FAQs

Overall, I help adults, couples, and older teens (typically 15 and up) who want to understand and improve their lives.

I specialize in working with clients who identify as male, either in individual therapy or as part of a couple. I have worked successfully with clients of all genders (and sexual orientations). I have helped many female clients set better boundaries in relationships, regain a sense of personal power, recover from trauma and loss, and develop a healthier sense of self.

My office is located in Northwest Austin, right off US 183 and not far from MoPac and the SH 45 Toll Road. I’m easy to get to from central Austin, Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Leander.

I also offer secure online video sessions (and phone sessions).

The first step is to call or email. We will either chat briefly at that time to set something up – or I will call you back within a day.

We can do a free 15-minute initial phone consultation to decide if we want to work together. If it seems like a fit, I will send you link to my online portal system where you will review and provide some information, and e-sign a few documents.

Phone and email are best since they are more secure (for your privacy). However, sometimes clients will shoot me a quick text to confirm or change an appointment – or let me know they are running a bit late. Anything more than that, it’s probably better to call.

Come on in and have a seat in the shared waiting room. I will come out and greet you at our scheduled time, offer you some water, and bring you back to my office.

I am not an in-network provider for any insurance plans. This means you will need to pay my full fee directly.

However, I may be considered an out-of-network (OON) provider under your insurance plan. This means I can provide you with documentation to forward to your insurance company, and they may reimburse you directly for part of the cost of our sessions.

The best way to figure this out is to call your insurance company directly. There is usually a number on the back of your insurance ID card. When you speak to someone about your benefits, the key words to mention are “out-of-network outpatient behavioral health.”

I ask for 24 hours’ notice to cancel an appointment. If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, then I charge the full fee for that time. I also consider it a late cancellation if you are more than 15 minutes late for our scheduled appointment.

Individual and couples sessions are 50 minutes long, unless we plan in advance for a longer session. (This is often helpful if a partner, family member, or other person will be part of the session.)

I process payment electronically after each session using the debit, credit, HSA, or FSA card information you securely store in my online portal system. Arrangements can be made to pay by cash or check for in-person meetings.

Prior to our first session, you will receive an email invitation to set yourself up in my secure online client portal system. There you will provide some basic personal information, electronically sign some consent forms, and safely store your electronic payment information.

Other than this, there isn’t much of anything to do before we meet. I’m a big believer in KISS (the philosophy, not the band), as in Keep It Simple, Silly.

Applying the KISS principle to a session means: Show up. Be yourself. Be curious. In my experience, those are the essential ingredients for an awesome session, whether it’s your first or 51st.

It’s my job to manage pretty much everything else. I’ll watch the time. I’ll help guide us to get and stay on track. In the immortal words of Nirvana (now that’s a band I like!), “Come as you are.”

At our scheduled time, I will greet you in the shared waiting room and escort you to my office; or in the case of online sessions, just show up in our secure video chat room.

Then, I will usually ask something like “So, how are you?” or “Where would you like to start?” Then we go from there, figuring out together what is most important to focus on.

If you’re stuck (a client once told me her “brain was broken” that day!), I’m there to help.

Toward the end of the session, we will usually come up with some sort of homework for you; basically, something you would like to practice or accomplish before our next meeting. It’s not like school. You don’t lose points or get in trouble if you don’t do it. It’s just a way to continue your work outside our meetings.

Though it will look and feel different depending on whether we are meeting in person or online, I do pretty much the same thing in both situations:

I will sit across from you and alternate between listening, speaking, and occasionally jotting down notes. (I take notes on an iPad, so you may hear the gentle tap of the Apple Pencil on my screen). My role is to guide the conversation and offer helpful feedback.

Frequent client comments like “I feel like you get it” or “I have never thought of it that way” or “This is the first time I am telling anyone this” let me know I am succeeding in creating a safe space for you to explore, share, heal, and grow. Clients often report leaving our sessions feeling lighter, better about themselves, and clearer about what they want to do.

If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t be doing this.

I believe that after our initial consultation and first two or three full sessions, you will have a sense if I can help. Go with that.

If at any point in the process either one of us has questions about whether its working, we will discuss that. We can either change what we are doing or come up with other options that will meet your needs.

That really depends.

Some people report feeling better after our initial phone call. It confirms there is a caring person out there who wants to help.

Many people also report feeling better after a first session. They leave feeling heard and hopeful about change.

How long things take is really up to your goals – and the time and energy you have to put into the work. I have found that clients get the best and most rapid results when we meet weekly.

This is especially true in the early stages, when we are still getting to know each other, setting goals, and building momentum.

Because you are human, and we humans tend to shy away from things that might seem new, overwhelming, scary, or confusing. Or like a big commitment. Or time-consuming. Or expensive.

It’s a big decision to reach out and start therapy. Sometimes, big decisions take some time. So, take your time. But, also, be willing to take a chance. It could change – or even save – your life.

Another reason could be you have done therapy or met with therapists before and just weren’t feeling it. Maybe it was boring, impersonal, or a bit awkward. I get it.

You need to feel comfortable with the person. Clients often describe me as direct, thoughtful, interested, spontaneous, and occasionally silly. I love metaphors, humor, and music – and those often find their way into sessions.

I often joke with clients that the worst insult I can hear is, “You sound like a therapist.” Not because therapists – or the things we say – are bad! But because I take that to mean things aren’t feeling natural.

If it feels like therapy is somehow being done to you, like some cookie-cutter sales pitch for new windows on your home, then I am failing. If it feels like a really good conversation – free-flowing, transformative, and maybe tough at times – then we’re nailing it.

When it comes to “counseling” and “therapy,” the answer is: not much. Both are professional helping arrangements in which we take turns talking and listening to each other with the intention of increasing understanding and improving well-being. Both are grounded in understandings of psychology and human development.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Texas, which means I earned a master’s degree in counseling; performed at least 3,000 hours of supervised training; passed a licensing exam; keep current on the latest developments in the field; and adhere to the highest legal and ethical standards.

Professional counseling and psychotherapy are considered healthcare services, much like a visit to your primary care physician’s office for a checkup.

Like counseling and therapy, coaching is also a professional helping relationship in which we will engage in direct and personal conversations meant to bring out the best in you and help you create the life you want.

The focus can be on specific personal projects, business successes, or general conditions in your life or profession. Unlike professional counseling and psychotherapy, coaching is not a regulated healthcare service. However, I still adhere to the same high ethical and legal standards in my coaching work.

One benefit of coaching is that because it is not regulated, you do not need to be a resident of the state of Texas to work with me in a coaching arrangement.

You might be surprised how often I hear this one. The answer is yes. (Or, should I say, f&#%-yeah!)

Remember: Your role in therapy is to be yourself, whatever that means at any given moment. I hope you will take the opportunity to speak as freely as feels right for you. I have been known to drop a therapeutic “B.S.” or F-bomb in session – provided that it is appropriate to the client’s age, personal style, and context.

Yes! At several different times in my life, actually. First, in my teens when I was super anxious and stressed about school. It was helpful to feel heard, understood, and supported.

I have also seen therapists to help me navigate major life transitions including graduating college, getting married, changing careers, and becoming a parent. Each time, I have found therapy helpful in managing stress in healthier ways and learning useful new things about myself.

I have a wife, whom I have known for a long time. We have a son together. You may end up hearing about them. Not that I make your sessions about me and my life; however, I do believe in occasionally sharing some of my personal – how shall we say? – “teachable moments” if they serve to support and encourage you in embracing “mistakes” and “failures” are growth opportunities.

If nothing else, it can underscore the important point that we are all imperfect people: learning, growing, getting stuck, messing up, fumbling around, and moving on. These truths are helpful when we are being too damned hard on ourselves.

I consider myself fortunate that my early teen years coincided with the birth, short life, and untimely death of the “grunge” era. (I am still shocked when younger clients refer to bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam as “classic rock” – yikes!)

From there, I got deeply into classic punk rock and hardcore music like The Clash, The Damned, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat – all of which I still love.

To expand my horizons as a musician myself, I started integrating classic 1950s music and rockabilly, which allowed me to combine aspects of blues and jazz with the visceral edge of punk. (I was also not shy about reciting a favorite Biggie Smalls or Jay-Z verse here and there.)

These days, I enjoy a lot of more atmospheric indie rock and rootsy Americana. I also start my Sundays listening to classic jazz like Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman while cleaning up around the house. Having a young child who insists on controlling the car radio means I have come to appreciate a finely crafted pop song… the kind of songs my edgy punk rock self would have fiercely opposed!

That’s a tough once since I have had the opportunity to drive so many. Before I was a therapist, I was a journalist. At one point, I was the only male staffer at a luxury lifestyle magazine, so I became the resident “car guy” (hello gender stereotyping!).

That meant luxury automakers would literally hand me the keys to automobiles that sometimes cost more than my house. I would tool around for a few days, stuffing groceries into Aston Martins and Bentleys and picking friends’ kids up at school in Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis (all true stories!) and write about my impressions.

I still do it from time to time. It’s a lot of fun, and I am grateful for the opportunities. Having driven my fair share of opulent automobiles (including a $2.5 million Bugatti), I can safely say: You can’t go wrong with a Porsche.

Gosh, I hope so. It’s been a rough few decades! I know Texas is football country, but the only sport I really follow is NBA basketball.

Coming of age in New York City in the 1990s and early 2000s, I have fond memories of Patrick Ewing and company going nose to nose (sometimes literally!) with fierce rivals like Jordan and the Bulls, Miller and the Pacers, and Mourning and the Heat. I have longed for the days when the Knicks matter again. The recent 2021 playoff run was a nice treat, even though it didn’t last long. I just hope I don’t have to wait another decade!