I offer a free consultation for any prospective client who can confirm insurance/form of payment and scheduling compatibility. Consultations are 15 minutes by phone for individual clients and 20 minutes by video for couples and other relational clients (all intended attendees must participate). The best way to reach me for a consultation is by email at kellystridercounsels@gmail.com; secondarily, you can contact me at 503-704-5061.

In the consultation, I’ll often ask what the prompting event was for you to look for a therapist, which tends to lead to some further discussion of what you’re wanting to address in counseling. If applicable, I will probably also ask what was helpful or not about any of your previous experiences in counseling. I may also ask what you think would be helpful from a therapist now, and, of course, if you have any questions for me.

Consultation doesn’t need to end with a decision about whether to become a new client and/or schedule a first appointment. If you do make the decision to move forward with me, you can expect to receive a batch of new client paperwork (consent forms, policy documents, and depression and anxiety screening tools) through Alma and a set of intake questions directly from me by email. All of this can be completed electronically.

I’ll use information from our consultation, your answers to the intake questions, and content from our first session to write an assessment, make a diagnosis (and explain what the diagnosis is based on), and create an initial treatment plan outline. The treatment plan will include 1) the primary things you want to address, 2) change goals related to those things, and 3) ideas for skills, interventions, therapeutic strategies, and psychoeducation intended to help you make progress toward those goals.

Typically, before our second session (after we’ve confirmed your fee/co-pay/co-insurance and discussed diagnosis and frequency of services), I’ll create and send you a Good Faith Estimate of your total out-of-pocket expenses if you were to receive counseling for a year. This is required by federal law for uninsured and private-pay clients, and good practice for everyone else, as it aims to increase transparency of healthcare costs.

At our second session, we’ll review the initial treatment plan and see if any changes or additions are needed. I make periodic updates to this plan when necessary, and we may also do so at any time in the counseling process when it might be helpful.

At the end of sessions, I may ask if there’s something you want to tag for next time and/or work on in between sessions. I’m flexible about “homework,” happy to utilize it if a client wants. I may also have something I think would be a good idea to resume next time, and will check in with you to see if you agree. Whatever flow our sessions might be following, it is always okay to pause and change focus if something that feels more pressing for you comes up, or if you sense that your emotions are overwhelming your ability to regulate.

At the beginning of follow-up sessions, I’ll usually refer back to however the last session closed, and see if you want to pick up there, or start with something else. I periodically use “therapeutic alliance questions” in sessions to see if we’re focusing on what’s most important to you, whether you’re feeling understood and respected, and whether you agree with how we’re addressing your concerns.

Concluding counseling services is always at your discretion. Ideally, it’s a decision that’s planned and intentional, and based on mutual agreement that there is no further work for us to do together at that time. Former clients are also welcome to reach out in the future about returning to therapy with me; subsequent counseling episodes are often uniquely deep due to shared history.