Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What are your fees and do you accept insurance?
My fee for individual therapy is $150.00 per 50 minute session (by phone or in office). Longer sessions are pro-rated. A few sliding scale appointment slots are available upon request.
Our fee for couples therapy/coaching is $225.00 per 50 minute session (by phone or in session). However, if you purchase 3 co-therapy sessions in advance, you receive a 10% discount. That becomes $202.50 per co-therapy session! Longer sessions are pro-rated.
** No sliding scale is provided for this service due to our husband/wife team approach.
My fee for life coaching varies based on the coaching package needed. Please contact me for more information.
I accept cash, checks, money orders, Visa, and MasterCard. I do not accept insurance for my therapy and coaching services.
2. Are the sessions confidential?
Coaching/therapy sessions are private and confidential. That means that what you are doing, how you are doing, what you have accomplished, and your personal secrets are not discussed or hinted at by us to anyone else. In general, the law protects the confidentiality of all communications between a client and a psychotherapist. Information is not disclosed without written permission. However, there are a number of exceptions to this rule.
Exceptions include:
* Suspected child abuse or dependant adult or elder abuse. The therapist is required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
* If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s. The therapist must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
* If a client intends to harm himself or herself. The therapist will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in insuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, further measures may be taken without their permission in order to ensure their safety.
3. What is sex therapy?
Sex therapy is a specialized form of therapy that focuses on talking about sexual concerns or issues. It is a solution focused therapy designed to reach goals that are established by those seeking services. The sessions take place in a safe and comfortable environment, where individuals or couples are encouraged to openly express themselves.
Sex therapy involves talking and listening, sexual education, and problem solving. At no time does it involve clients performing sexual acts in front of the therapist or sexual contact between the therapist and clients.
4. What is a sex therapist/sexologist?
A sex therapist is a licensed therapist who has specialized training in sexology (the science of sexual behavior) and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual issues/concerns. A licensed therapist must meet the State of Florida requirements (additional education/training and supervision) to be called a sex therapist. A sexologist is a clinician that holds a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in the field of Sexology (the study of human sexuality).
5. Who attends sex therapy?
Sex therapy is for people of all ages, gender, and sexual orientation, who have sexual concerns or want to improve their quality of life by dealing with sexual issues. Sex therapy is for individuals or couples.
6.What is coaching and how is it different from psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy very often results in significant relief from mental health problems, such as feelings of anxiety, depression, and interpersonal conflicts. It is a process that begins with carefully assessing the presenting issues or problems to identify the steps toward resolving key issues. Therapy often goes into depth about various issues and usually focuses on dealing with the past. The therapy seeks to uncover the 'why' to issues/problems.
Coaching it is a distinct profession that helps clients solve problems, reach goals, design a plan of action and make decisions. It helps clients identify what is important to them and helps them align their thoughts, words, and actions, accordingly. Coaching it is more action-oriented and focuses on the present and the future. It helps clients determine their own answers.
7. What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a state of inner absorption, concentration and focused attention. It is like using a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun and make them more powerful. Similarly, when our minds are concentrated and focused, we are able to use our minds more powerfully. Because hypnosis allows people to use more of their potential, learning self-hypnosis is the ultimate act of self-control.
8. How does hypnosis affect a person?
While there is general agreement that certain effects of hypnosis exist, there are differences of opinion within the research and clinical communities about how hypnosis works. Some researchers believe that hypnosis can be used by individuals to the degree they possess a hypnotic trait, much as they have traits associated with height, body size, hair color, etc. Other professionals who study and use hypnosis believe there are strong cognitive and interpersonal components that affect an individual's response to hypnotic environments and suggestions.
Recent research supports the view that hypnotic communication and suggestions effectively change aspects of the person’s physiological and neurological functions.
9. How can hypnosis help a person?
Practitioners use clinical hypnosis in three main ways. First, they encourage the use of imagination. Mental imagery is very powerful, especially in a focused state of attention. The mind seems capable of using imagery, even if it is only symbolic, to assist us in bringing about the things we are imagining. For example, a patient with ulcerative colitis may be asked to imagine what his/her distressed colon looks like. If she imagines it as being like a tunnel, with very red, inflamed walls that are rough in texture, the patient may be encouraged in hypnosis (and in self-hypnosis) to imagine this image changing to a healthy one.
A second basic hypnotic method is to present ideas or suggestions to the patient. In a state of concentrated attention, ideas and suggestions that are compatible with what the patient wants seem to have a more powerful impact on the mind.
Finally, hypnosis may be used for unconscious exploration, to better understand underlying motivations or identify whether past events or experiences are associated with causing a problem. Hypnosis avoids the critical censor of the conscious mind, which often defeats what we know to be in our best interests. The effectiveness of hypnosis appears to lie in the way in which it bypasses the critical observation and interference of the conscious mind, allowing the client's intentions for change to take effect.
10. Do all people benefit from hypnosis?
Some individuals seem to have higher natural hypnotic talent or potential that may allow them to benefit more readily from hypnosis. It is important to keep in mind that hypnosis is like any other therapeutic modality: it is of major benefit to some patients with some problems, and it is helpful with many other patients, but individual responses vary.
11. Can a person be made to do something they would not normally want to do when hypnotized?
People often fear that being hypnotized will make them lose control, surrender their will, and result in their being dominated, but a hypnotic state is not the same thing as gullibility or weakness. Many people base their assumptions about hypnotism on stage acts but fail to take into account that stage hypnotists screen their volunteers to select those who are cooperative, with possible exhibitionist tendencies, as well as responsive to hypnosis. Stage acts help create a myth about hypnosis which discourages people from seeking legitimate hypnotherapy.
In hypnosis, the patient is not under the control of the therapist. Hypnosis is not something imposed on people, but something they do for themselves. A hypnotherapist simply serves as a facilitator to guide them.
12. Does a person remember what took place when in hypnosis?
Another myth about hypnosis is that people lose consciousness and have amnesia. A small percentage of subjects, who go into very deep levels of trance will fit this stereotype and have spontaneous amnesia. The majority of people remember everything that occurs in hypnosis. This is beneficial, because the most of what we want to accomplish in hypnosis may be done in a medium depth trance, where people tend to remember everything.
13. When will hypnosis be beneficial?
It is believed that hypnosis will be optimally effective when the patient is highly motivated to overcome a problem and when the hypnotherapist is well trained in both hypnosis and in general considerations relating to the treatment of the particular problem. Some individuals seem to have higher native hypnotic talent and capacity that may allow them to benefit more readily from hypnosis.
It is important to keep in mind that hypnosis is like any other therapeutic modality: it is of major benefit to some patients with some problems, and it is helpful with many other patients, but it can fail, just like any other clinical method. For this reason, hypnotherapists emphasize that we are not "hypnotists", but health care professionals who use hypnosis along with other tools of our professions.
Hypnosis questions and answers were adapted from information provided on the website of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis (www.asch.net)
