Do you accept insurance?
Yes! I am able to process insurance payments for individual, 53 minute long sessions or groups sessions for people with coverage from
United Health
Oscar
Oxford
Cigna
Aetna
Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Pending 2/15/24)
I am currently out-of-network with all other insurance providers though you may be able to ask your carrier about your out-of-network benefits- depending on what they cover I am happy to provide you with a superbill to receive reimbursement from your insurer. Learn more about the out of network process through this step by step guide. Unfortunately I’m not able to process insurance payments for couple’s therapy or KAP.
How much are your fees?
My current rate is $150 per 53 minute therapy hour, 80 minute sessions are $225.
Are you currently accepting new clients?
I am! My availability is somewhat limited in the evenings but depending on your flexibility I should be able to find space in person or online for new clients!
What is sex therapy?
In brief, sex therapy is just therapy about sex. I work with all sorts of folx on all sorts of issues but I specialize in topics related to gender, kink, queer and trans identities, polyamory, purity culture and yeah, sex. Though there’s nothing sexual about the therapy itself I do work with a number of body based approaches including meditation, polyvagal theory and somatic experiencing. I also team with Lauren Mason Yoga to provide collaborative and body-informed care.
How long does therapy last? How frequent should it be?
In short, as long as it needs to and as often as it should be. Everyone’s needs and resources are going to be different. When I work with someone new it’s generally my hope that we can start by getting together once a week, atleast for the first month or so. With couples we’ll often start with a couple of group sessions before occasionally breaking out and meeting one on one. Most folx will experience some form of relief within 3 or so weeks, with lasting change in as little as a few months. But again, everyone’s needs and resources are going to be different, and that’s okay. We’ll work together to find a strategy that works with what you have and meets your needs.
Are you seeing people in person, or just online?
Both! I have an in-person office located near N 183 and McNeil at 12741 Research Blvd, Suite 303, Austin, TX 78759. To find me, turn off the feeder road at the sign that says 'Large Oaks Plaza,' and you will find the counseling office in the second brown building on the left, across from the Z club. Once in the entryway, take the door to the waiting room on your left.
What is Legacy Pricing?
Over the course of my practice I have had to adjust prices as I’ve gone from intern to LPC and as inflation and Austin’s cost of living continues to rise. For many of the clients who have found me at various stages of my career my current price points would be challenging or unreachable and so since opening Valence Counseling I have never raised prices for established clients. If we choose to work together I commit to maintaining a lifetime price point commensurate with the one agreed to in our original contract to the best of my ability and currently have no plans to increase anyone’s rates.
Compassionate Pricing
I recognize that counseling can be very expensive and, like most aspects of American healthcare, exists in a financial system most of us find untenable. I strive to be accessible by working with insurers and offer affordable care through my partnership with OpenPath, use of legacy pricing and pro bono work. In order to reduce that burden I invite all of my full pay clients to request up to a $50 reduction in fees for any reason. No income verification, no hardship waiver, just a commitment to pay what you are able. In an effort to work towards a more just world compassionate pricing is offered upon request to all teachers, sex workers, non-profit employees as well as families of trans youth.
Are you an atheist?
Yes- therapists are generally encouraged to keep their personal values and beliefs if not a secret then atleast out of their clinical work but with my rather public advocacy and educational work with the Atheist Community of Austin it would be silly to say otherwise. As a member of the Board of Directors, show producer and host on the Atheist Experience Network I can plainly say I am an atheist, an empiricist and a materialist to the extent that such things matter. That said while many of my clients come to me from the atheist or #exvangelical community I work with all sorts of folx. Many of my clients, past and present, hold beliefs in a god or gods or other beliefs about the supernatural and we continue to do beautiful work together. I have no interest in using my clinical work to ‘convince’ or ‘recruit’ anyone to any sort of belief system- I just want to meet you and see what sorts of ideas I can help you wrap your mind around on the way to growth and healing.
