I offer individual trauma and anxiety therapy to adult women ages 18+. I am based out of the Naperville area, but meet with all of my clients online. I am licensed to provide online therapy to anyone who lives in Illinois.

I am a trauma and anxiety therapist who can provide: anxiety, stress, trauma and PTSD therapy, EMDR therapy, and healing from unhealthy relationships (and building better ones!). I also have some training in supporting adults who are neurodivergent and often late-diagnosed; many clients I’ve worked with have described going through life without knowing about their neurodivergence as feeling like a trauma in and of itself and I’ve found being able to teach people more about how their brains work and why brings great relief!

I am an anxiety and trauma therapist in the Naperville area, but I work through a group practice 100% online serving residents of Illinois in my online therapy office. I meet with clients through a HIPAA-compliant, secure client portal/video platform. It works great for clients who are comfortable with telehealth, and I love the convenience and flexibility it allows me to provide to the people I work with!

No. I am only licensed in the state of Illinois, and the current telehealth rules are that a client must be physically present in Illinois at the time of the appointment. This also means that even if you do live in Illinois and travel out of state, we would need to cancel our appointment and reschedule. If you would like to be able to meet with a therapist who can see you when you are in more than one state, you would need to seek someone licensed in multiple states. :) Right now, PsyDs (psychologists) have an easier time due to PSYPACT, which allows them to seek license reciprocity in participating states.

Absolutely! Many modalities, including EMDR, have been adapted to telehealth as the modality has become more common, and I received specific training on ways to do EMDR through an online format. I’ve seen great success with EMDR sessions done over secure video when clients have a strong Internet connection and a private place to meet. For people who don’t have that, seeking an in-person EMDR counselor would be a better option.

In most cases, yes! Research is showing outcomes are just as good with online therapy for a variety of problems, so it’s more a matter of personal preference. If you like the idea of greater convenience and have a good Internet connection and a private space to meet, online therapy could be a great fit for you! If you’re still not sure, feel free to fill out my contact form anyway (see the “Book a Call” button below!) and ask more questions. Even if you ultimately decide online therapy is not for you, I can at least point you to other resources. :)

I usually meet with clients weekly, because research shows this is the most effective “dose” of therapy on average. I’ve seen this in my own personal experience with my clients too! I know that most people want to feel better sooner, and weekly therapy can help us make steadier progress and break old habits and patterns faster. On occasion, I do have biweekly openings that might work better for someone who’s experiencing milder challenges and can still receive benefit from biweekly meetings.

I meet with people for about 55 minutes per session.

There are a lot of factors that can affect length of therapy, so it will be different for everyone. I’ve seen people graduate from therapy within 12-16 weekly sessions working on a couple of specific things and in other cases, people have chosen to participate in therapy for 1+ years to work on longer-standing things.

Typically, clients will set goals for 6 months, but we will regularly check in about progress, how you are feeling, and if you feel what we are doing is working (or not!) and how to do things in a way that works well for you. I re-evaluate treatment goals every 6 months, which can help clients determine if they feel they’ve gotten all they need out of counseling or if there are other things they still want to work on.

While I will help make suggestions about the length of therapy, we will usually finish up when you feel like you’ve gotten what you need and don’t have any additional goals to work on. :)

The first session is spent talking about your symptoms and history so I can get a good picture of what’s going on and help you set specific goals that you would like to reach.

Sessions after that first one usually start with clients briefly updating me on stresses, symptoms, or problems that came up in the last week, and I will assist you with learning tools or doing activities in-session to help deal with these issues. We will also check in about progress on a regular basis to make sure that what we’re doing together is working for you, and to make a change if needed.

Most people can tell within the first 2-3 sessions if they are getting anything at all out of therapy, whether it be increased awareness, a small tool to take the edge off of symptoms, or a new way of looking at things that helps you cope with your situation.

I regularly ask clients how they’re feeling about what we’re working on, so if you aren’t noticing even a small shift after about a month, let me know! In that case, I would try to change things up in a way that would work better for you, or if that doesn’t work, I’ll help you find a referral that might be a better fit.

Most people look for therapy when their anxiety, trauma or stress symptoms are so overwhelming that they start to make it hard to do the things that are important to you. For example, maybe you just can’t keep a routine, you can’t sleep or concentrate, struggle to lean on your friends for support, or feel like your relationships get in the way of other important things in your life. Basically, if you feel your problems are interfering somehow in your life, therapy can help you figure out ways to overcome them so you can live more how you want to.

I am in-network with PPO plans for BCBS, Aetna, United Healthcare (UHC/UBH), and Cigna. I am not in-network for any HMO plans, Medicaid or Medicare.

Keep in mind that even with PPO plans, there are many different types of plans out there and you will need to call the number on the back of your insurance card to ask about your behavioral health benefits to confirm that I’m in-network with your specific plan. You can provide them with my name and the name/address of the practice where I work, Obsidian Behavioral Health at 103 N 11th Ave # 106, St. Charles, IL 60174, to see if I am in-network. Be sure to ask them to check their behavioral health directory; if they check their directory for medical providers, counselors will not show up.

As of right now, yes! I’m in-network with PPO plans for BCBS, Aetna, Cigna, and United Healthcare (UBH/UHC) and have met with people over telehealth with these plans. The general consensus is that it seems insurance companies will continue to cover therapy via telehealth because of the number of people who have been using telehealth and finding it beneficial. It’s always possible things could change, but there has been a lot of advocacy both on the state and national levels to try to ensure people who have benefitted from telehealth services will be able to continue to access it in the future.

Providers are monitoring the situation, and I also recommend you call the number on the back of your insurance card anyway to double check that I am in-network with your specific plan. When you do that, ask them to tell you your behavioral health benefits and ask them if individual outpatient counseling/psychotherapy is covered via telehealth.

If you’d still like to work with me, you can choose private pay. My private pay fee is $140 per session.

Yep! Just like anything else, there are pros and cons to using insurance vs. private pay. People may choose private pay if they don’t want to send information about a diagnosis to insurance companies (insurances require a “medically necessary diagnosis” in order to cover sessions). Insurance companies occasionally audit mental health records to determine if they feel covered sessions were medically necessary, and if they decide it was not, they may take back their reimbursement and put the burden of paying for those sessions back on the client. Therapists are trained to document in ways that meet the requirements of insurance companies, but the decision is ultimately the insurance company’s. These companies can also sometimes make rules about when and how often people see their providers or what type of therapy they will cover, which is usually based more on their bottom line rather than what is actually good for their members. Some people prefer to choose private pay to avoid these issues.

Private pay definitely is not feasible for everyone, and understandably so! But the option is there for people who want to go that route.

In order to reserve an appointment, I ask people to keep a card on file, such as a credit/debit card, HSA, or FSA card. Payment is due the day of the appointment. I don’t have people carry an account balance. If you have any concerns about payment, please feel free to discuss with me during our 15-minute call so we can find what will best meet your needs!

I am available for appointments Mondays through Wednesdays. Mondays and Tuesdays my schedule is from 9am until 8pm and on Wednesday I see clients from 9am until 1pm. You can check my Psychology Today profile for specific openings. I try to update that profile regularly when new openings become available.