial appointment. During your Diagnostic Evaluation, we’ll review the paperwork together, including legally binding contract information. You will never be asked to sign something I have not explained to you or given you time to review.
My Client Portal provides a secure, HIPAA-compliant method for viewing upcoming appointments, requesting new appointments, completing paperwork, paying your psychotherapy bills, messaging me, and accessing your telehealth sessions. The SimplePractice Client Portal is accessible via your preferred web browser, and the mobile app is available on the App Store and Google Play Store.
The U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires companies that work with protected health information (PHI) to implement and follow physical, network, and process security measures. HIPAA laws protect health information relating to an individual's past, present, or future physical or mental health condition, treatment for the condition, and payment for treatment.
Benefits include increased privacy, reduced stigma, and greater convenience. Telehealth also improves access to both care in general and to providers with certain specializations and expertise. Potential risks can include technical problems, data breaches, slower response to crises, and interruptions by the people, pets, and events in your home. While these lists are not exhaustive, they are important to consider when choosing between in-person and virtual mental healthcare.
Yes! Cultivating Capacity is welcoming new trainees, associates, interns, residents, and licensed clinicians. Submit your job application here.