New Patients
What should a new client know about working with me?
I primarily practice Internal Family Systems therapy. I believe that IFS therapy embodies a more humane way of helping clients than more traditional models of therapy. Many older models work from the premise that the client has symptoms of sickness, such as intrusive thoughts, painful feelings, or problematic behavior that must be fixed or eliminated so that the client can then be healthy. IFS, in contrast, believes that we all have protective parts that try to cope with challenging and painful situations in childhood and adulthood. These parts have good intentions to protect us, even though their attempts to cope can result in difficulties with thoughts, feelings and behaviors. When clients can understand and accept the good intentions of protective parts they are better able to deal with them without the
feelings of shame or beliefs that they are not good enough. Clients can
approach their issues as a way of learning about themselves and healing their wounds rather than viewing themselves as damaged or sick.
My background includes working in a number of medical facilities as well as private practice. In addition to working in the Pediatric Department of Henry Ford Hospital, doing my doctoral dissertation on hospitalized children’s understanding of their illness and treatment, I also worked at the Northeast Ohio College of Medicine as an adjunct faculty teaching medical students. I was the behavioral scientist for the Youngstown Hospital Family Practice residency where I taught medical residents psychological issues in medical care.
What is my typical process for working with clients?
I am a certified ISF therapist. I do IFS therapy when I feel it is appropriate and beneficial.
Forms
Below is the form you will need to fill out before scheduling an appointment. I hope that you will download these and fill them out in the comfort of your own home. Please mail these forms to my address on page 1 of the packet, or fax them to me at (207) 439-2254.
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New Patient Information Packet (including HIPPA Form, Patient Mental Health Bill of Rights, Provider-Patient Services Agreement, Credit Card Authorization Form, etc.)
Late Cancellation and Missed Appointments
Your appointment reserves my time. Once an appointment is scheduled, you will be expected to pay $75 if it is cancelled unless you provide 24 business hours advance notice of cancellation. (For example, to cancel an appointment for 9am on Monday, you would need to call before 9am the previous Friday.) Please help me serve you better by keeping scheduled appointments and calling the office at least 24 business hours prior to your appointment if you must cancel. If there are more than two instances of not showing up for an appointment and not calling me, I will close the case. Please note I am very strict about that rule. If a case is closed, I am no longer the therapist of record.