Can I come to your office?

I don’t have a physical office. Every session is offered online and has been since August 2019. This offers you more flexibility and saves you commuting time-thus freeing you up to continue to enjoy the great things in life.

Who do you work with?

I work best with professional women in their 30’s and older. I’ve found that these women know they need to commit their time, energy, and money to reach their goals so they can be, do, and have the things and people they want in their lives. I do not work with children or adolescents. Also, I can only work with you if you live in the state of Texas.

Are you going to tell me what to do?

No, I don’t tell you what to do. I help you identify options and choices you may have not considered. I also help you anticipate and weigh the consequences, both negative and positive, of whatever choice(s) you make. We will also explore any patterns of behavior or ways of thinking that may be holding you back from having the kind of life or love you want. This means I’m offering you new information, skills, and strategies. I totally respect that it is your life and you make the decisions for it. That said, my role is to help you explore different ways of being, allowing, and encouraging you to make the best life decisions for yourself. IT IS YOUR LIFE AND YOU MAKE THE DECISIONS FOR IT.

Do I really need therapy to help me deal with stress?

It depends on your situation. Potential clients often ask me whether they need therapy to help them address the sources and symptoms of stress in their lives. My general response is since I believe there is a lot of misinformation about stress and how it affects your mind, body, and spirit, just about everyone can benefit. Plus, much of this (mis)information uses a cookie cutter approach. I strongly believe in a personalized approach to address your unique concerns. The key is if you believe that being highly stressed most of the time is not how you want to live, and you’re ready to gain some new knowledge, tools, new skills, so you can finally have some peace, then, yes, therapy can be beneficial.

To help you decide, if you have any of the symptoms below, then you may be experiencing the negative effects of an elevated stress response. This is only a brief list:

  • anxiety
  • depression
  • trouble sleeping
  • backache
  • feeling stuck
  • high blood pressure
  • skin problems
  • constant worry
  • tired
  • irritability
  • impatient
  • increase in drinking alcoholic beverages
  • increase in drug use
  • overeating
  • loss of hope

Are you a life coach?

No. I am psychologist licensed by the state of Texas. I provide psychological services, such as therapy, to adult individuals and groups. I do offer a coaching service through the Calm and Confident System TM. Feel free to check out some of the details here or give me a call.

Briefly, what is your therapy approach?

I help you gain a better understanding of how your sources of chronic stress may interfere with your feeling happy, optimistic, and in charge of your life. I believe by having the right personalized information, tools, and skills, you can finally have peace, joy, and excitement in your life. That means you now have a sense of direction too.

Yes, I know, life happens; something unexpected arises and you may develop non-health promoting ways of relating to a particular source of stress. This may lead to feeling stuck, overwhelmed, hopeless, lost, stressed out, and like you’re just spinning your wheels. But I can help you untangle and make sense of all of that, so you can feel and think better. You are then free to go out and create the kind of life you love.

To read more details about my approach, click here to read Our Difference

How are you to work with?

I’m passionate about what I do and that shows through my desire to empower you to have the tools, knowledge, and skills to create the kind of life you want. I recognize doing something different (e.g. therapy, new behaviors, new attitude) can be scary, so I work hard to provide a safe, nonjudgmental, and confidential environment for you to explore and become comfortable with the new person you are choosing to become.

Based on your concerns and goals, I use a combination of supporting you versus challenging you in our sessions, so some sessions may feel more challenging than others. To me, there is sacredness to our sessions since you are entrusting me to help you. I always respect that it is your life and ultimately, you are the decision maker for it.

What do you charge for therapy?

My goal is to help you create the kind of life you want but I don’t want your investment level to hold you back from getting the help you need. So I’ll be direct here-if you want low-cost therapy, TBC is not your option. Your investment is $185.00 (individual).  If you have questions about the investment levels, please contact me at 512.680.2874. You also have the option of securing a sponsor before you contact TBC. A sponsor is anyone who loves you and wants the best for you and is willing to pay for all or some of the sessions. Although you may feel hesitant in looking for a sponsor, many of my clients have told me that when approached, their sponsors felt honored and were more than willing to help.

Do you take insurance for reimbursement?

I understand that having health insurance can be important when you have medical issues and expenses. However, many insurance companies do not pay if you do not have a certain type of psychiatric diagnosis. That said, mental health clinicians are either in-network (on insurance panels) or out-of-network (not on insurance panels). I have decided to be out-of-network  for several reasons:

  1. When a mental health professional is on an insurance panel and accepts insurance for reimbursement, s/he must assign you a psychiatric diagnosis. The insurance company will decide the treatment process and how many sessions will be covered. This information often becomes a permanent part of your medical file. This may cause problems later when you might be asked, “have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness?”, for example, on a long term care insurance application. Many people I work with like to learn new skills or some different strategies to try at home or work; they do not necessarily have a diagnosis or a mental or emotional condition or a mental illness
  2. Sometimes I would be required to provide additional clinical information such as treatment plans or summaries or copies of your entire Clinical Record
  3. Company representatives with the benefit of little or no psychological training are empowered to make decisions about the type and amount of work that is appropriate for you
  4. Most importantly, it severely jeopardizes your confidentiality.

If we determine you do have a psychiatric diagnosis and wish to file for insurance, I will be happy to furnish you with a receipt, but you will still be expected to pay at the time of service and it will be up to you to mail the receipt to your insurance company and do any telephoning or other negotiation. Again, the insurance company may not reimburse you for that particular diagnosis because they will only accept certain ones-just because you submit a receipt does not automatically guarantee reimbursement. Contact your insurance company with any questions about this.

I want to help you create a life you love living, not potentially cause you problems later due to a particular psychiatric diagnosis on your records. That is why I do not take health insurance as reimbursement.

Do you work with any EAP’s?

Yes, I work with Lyra.

I have a court case pending/I may become involved in a court case. Can I still work with you?

No. If you’re currently involved or plan to be involved with the legal system, I am not your best choice. You may be a better fit working with a forensic psychologist.

You’re kidding! I have to do homework?

Yes. Homework is given at each session and it refers to an activity (i.e. strategy or technique) that you practice between sessions. Basically, you are testing out new ways of being, seeing how they feel to you, and whether they actually work for your unique situation. If they do or don’t-that’s good information. It tells us whether we need to try something else or work on fine-tuning what you are already doing. An example is setting boundaries and you may learn a particular assertiveness technique in session. Your homework would be to try it out in different situations over the week and then we discuss at your next session.

Any suggestions on how to prepare for my sessions?

First, for the intake interview, you’ll complete all paperwork online. I’ll send it to you and after you complete it, it automatically comes back to me. After i receive it, I’ll then send you a link to schedule your first session. I am only available for sessions Tuesdays through Thursdays.

2nd, for the intake and all other appointments, come prepared to work, bring your notebook,  and always do the homework so we can discuss it at our next session. Make sure you’re in a quiet, private space where you won’t be disturbed. Turn off unnecessary email and phone alerts and any other online programs. Test your set up before coming on line.

This is YOUR time-make it sacred because YOU are the most important meeting of your day!!!

Last, be and stay committed to your personal growth. This is a process-it takes time, so you’ll need to practice being gentle with yourself as you go through it. It’s your life and only you can make the changes necessary to create the kind of life you want.

How can I get started right away?

I Invite you to call for a up to free up-to-15-minute consultation at 512.680.2874. We’ll chat and explore how I may be of help. If we both decide we’re a great fit, then we can move forward.

I’ll talk with you soon,

Dr. B.