Frequently Asked Questions
Sessions lengths differ by what we are working to accomplish. For example, an intake session in which we are going to talk about your situation, complete an assessment, and initiate a treatment plan to match your needs, can take 1.5 hours. If a breastfeeding newborn infant attends the session with her mother, baby care can also extend that session to 1.5 hours. Typically, once we have initiated treatment, a session will be one hour in length.
In a typical session, we do a check in to see how any skills learned in the last session have been helping in the real world, and we consider ways in which new developments in your life are impacting your wellbeing. We then attend to our treatment goals through insight-oriented solution-focussed discussion or via techniques such as EMDR (a traumatic stress recovery technique), relaxation visualization, or other support methods designed to help you thrive.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor, with years of additional training and board certification in the medicine of mental health. Typically, psychiatrists work to initiate and manage prescription medication in order to alleviate the symptoms of disturbances to mental health.
A psychologist is a graduate-level mental health specialist, who may work in tandem with your psychiatrist or as your primary mental health care provider. In Alberta, psychologists are regulated health professionals under the Health Professions Act, and are trained to diagnose and treat mental health functioning.
All sessions are confidential, meaning that what is discussed and even the fact that you are participating in psychotherapy remains between you and me, with certain exceptions mandated by law. With a signed release of information, I would be pleased to communicate with your health care provider, a birth attendant, and any family members that you believe would be good supports in your healing.
Clients who have supplemental insurance through carriers such as Blue Cross, Greenshield, and similar providers, will qualify to have their payments to me reimbursed under these plans. Since plans vary widely, you will be well served to check in advance with your carrier.
Because I work a great deal with parents of very young children, I do realize that children rarely let you know two days in advance that they “feel a cold coming on.” Do your best. If a conflict (or holiday!) arises, you can release your meeting time through the scheduling app, Jane.app, under my practice name, “Beyond Psychology, Inc., Calgary.”
My per-session fee is $190 for a 1.5 hour appointment, and $150 for 1 hour. I am also available between sessions at no charge to exchange check-in emails. I work with folks in a very vulnerable life phase and want to be sure that you are able to appropriately apply the skills and techniques that we have discussed.
No, you do not. While doctors, doulas, and others often do refer the people they support to me, no referral is necessary to make an appointment.
My intake form is available to you on Jane.app, and it will save you some valuable session time if you would like to fill it out in advance.
Dress comfortably, arrive in good time so that you do not feel stressed by the commute, and be ready to collaborate.
Yes! I work with all of these units either consistently throughout treatment, or on an “as you would benefit” basis. For instance, it is a very common experience to begin care with an individual, and then realize that she would like her partner to participate in identifying a treatment plan, understanding insights, and/or understanding changes that would benefit family dynamics going forward.
Yes. My office is in a heritage home, with parking at the rear of the home just off the back alley. My parking slip is on the far right, and you can park right behind my car next to the fence. Entrance to the building is also at the back of the home, through the glass doors at the left of the parking pad as you face the house.
I am available some evenings, however, not typically on weekends as I have family obligations (and privileges!) that take me away from my office on those days.
I accept credit cards and cash payments.
Yes. I often speak on such topics of “When Survivors Give Birth,” based on my certification with Penny Simkin and Phyllis Klaus and their book of the same name. I have also given many talks at conferences and to community groups on topics such as early parenting, infant and pregnancy loss, the 14thMoon (menopause), and similar issues important to women and new families. I have spoken at professional conferences about the ways in which accrued stress and even traumatic stress impacts care choices, and I have presented in several university settings about the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders manifesting within the perinatal period.
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