NUR COUNSELING LLC

STEPS TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT:

STEP 1 - Insurance verification: Please submit a counseling request through the "Send Inquiry" tab on this website. Email a clear photo of your insurance card to nurcounseling@gmail.com. I will retrieve your coverage and respond within 24 hours with detailed information about your benefits and copayment/deductible.

STEP 2 - Intake Forms and Informed Consent: Once your insurance is verified, you will receive an email containing your copayment and deductible details, an Intake form  to be completed as thoroughly and accurately as possible (brief responses are acceptable if preferred, as we will review everything during your first session) and an Informed Consent form" outlining therapeutic procedures, counselor background, policies, and fees. Please complete and return both signed forms via email. These documents are required by insurance for reimbursement. 

STEP 3 - Appointment Scheduling: Upon receipt of the completed documents, I will confirm your appointment date and time and provide a secure, unique Zoom link for our sessions. You will receive a text from the secure, HIPAA-compliant IVY app to add your payment method for session payments. IVY is used to collect payments and process refunds.

Role of Your Therapist: 

Therapy is a collaborative process built on trust and mutual accountability. Finding the right fit between client and therapist—both in skills and personality—is essential for a successful therapeutic journey. As your counselor, I serve as a reflective lens, helping you uncover your authentic self and guiding you toward personal fulfillment. I will never ask you to engage in any intervention you’re not comfortable with or ready for. My role is to challenge you thoughtfully, encouraging growth within your capacity and limits. My therapeutic approach is grounded in a nonjudgmental, supportive, and compassionate environment. Our work together is collaborative, goal-oriented, and empowering. While sessions primarily focus on the present moment, we also explore past experiences and future concerns as needed.Together, we will examine emotional challenges, behavioral patterns, and limiting perceptions. I will provide guidance to help you break unhelpful cycles and support you in making meaningful changes in how you think, feel, act, and communicate.

Your Role in Therapy:

Therapy is a partnership, and your active participation is key to making real progress. Based on what you need, I’ll share helpful readings, worksheets, behavioral experiments, reflection questions, relaxation exercises, mindfulness tips, and even audios or videos. The real growth happens when you bring these tools into your daily life. Completing homework or action plans between sessions isn’t just a task — it’s your chance to practice, learn, and build the skills that will help you create lasting change. Remember, the effort you put in outside of our sessions is what turns insight into real results. You’ve got this, and I’m here to support you every step of the way.

There are three phases to treatment:

1) Assessment: During the first one or two sessions, we’ll explore your experience with anxiety or depression in depth. This includes discussing your symptoms, history, daily life impact, and coping strategies you’ve tried. The purpose is to understand your unique situation and develop a treatment plan tailored to your needs.

2) Intervention: This phase is the heart of cognitive therapy. We’ll work together to identify unhelpful thoughts that contribute to your anxiety or depression, challenge these thoughts, and develop new ways of thinking. You’ll also learn practical strategies to manage anxiety symptoms across physical, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive areas. By changing your thoughts, you can reduce distress and respond more effectively to challenges.The basic idea of the CBT therapy is as follows: 

          Life Situation, Event (Trigger) → Thought (perception, interpretation) → Feeling (tense, anxious)

3) Termination: Towards the end, sessions become less frequent and focus on relapse prevention. This means building the skills and confidence you need to handle any future episodes of anxiety or depression independently, helping you maintain your progress over time.

Structure of a Typical Cognitive Therapy Session: 

1. Weekly Check-In and Strengths Review (5–10 minutes): Each session begins with the client sharing a brief update on their experiences with anxiety or depression over the past week. This includes discussing the frequency and intensity of any symptoms or episodes.

2. Review and Reflection on Previous Action Plan (5–10 minutes): We discuss the homework or action plan from the last session. Reflect on successes, challenges, and lessons learned, using this insight to guide the current session.

3. Collaborative Agenda Setting (5 minutes): Together, we decide on the key topics to address in the session, based on the check-in and review. This ensures the session focuses on what feels most relevant and important to the client.

4. Focused Exploration and Intervention (15+ minutes): Engage in the core therapeutic work of identifying and modifying problematic thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors contributing to anxiety or depression. Allow flexibility to delve deeply as needed.

5. Developing a Personalized Action Plan (5–10 minutes): Based on the insights gained, we create a realistic, tailored homework/action plan. Discuss potential obstacles and supports to ensure the client feels prepared and confident to carry out tasks between sessions. This plan aims to reinforce positive changes and build coping skills.

6. Session Summary, Therapist Observations, and Client Feedback (5 minutes): The client summarizes the key takeaways from the session and provides feedback on what was most and least helpful, allowing for adjustments in future sessions.

Therapeutic Style of CBT

• Education: Learning is a key part of CBT. As your therapist, I act as a guide and teacher, providing you with tools and knowledge to better understand and overcome anxiety or depression. This helps you build skills that last beyond therapy.

• Collaboration: You play an active role in the therapy process. Together, we set goals and decide on the best cognitive and behavioral strategies to reduce your anxiety or depression. Your input and experience shape the direction of our work.

• Socratic questioning: Through thoughtful questions, I help you explore your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that contribute to anxiety. For example, I might ask, “What was the worst outcome you imagined in that situation?” or “How likely was that to really happen?” This helps you gain insight and see things more clearly.

• Guided discovery: Rather than simply telling you what to do, I use careful questioning to guide you toward understanding the root causes of your anxiety and discovering your own solutions. This process encourages personal insight and lasting change.

• Collaborative experimentation: We work together to develop action plans and behavioral exercises that help you test new ways of thinking and behaving. Change happens most effectively through real-life experience, and these experiments help you build confidence and reduce fear step by step.

Suggested Readings and Self- Help Books: Click here to download the list of Book Suggestions

Psychoeducation/Coping Skills/Articles: www.facebook.com/www.nurcounseling.org 

Client Concerns within my Scope of Practice