It's normal to have questions

If you’ve never experienced therapy before, it can be intimidating trying to anticipate what might happen within a session. Below are the typical patterns for the first several sessions of therapy for individuals and couples. Individuals (adults & teens): 1st (Intake) session: Review your personal history, the history of the problem you’d like to address, and possible relating factors. 2nd session: Explore more of the strategies you’ve attempted, what is working/not working for you, and begin to explore other research-supported tools. 3rd session: Settle into a typical session rhythm: addressing the distress and working to align your life with your desired direction. Couples: 1st (intake) session: Review each person’s personal and relational history, the history of the problem you’d like to address, and possible relating factors. 2nd session: Explore one partner’s family history and history of important relationships. 3rd session: Explore the other partner’s family history and history of important relationships. 4th session: Settle into a typical session rhythm: addressing distress, reviewing raw spots in the relationship,and working to establish trust and collaborative goals.

Sessions are 45-50 minutes long.

Our client portal software will contact you 48 hours before your scheduled appointment. This will give you the ability to cancel your session with no charge. If you cancel within 24 hours without providing information about an emergency or illness, you will be charged for the session time.

One of the most widely-used ways many of us handle our distress is to avoid it. However, attempts to avoid pain and discomfort can often cause us to act out of alignment with our values and goals—creating more suffering in the process. Our sessions together will ask you to come into contact with your discomfort in a safe, attainable, and research-backed manner—which might feel hard. However, our sessions will also help you to get in touch with what matters most to you in your life and help you engage it more—which many clients find energizing.

Psychiatric medications whether for anxiety, depression, or other psychiatric concerns, can only be prescribed by a physician (MD) or psychiatrist. If you sign a release of information, I would be happy to communicate with your primary care physician about any symptoms or side effects you may be experiencing. However, I cannot prescribe medications for you.

At this time, virtual sessions are not offered as a primary method of therapy. However, virtual sessions can be utilized occasionally in case of illness or unexpected schedule change.

Sessions are by appointment only. Feel free to utilize the ”Contact” or "Get Started" links to request a consultation and appointment.

You do not need a referral from any other provider in order to schedule a session.

Pricing is set at $90 per session. However, adjustable session fees (called sliding scale) are available for a set number of clients at any time. To learn more about sliding scale fees--or how to check your insurance benefits to see if they might be able to help with the cost of session fees--click here. Payment for counseling is taken by cash or by credit/debit card (Visa/MasterCard/Discover/American Express). We also are able to accept Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) cards as well. We require that a card-based payment form is kept on file in order to receive care.

Provisional License Professional Counselors (PLPC) cannot join private insurance panels. Only fully licensed professional counselors can become panel providers with insurance companies. However, you may be eligible to seek reimbursement from your insurance company for sessions you have already paid at Align KC. For more details, please visit our Insurance & Super Bill page.

At Align KC, we value a comprehensive approach that recognizes the various dimensions influencing each individual’s life, such as emotions, thoughts, self-awareness, motivation, behavior, relationships, culture, and physical/medical factors. Our sessions aim to explore and understand how these aspects interplay in your life. We employ a process-based approach, drawing on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, to ensure that we address your unique needs and goals in a research-informed manner.

Our protocols during the pandemic have varied widely depending on mandates and current community rates of infection. We do not have one set protocol for safety, as this issue is ever evolving. However, your therapist will maintain communication and updates with you regarding policy.