FAQ
Where is your office located?
While I’m based in the Bay Area, in truth I float among the seas and stars.
What this really means is that I conduct therapy entirely through telehealth, so I am accessible to anyone in California!
How long are sessions?
Sessions are referred to as an hour, but typically run 45-50 minutes. That extra bit of time gives me space to jot down any notes and take care of any needs between clients.
Do you work with men? Women? Adults? Children?
Although my clientele has been primarily women, I will work with any client if we both feel it’s a good fit!
I do not conduct relationship or family therapy, and I feel therapy with children is outside my scope of competency. However, I will consider young women in their late teenage years on a case-by-case basis.
Do you take insurance?
I do not accept any insurance. However, if your insurance plan offers out-of-network coverage, I will prepare monthly superbills for you so you can apply for reimbursement from your insurance carrier. (“Superbills” are after-the-fact invoices that show dates of services, services rendered, and how much you paid.)
In the past, I had provider contracts with several insurance plans, but they turned out to be far more trouble than they were worth.
What is your cancellation policy?
If you do not cancel or reschedule an appointment at least 24 hours before that appointment’s start time, you will still be charged your session fee for that appointment. However, if there are emergent circumstances such as a crisis or sudden sickness, I will hear those on a case-by-case basis. We can’t control or predict everything, but there must be a measure of ownership from both parties!
Do I need a plan before I start therapy?
Not at all! In fact, part of therapy is defining goals with your therapist, and then determining how to reach those goals. And goals change! Some might turn out to be non-issues, some may evolve, and new ones can spring up!
How long will I be in therapy?
As long as it takes! There is no set schedule to therapy. If you’re simply dealing with an immediate issue, or a few dream-tending sessions for a particularly disturbing nightmare, it could be only three or four sessions. If you’re determined to dig deep into trauma or abuse, therapy can take years.
Even if you show up intending on that short-term therapy, it’s entirely possible to uncover deeper issues that you decide to pursue, extending our time together.
Either way, remember this: therapy is an investment in yourself, and you are worth it.
What is your professional training and experience?
I graduated from John F. Kennedy University with a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology, with a focus on Somatic Psychology, which is how the mind and body interact with and affect each other.
Since graduation, I worked for several different agencies during my associate years to attain my license. My main therapy practice since achieving my license has been my sole practice.
What kind of people do you work with?
I am open to any adult who feels my abilities might help them find resolution for whatever is troubling them! Age, sexuality, ethnicity, cultural background, gender identity, personal history – while those things are obviously important to you, they are no kind of barrier to the people I am willing to help.
Do you give out assignments or homework between sessions?
As a rule, no. I do my best work in the room with the client, and often, my clients are so overloaded that they don’t need one more thing to worry about and take up time, energy, and bandwidth.
I will often close sessions with some kind of tool that I believe will assist the client and summarizes the work we have done. The closest I get to “homework” is reminding a client to practice those tools, because the only way to make them reflexive, where you’re using them without thinking to regulate your mind and emotions, is to practice using them.
But no forms, puzzles, essays, nothing of that sort.
What’s the difference between a therapist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a social worker, and a life coach?
A therapist, like myself, focuses mainly on directly counseling clients. While therapists are familiar with various mental disorders and diagnoses, they don’t “officially” diagnose people for medical purposes. Therapists are focused on the direct, week-to-week work of helping clients manage their mental health and are invested in their individual clients.
A psychologist has an advanced degree, usually a Ph.D. or a Psy.D., and focuses primarily on clinical diagnosis and study. Psychologists can and do conduct therapy, but their area of expertise leans more toward diagnosis, research, and psychological testing.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in psychology and neurochemistry. They can and do prescribe medications to treat mental health issues, something neither a therapist nor a psychologist can do. They conduct therapeutic interviews to determine a preliminary diagnosis and prescribe medications they think will help, then do periodic check-ins and adjust the medications as needed.
A social worker is geared to case management, assisting individuals or families with finding needed resources and ensuring they’re following any legal guidelines they’ve run afoul of. Although their education isn’t focused on it, social workers can conduct therapy and can use any modality or technique a therapist uses.
A life coach focuses on a specific problem here and now. They will devise a plan to move past or solve the problem. However, if they look at past problems and how they are affecting you now, they may be working in the therapy place; unless they have training and a license, there could be an ethical or legal issue.
Can I still attend while I’m on vacation?
That depends. First, if you’re on vacation, you should be focused on the vacation. Vacations are all about taking a break from real life for a while. But whether or not you feel comfortable skipping one, two, or however many sessions is up to you.
The second, bigger question is, where are you going on vacation? The terms of my license to practice states that I can only see clients who are physically located in the state of California. If you travel out of state, or out of the country, sorry – therapy will have to wait until you get back.
What is dream-tending? Does it mean I have to talk about my dreams?
Dream-tending is a technique I use to examine the imagery and emotions of dreams to gain more insight into life and mental health. Often, your subconscious will be dealing with stress that you may not even be aware of: repressed traumas, subtle conflicts, or anxiety created by decisions or events. The subconscious, trying to process these issues, directly influences our dreams, and examining those dreams can help reveal issues affecting our mental health and allow us to gauge the impact and work toward finding relief.
Interacting with your dreams can provide a fast track to finding these issues, as well as solutions and healing. Some people, when interacting with their dreams, find more stability in their real lives and in their identities.
In a cross-over with spiritual support, when someone first develops a new spiritual awareness, it often expresses itself through dreams first. By engaging with these dreams, you can decide how to hold this aspect of yourself.
How do I pronounce your name?
Although the spelling is rather unique, my name is pronounced just like the name “Felicity.” Maybe give it a bit more of an “eh” on the first “i” sound, like “Felehcity.”
But to make it easier, and because it fits in many ways, I usually insist people call me Fey.
Do you have any pets?
I have two black cats: the loud, cuddly, and always-hungry chungus, and the high-strung floof that loves shoving his giant fluffy tail in everyone’s business. (Seriously, I can’t count the number of times my partner or I have yawned, only to get his giant bottle-brush butt-necktie right in the mouth.)