Liberation psychotherapy is rooted in honoring the lived experiences of people and communities impacted by systemic oppression and suffering. It’s an approach to healing that prioritizes individual and collective well-being, empowerment, and changing our sociocultural conditions in support of social justice, equity, and dignity. While anyone can benefit from liberation psychotherapy, it is especially meaningful for people of the Global Majority (i.e., BIPOC), LGBTQIA+ communities, and allied people with similar values and commitments to social change. You may have seen that I specialize and work primarily with clients of these communities, but I don’t turn away anyone who can benefit from my therapeutic style and specializations.

I believe therapy can be a pathway to individual and collective liberation through healing. My approach therefore prioritizes the therapeutic relationship, with an ethic of CARE (connection, accompaniment, restoration, empowerment). I deeply value collective care, justice, and joy, and that healing isn’t something we can just “achieve,” but rather an ongoing and continual process for ourselves, those who came before us, and those who will come after us. Therapy with me tends to be longer term, deeper, relational work. 

If you think I’m the right fit for you, please reach out here with your general availability for scheduling an initial appointment. Once we find a time that works for us, I’ll send you some intake paperwork that I thoroughly review prior to our first meeting. Our first meeting will focus on getting to know each other, helping you feel settled and safe in the therapeutic space, and getting a sense of your story. I’ll also review the information you provided in your paperwork, follow up on any questions about it, and get a sense of your goals. Over the first 2-3 sessions, we’ll collaboratively develop a treatment plan that feels aligned.

In general, you can expect to discuss your experiences, identify patterns in your present and past, and build insight on any progress from the previous session in response to thoughtful questions, validation, reflection, and appropriate interventions tailored to you and your concerns. 

To sustain my work within a society dominated by racial capitalism, I provide individual therapy services using the anti-oppressive rate structure listed below. I invite you to review the questions in the next FAQ and follow the instructions to determine which level may best fit your circumstances. Please keep in mind that Sustain, Solidarity, and Reparations slots are limited and are prioritized for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who have multiple intersections of oppression. If you can invest more in your healing, please do so, as your decision to invest more is an act of solidarity and a refusal to accept the benefits of racial capitalism and privilege. Those who can commit to my full fee and redistribution (pay-it-forward) rates directly support individuals and communities with limited resources.

• Full fee: $300

• Sustain: $275

• Solidarity: $250

• Reparations: $100

• Redistribution (Pay-It-Forward): $450

If you are unsure if you can pay the full fee yet are motivated to work with me and believe I’m the best fit for your goals, please still reach out as reduced rate slots do open up. If I’m unable to take you on, and you prefer not to be on a waitlist, I can provide referrals to other practitioners who may still meet your needs.

For the other services in my practice: My fees for assessment begin at $350, and range depending on the specific type of evaluation you are seeking. Please find a detailed breakdown of these here. If you are seeking professional consultation, speaking engagements, workshops, or trainings, please reach out with your needs here to discuss a personalized quote.

For all services, I do not directly work with or bill any insurance companies. I accept debit, credit, HSA, or FSA payments using a HIPAA compliant processing system. When requested, I can provide you with a superbill (payment receipt) to submit to your insurance company to request reimbursement. However, you would need to contact your insurance provider to figure out their requirements for this reimbursement.

Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability and then count the total number of “yes” and “no” responses provided. There are plenty of experiences and situations not covered here, and I am not trying to rank anyone’s inherent worth or existence - these circumstances are listed because they often affect access to resources. I fully recognize that many if not all answers to the questions below aren't as simple as "yes" or "no." You know your financial reality better than any person or any scale, and I do not require proof of your answers. These are guiding questions that can invite an opportunity to examine your resources (or lack thereof). Please keep in mind that the Sustain, Solidarity, and Reparations slots are limited. If you can invest more in your healing, please do so, as your decision to invest more is an act of solidarity and refusal to accept the benefits of racial capitalism and privilege.

If you would like to opt out of this process, you can let me know and the full standard rate will be automatically applied. 

1. Are you and your family homeowners or landowners? (This question does not apply to those who are Native or Indigenous) 

2. Did you experience early life abundance and are now only experiencing “temporary scarcity”? 

3. Are you able-bodied? 

4. Do you have a degree that you did not pay with loans (private and federal)? 

5. Are you able to make payments on bills or credit cards? 

6. Do you experience housing security or stability? 

7. Do you work part-time by choice? 

8. Do you work for less pay by choice? 

9. Do you experience ease when paying bills? 

10. Do you have a relatively high degree of earning power due to your level of or kind of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.)? (Even if you are not currently exercising your earning power, I ask you to recognize this as a choice).

11. Do you have access to residual, gifted, supplemental, or passive income? 

12. Have you been able to easily access and afford health insurance for yourself?

13. Do you have income-generating assets (real estate, investments, stocks)? 

14. Do you have zero to no debt and/or do you have disposable income?

15. Are you able to financially manage your debt?

16. Do you have a safety net composed of “financially stable” or wealthy family and friends? 

17. Do you have access to a network of wealth? 

18. Do you have U.S. Citizenship? 

19. Do you have the ability to choose to work or not? 

20. Does your income only support you and not other loved ones? 

21. Have you or do you expect to inherit money or property? 

22. Have you (or could you have) attended college and/or graduate school)? 

23. Have you attended private education institutions, or do you have an advanced degree? 

24. Do you have income that is not from disability or social security? 

25. Do you have access to income that allows you to (regularly) vacation and spend money on other personal wants/desires? 

Review the questions & follow the instructions to determine which level may best fit your circumstances.

All Yes’s ➤➤➤  Redistribution (Pay-It-Forward): $450

Mostly Yes’s ➤➤➤  Full Fee (Standard): $300

Half Yes/Half No ➤➤➤  Sustain: $275

Mostly No’s ➤➤➤  Solidarity: $250

All No’s ➤➤➤  Reparations (QTBIPOC aka folks of the global majority): $100

Immense gratitude and credit to the writers and inspiration behind this anti-oppressive rate structure questionnaire:

N. Oumou Sylla, Kenya Crawford, Mia Schachter, and more. 

AORTA

Ride Free Fearless Money

Coactive Change

Worts and Cunning Apothecary

I wholly believe that therapy should be accessible, and ideally this would move beyond a sliding scale or reduced rate structure to a broader support system that honors where people are in income, identities, and life experiences. Therapy is expensive, and insurance unfortunately doesn’t lessen this cost. It’s natural to question whether or not this cost is worth it. 

That said, therapy is more than just an expense; it’s an investment in your healing and return to yourself, across your emotions, relationships, well-being, and general satisfaction with life. When clients see the cost of therapy, it’s easy to just look at the session hour and not much beyond that. However, just like medical doctors, my therapy fee reflects the extensive time I’ve put into my doctoral education, specialized training, and continued education, and is on-par with other licensed psychologists in Los Angeles with similar training and experience. 

This is an important and fair question – as I believe that mental health treatment should be accessible to all. in full transparency, I have gone through the research, applications, credentialing, and paneling process, only to arrive at the decision to not work with insurance companies, and here’s why: 

• Insurance can interfere in your treatment. This is reflected in how they limit the number of sessions they deem necessary, and the types of therapy I can provide, impacting the level of personalization and appropriateness of treating trauma and accessing healing. Further, insurance companies require a formal diagnosis before covering services. While diagnoses may be helpful to some people in certain contexts (e.g., psychological evaluation for school and workplace accommodations), as a whole, diagnoses are rooted in capitalistic ideals that assess someone’s ability to work, not actually live well. Diagnoses can sometimes be validating and help open up access to other resources, but can also have unintended consequences in becoming part of your permanent medical record, such as stigma or impacts for professionals in certain fields. You deserve access to mental health care without fearing negative repercussions or further marginalization. 

• Confidentiality is an ethical and legal must-have in the therapy room, and privacy is something I prioritize in your care. However, insurance does have the right to request more information on your treatment to justify and approve covering treatment costs, including reviewing private session notes and your diagnosis. To add insult to injury, insurance companies have moved from real people reviewing these records to instead using artificial intelligence (AI) to make automatic decisions about what services get covered and which ones don’t. I believe you deserve therapy that is personalized, effective, and private, not decided by third-party companies and AI systems who prioritize profit over people. You are more than a diagnosis or billing code, and your care should reflect and honor that.

• Insurance often undervalues mental health care. Beyond limiting treatment type and length, insurance reimburses therapists at rates far below what it actually costs to provide ethical, trauma-informed, culturally-grounded care, and in response, therapists have to see more clients to make ends meet. Therapists might wait 3-6 months to receive payments from insurance companies, sometimes even longer or not at all. In some instances, clients and therapists have had to pay insurance companies back for sessions the company decides are not “medically necessary.” This process involves significant unpaid administrative work, contributing to therapist burnout and reduced resources to show up for clients. You deserve a therapist that consistently shows up with the same energy and presence, whether you’re their first or last session of the day. 

Therapists are some of the only healthcare professionals consistently undervalued and underpaid, even though we do some of the most emotionally challenging work in the field. You rarely get people questioning the rates of medical doctors, psychiatrists, or chiropractors, yet these providers spend less time per client and carry much less emotional burden and earn significantly more. I run this therapy practice alone, with overhead costs, unpaid administrative work, continuing educational requirements, and business fees, including liability insurance, licensure fees, and professional associations and consultations to ensure you have the best possible care. These costs, while unseen on the client end, are essential to sustaining a therapeutic space where you feel safe, secure, and like your healing matters. 

Investing in your own healing will always be worth it. When you choose to invest in therapy, you’re getting more than a session, you’re gaining a dedicated advocate who offers personalized care for your wellness, growth, and healing. You’re entering a partnership with a liberation psychologist who is deeply trained and actively pursuing advanced trauma modalities to broaden their healing tools, a space that is affirming of your multiple identities, and a provider who has the energy and capacity to think and work deeply with you as a person, not just your symptoms. In working outside of the insurance system, you have greater self-determination to decide who you work with, what kind of work you do, and how long you would like to engage in therapy. 

I know therapy is a significant investment, and if you want to find quality care without relying on insurance, I offer three alternatives to support those seeking more affordable therapy options:

Out-of-Network Benefits / Reimbursement

Some insurance plans offer reimbursement for sessions with out-of-network therapists, covering a percentage of the cost. This is more common in PPO plans than HMOs. So for instance, the session costs $300, and insurance reimburses 50%, you’d initially pay the full amount, but would later receive $150 back. 

I can fill out paperwork for you to submit for reimbursement, called a superbill, if you have out-of-network benefits, although some insurers might still require a diagnosis for out-of-network claims. It is very important that you find out exactly what mental health services your insurance policy covers to avoid surprises, and here are some questions you can ask: 

1. Do I have benefits for outpatient mental health or behavioral health services (CPT code 90834)?

2. Do I have telehealth coverage and what modifier to use (i.e. GT or 95)?

3. What is my deductible and has it been met?

4. What is my reimbursement rate/percentage? 

5. What is the insurance's approved rate or allowable amount (aka price) for each session?

6. Ask if coverage differs per diagnosis (i.e. anxiety vs. depression vs. PTSD)?

7. How many mental health sessions per calendar year does my insurance plan cover?

8. Is there an authorization needed?

Reduced Rates

I offer reduced rate slots to make therapy more accessible as part of my commitment to support the community while not accepting insurance. These slots are prioritized for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who have multiple intersections of oppression. I invite clients to determine where they fall on my reduced rate schedule with a brief questionnaire as part of our intake paperwork. 

If you are unsure if you can pay the full fee, yet are motivated to work with me and believe I’m the best fit for your goals, please still reach out as reduced rate slots do open up. If I’m unable to take you on, and you prefer not to be on a waitlist, I can provide referrals to other practitioners who may still meet your needs. 

FSA/HSA

Many employers offer Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and using these pre-tax dollars lead to cost savings on therapy sessions. I am also happy to provide you with paperwork if you need reimbursement for a Health Savings Plan.

Therapy Fund Vouchers

There are certain organizations that offer funds to cover a number of out-of-pocket therapy sessions for a limited time. They vary in terms of the number of sessions covered (8-12) and have set application periods. These organizations are largely geared towards folx of the Global Majority (e.g., BIPOC) and I list a few I work with in the next question!

Yes, I do! I believe therapy should be accessible to all, and as a therapist who doesn’t partner with insurance, I am so glad that there are amazing organizations who offer therapy funds to increase financial accessibility for folx looking for therapy. I accept vouchers from the following amazing organizations:

• Mental Health Liberation Therapy Fund for BIPOC

• NQTTCN’s Fund for QTBIPOC

• Asian Mental Health Collective’s Lotus Therapy Fund

• The Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund for Black Women & Nonbinary Folks

Please note that each of these organizations have specific application periods and may also limit the number of sessions covered by vouchers.

If you’ve received vouchers from one of these funds and would like to use them, please let me know when we are setting up our initial appointment. We can then ensure that your paperwork is all set and collaboratively plan for your care even after the vouchers run out.

If you happen to receive these funds after we’ve already begun working together, you can still use them, just let me know!

For individual therapy, I typically see clients on a weekly basis, and then reassess how often we need to meet after the first 3 months of working together. Some clients may benefit from more or less frequent appointments. Individual sessions are typically 50 minutes long, and all sessions are currently conducted online via telehealth. If you’re ready to jump in, reach out with your availability in the upcoming week here and let’s get something scheduled!

In terms of how long you’ll be in therapy as a process - it depends (yes, classic psychology answer). Each person has differing goals, challenges, and responses to the treatment plans we co-develop. I move at the rate of relationship and am constantly monitoring and assessing your progress towards your identified goals. Healing is a long-term commitment, and my role is to support you in feeling like you can come back to yourself, with more acceptance, connection, and confidence in the changes you’ve made. Some clients benefit from short-term therapy for a specific issue, but most of my clients have complex trauma histories that can take longer to work through and unwind. Therapy is hard work, and it’s important to know that you’ll get more out of therapy if you actively participate and engage in the work, not just in sessions, but in your life outside of them. 

For Assessments - sessions vary from 60 - 120 minutes, depending on what your needs, capacity, and concerns are. I am always happy to accommodate and work with you to find what’s reasonable to meet your goals.

Yes! I offer virtual therapy for anyone residing in California. This is both due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure greater accessibility of services. Research studies have shown that telehealth can be equally as effective as in-person sessions for most types of treatment. Online therapy also supports increased access, convenience, and flexibility for clients, and reduces stigma around therapy services. 

Please ensure that you have a private space with a reliable internet connection for our sessions. I use a HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platform (Owl Practice) for our appointments, and you will automatically receive a link in your email once you book your appointment. 

Individual therapy sessions are offered from Tuesdays through Fridays, with appointments available from 9:00 am through 3:00 pm. I do not work on weekends. If you contact me outside of business hours, I will try to get back to you within 24 business hours. Individual sessions are 50 minutes. 

Psychodiagnostic assessments can take anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours, including the intake evaluation, assessment sessions, and feedback session. Once we have scheduled and confirmed your appointment, we will discuss set times for the intake, assessment session(s), and feedback. 

Please reach out here with your general availability for scheduling an initial intake appointment, and we can collaboratively identify potential times for a regular weekly appointment.

Under the law, health care providers are required to give clients who don’t have insurance or who aren’t using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services. You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services. You can ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service, or at any time during treatment. If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure you save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, or how to dispute a bill or see your Estimate, please visit: https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.

Research shows that the strongest predictor for a good therapeutic outcome is the relationship between a client and their therapist. This is why connection is a core component of With & For’s values! I recommend you read about me and my practice to see if my style seems like a good fit for what you’re looking for. During our first session, this is the time for both of us to get to know each other, for me to get a thorough and deeper look into your background, goals, and concerns to give you an idea of not only what interventions might be effective for you, but also give you a sense of what it’d be like to work together. I really want you to find a provider who feels right for you, and if it isn’t me, I’ll do my best to offer a few referrals and options to support you in getting there.