Frequently Asked Questions
What is therapy?
Therapy offers a confidential, supportive opportunity to talk about what you're experiencing with a trained professional. Together, we can explore current concerns, understand patterns that may be affecting your life, develop coping strategies, and work toward meaningful change.
Therapy is a collaborative process. Your experiences, goals, needs, and readiness guide the work, and we work together to determine what approaches are most helpful for you.
How do I know when it's time to see a therapist?
Everyone experiences difficult periods in life. But if you find that anxiety, sadness, stress, trauma-related symptoms, or other emotions are beginning to interfere with your relationships, work, daily functioning, or sense of well-being, therapy may be worth considering.
You might also benefit from therapy if you don't feel like yourself, find yourself repeating patterns you'd like to change, feel overwhelmed by your emotions, or simply want a supportive space to better understand yourself.
How can therapy help?
Therapy can provide a place to develop greater self-understanding, work through difficult experiences, shift unhelpful patterns, improve emotional regulation, strengthen relationships, and develop healthier ways of coping.
The process looks different for everyone. Your goals, history, and readiness help determine what we focus on together.
Questions About Trauma
Do I have to talk about everything that happened?
No. You are never required to share more than you feel ready to discuss.
Trauma therapy is paced carefully, and we can focus on what feels relevant to your current life. Safety, trust, and your sense of control are important parts of the process.
Can therapy help if I don't remember everything?
Yes. You do not need to remember every detail of your childhood or past experiences for therapy to be helpful.
Sometimes what remains with us is less about a complete memory and more about patterns, emotions, body sensations, beliefs, or reactions that continue to affect us today.
What if I don't know whether what happened to me “counts” as trauma?
You don't have to decide whether your experiences qualify as trauma before coming to therapy.
Some people experienced obvious traumatic events, while others grew up with emotional neglect, chronic criticism, instability, difficult relationships, or other experiences that were painful and deeply affecting.
We can explore your experiences without requiring you to apply a particular label to them.
How do I know if my childhood experiences are affecting me now?
Sometimes the connection becomes clearer when you notice patterns that seem difficult to change.
You might struggle with anxiety, shame, self-doubt, people-pleasing, boundaries, relationships, emotional regulation, feeling safe, or being overly critical of yourself.
Exploring these patterns can help you better understand where they may have developed and how they continue to affect you today.
Questions About EMDR
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is an evidence-based psychotherapy approach that can help people process distressing memories and experiences that continue to affect them in the present.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements or other alternating sensory stimulation, as part of the processing process.
What happens during an EMDR session?
EMDR is conducted in phases. Before processing traumatic experiences, we spend time understanding your history, identifying goals, and developing stabilization and grounding resources when needed.
When you are ready, we may identify a specific memory, belief, emotion, or body sensation to work with while using bilateral stimulation.
You remain in control of the pace throughout the process.
Is EMDR painful or overwhelming?
EMDR can bring up emotions, but it does not have to be overwhelming.
Preparation, stabilization, and pacing are important parts of treatment. We don't rush into processing experiences before you have the resources and stability needed to engage in the work.
Do I have to describe my trauma in detail for EMDR?
No. EMDR does not require you to tell the entire story of what happened or describe every detail.
The focus is on processing the aspects of the experience that remain distressing. We work within your level of readiness and comfort.
Can EMDR help with childhood trauma?
Yes. EMDR can be used to address the effects of childhood trauma, including abuse, neglect, emotional wounds, and other experiences that continue to affect you in adulthood.
For complex or longstanding trauma, treatment may begin with stabilization and building internal resources before moving into trauma processing.
How long does EMDR take?
There is no single timeline for EMDR. The length of therapy depends on your history, the complexity of your experiences, your goals, and your current level of stability.
Some people experience meaningful changes relatively quickly, while more complex or longstanding trauma may benefit from longer-term therapy.
Practical Questions
Do you offer online therapy?
Yes. I offer secure online therapy to adults throughout Tennessee, in addition to in-person therapy in Knoxville.
Online therapy can be a convenient option if you live outside the Knoxville area or prefer meeting from the comfort of your own space.
Do you see clients outside Knoxville?
Yes. I offer in-person therapy in Knoxville, as well as secure online therapy throughout Tennessee.
I also serve clients in surrounding areas including Farragut, Maryville, and Oak Ridge through in-person or online services, depending on the circumstances.
How long is a therapy session?
Individual therapy sessions are typically [insert session length].
The length and frequency of sessions can vary depending on your needs and treatment goals.
What happens during the free consultation?
The free consultation is a brief, no-pressure opportunity to talk about what you're looking for and ask questions about working together.
You don't need to tell your entire story during the consultation. We'll simply talk about what brings you to therapy, what you're hoping for, and whether my approach and services seem like a good fit for your needs.
Do you accept insurance?
Yes. When you use an in-network insurance benefit, therapy services are billed through your insurance according to your plan's coverage.
Your specific copay, deductible, coinsurance, and other out-of-pocket costs depend on your individual insurance plan. I recommend contacting your insurance provider to confirm your benefits.
What does therapy cost?
Therapy is billed at my standard individual therapy rate. When you are using an in-network insurance benefit, services are billed through your insurance according to your plan's coverage.
[Insert your current self-pay/session rate here if you would like to publish it.]
How do I know if we're a good fit?
Finding the right therapist is personal, and you should feel comfortable asking questions about the process.
During an initial consultation, we can talk about what you're experiencing, what you're hoping to work on, and what you're looking for in therapy. This gives both of us an opportunity to determine whether working together feels like a good fit.
You don't have to know exactly what you need before reaching out.
Questions About Starting Therapy
How should I prepare for my first session?
You don't need to prepare anything perfectly.
It can be helpful to think about what brought you to therapy, what you'd like to change, and any concerns or questions you'd like to discuss. You are also welcome to simply begin with what feels most present for you.
Your thoughts, needs, and opinions are an important part of the therapeutic process.
How do I keep making progress in therapy?
Progress often comes from consistency, honesty, and collaboration.
Attending sessions regularly, being open about what's working and what isn't, practicing skills between sessions when appropriate, and communicating when you feel stuck can all help support meaningful progress.
Therapy isn't about doing everything perfectly. It's about continuing to show up and working together to understand what you need.