Therapy for moms in midlife
Is it my hormones or me? Often it's both. Your OB-GYN can treat the hormonal side of perimenopause, and that care matters. If the anxiety, irritability or overwhelm is still there once your treatment is in place, or old hurts are coming back up, there may be something underneath worth working on in therapy. Your OB-GYN treats the hormones. I work on what they stirred up.
How long does therapy take? It depends on what you're working on and how you want to work. Weekly therapy is open-ended. Meeting every week builds trust and keeps the thread from one session to the next. When things are steadier, we usually move to every other week and plan your last session together. Midlife Transition Sessions are two hours. Most women start weekly for 4 to 6 sessions, then move to every other week or monthly. The Midlife Transition Series is four two-hour sessions over 8 weeks. An EMDR Intensive is a half day or a full day, with a follow-up session after. Every 90 days, we stop and look at what's changed and what hasn't, so continuing is a decision we make together.
Do you take insurance? No. I'm a private-pay practice and don't bill insurance. If your plan has out-of-network mental health benefits, I give you a monthly superbill to submit for reimbursement. A two-hour session is usually reimbursed as one session, and EMDR Intensives are rarely covered. Before we start, call your plan and ask: Do I have out-of-network mental health benefits? Are services from a Licensed Professional Counselor covered? Do I need pre-approval to be reimbursed? What is my deductible, and how much have I met this year? How much of each session's fee will I get back?
How do we get started? After our free 15-minute call, I send you my consent forms, practice policies and an intake questionnaire. It asks about your history, what you've already tried and, if it applies to you, your perimenopause and hormonal picture. Filling it out at home means our time together goes to you instead of paperwork. Our first session is two hours. We go through your history, what's going on right now and what you want to be different. I'll ask a lot of questions about your family, your relationships and your strengths. We may sketch a genogram, which is a family tree that shows who shaped you. If there's a question you don't want to answer yet, that's ok. By the end, I'll recommend a path and tell you why, and we decide together. The first session is $495. EMDR Intensives include their own intake.
In person or online? Both. I see clients in person in Bordentown and online anywhere in New Jersey, and you can switch between the two as life changes. EMDR Intensives are in person only. Because I'm licensed in New Jersey, I work with New Jersey residents.
How do I know it's working? In our first session, I'll ask you to describe an ordinary day once things are better. Usually it's the life you already have, with less anxiety in it and more room to breathe. We use that picture to check our progress. Change is often quiet. You sleep through the night. Something that used to set you off doesn't. You take a step you've been putting off for a long time. You can think about an old memory without it taking over your day. Every 90 days we stop and look at what has changed, what hasn't and what we should do differently.
I'm interested. Now what?
Email me or book a free 15-minute call. I usually hold consultation calls on Fridays.
