Frequently Asked Questions

If you feel like you’re struggling in your close relationships, have trouble connecting with people, or feel overwhelmed by everyday life in some way, therapy can help. People seek out therapy for a number of reasons, including:

• Dealing with childhood trauma, neglect, or abuse
• Coming to terms with or healing from abusive or harmful relationships
• Learning to manage your relationship to substances
• Healing your sexuality
• Coming out as queer, trans, asexual/aromantic, or nonmonogamous
• Dealing with weight-based trauma or disordered eating
• Living as a neurodivergent person in a world designed for neurotypicals
• Handling the stress of major life changes including childbirth, marriage, moving, death, career changes, and illness or disability
• Living with depression, anxiety, bipolar, borderline personality, DID, or other mental health conditions
• Working through and healing insecure attachment issues
• Working through difficulties within an intimate relationship together with your partner(s)

If you’re experiencing sadness, hopelessness, or challenges functioning in your life, looking into therapy is an excellent way to care for yourself. There is no shame in seeking help– on the contrary, it takes a lot of courage and self-awareness to recognize that you need support.

Coaching can take a lot of forms– it’s a very big field. In general, a coach is there to help you develop better tools and skills in one or more areas of your life, to help you discover your areas of growth, and to help you set and achieve goals to step more fully into the life you want to be living. They will encourage you, challenge you, push you, and give you resources to help you succeed.

A coach is NOT a therapist, even though you may be working on some of the same issues with a coach and a therapist. Our coaches are very careful to make the distinction and let you know if they think your work would be better done with a therapist.

Our coaches work primarily in the realm of dating, relationships, and sexuality, though they can also help you with religious trauma and spirituality, communication skills, and self-expression.

A number of benefits are available from participating in psychotherapy. Therapists can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues and creative blocks. Many people also find that counselors can be a tremendous asset to managing personal growth, interpersonal relationships, family concerns, marriage issues, and the hassles of daily life. Therapists can provide a fresh perspective on a difficult problem or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn.

Some of the benefits available from therapy include:

• Attaining a better understanding of yourself, your goals and values
• Developing skills for improving your relationships
• Finding resolution to the issues or concerns that led you to seek therapy
• Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
• Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
• Improving communications and listening skills
• Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
• Discovering new ways to solve problems in your family or marriage
• Improving your self-esteem and boosting self-confidence

Coaching can have some similar benefits, but it’s especially good when you’re trying to reach your full potential in an area of your life or work on part of your life where you’re ready to grow in a way that’s hard to do on your own. Coaches can provide some education and help connect you with the resources that are best for your situation. They can help you learn to identify and set measurable goals and offer you accountability. They can help you figure out why you’ve been struggling to break out of a pattern or reach the next level of growth, and help you find the tools to get there. They are the people who are there to observe and celebrate your victories and convince you to get up and try again when you fall.

We like to say that therapists are primarily concerned with the past and the present, and coaches are primarily concerned with the present and the future.

If you’re dealing with mental illness, trauma, burnout, or dysfunction, you are more likely to need a therapist. If there’s an area of your life that you want to develop or build skills in, or where you feel you need accountability, encouragement, and support, you are more likely to need a coach.

Life is complicated, and so are many of its challenges. If you’re not sure which you need, you’re welcome to reach out to us and let us help you figure out what you need.

Our practice specializes in many of the types of people who often find it difficult to find a therapist or coach who has any experience with their identities. We welcome you! Our practitioners are overwhelmingly part of those communities themselves, or at least have put in a great deal of work to understand those communities and serve them. We also educate and share with each other and seek out resources outside so that we’re all continually learning and growing. And if we don’t feel like we have the lived experience to give you the support we need, we’ll turn to our extensive networks to find someone to refer you to.

Unfortunately, no. We realize that not taking insurance makes it harder for many people to access therapy (coaching is not covered by any insurance), and for that reason we offer sliding scale based on need to the extent that we’re able. Coaching services also offer sliding scale.

If you pay out of pocket for your sessions, you can request a superbill from us. Sometimes, insurance companies will accept that as an “outside provider” and reimburse you part or all of the cost if they cover mental health services. If you’re not sure, we would recommend calling your insurance provider to make sure you understand in detail what they will or will not reimburse.

We do offer sliding scale appointments to coaching or therapy clients who fit within our areas of expertise and are not able to afford our full fee. We only have a limited number of spaces for these clients, so feel free to contact us and ask if we have sliding scale availability. Our workshops also offer sliding scale tiers, no questions asked.

Our therapists are generally licensed to practice in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. However, each therapist’s bio page lists the specific states in which they’re licensed.

Coaches do not have state licensure requirements and therefore can see clients anywhere in the world.

Our sessions are a 50-minute hour, which is pretty typical for psychotherapy. If your session is virtual, you’ll want to be in a private, uninterrupted space with a good internet connection. You’ll use an emailed link to log into a secure, HIPAA compliant virtual office via our client portal, Simple Practice. It’s similar to Zoom. If it’s an in-person session, try to arrive a couple minutes early. There will be water and snacks available.

Your actual session will look different depending on your practitioner, the relationship you build with them, and the modalities they use. We recommend asking your potential therapist in your consultation to describe how they work. You might be more focused on talk therapy, discussing the issues you’re struggling with in your life, or you might incorporate other types of tools.

It’s important that you show up to your session ready to be an active participant. Your therapist might give you books or articles to read or ask you to do some kind of “homework” between sessions– it will make your sessions more effective if you complete them. Even if they don’t, it’s important to try to integrate everything you worked on in the session into your daily life in between.

You will not be receiving any medical treatment or being prescribed medication in your sessions, but we will refer you to a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse if you need medical mental health care.

Like therapy, coaching sessions are a 50-minute hour that can be virtual or in-person. Coaches use the same secure virtual rooms through our client portal Simple Practice that our therapists do.

Coaching sessions tend to be focused on doing. Even though you’ll probably be talking through a lot of things, you’re both going to be looking at next steps, skill building, working towards goals, and reviewing progress.

Unlike many coaching practices, our coaches don’t tend to require clients to follow a fixed program. They tend to customize their sessions to their clients’ individual needs and styles of working, for as long or short a time as they need. You might prefer a coaching situation that’s heavier on talking and more free-flowing with no homework in between sessions, or you might prefer structured exercises and education with worksheets or reading in between. You’ll discuss that with your coach and figure out how you want to work together.

Take some time to look over our website, especially the profile pages for each provider. If you think that our services and practitioners might be a good fit, reach out to us on our Contact page to let us know you’re interested in working with us. If you don’t have a practitioner in mind, or aren’t sure whether you need therapy or coaching, we’ll be happy to guide you.

Once you’re connected with a practitioner who has space for new clients, you’ll have the chance to set up a consultation with them. This is a great time to tell them a little about yourself and why you’re seeking our services, and to ask as many questions as you’d like about their background and experience, how they work, how the practice works, and what to expect. You will NOT do any therapy or coaching in this session.

You’ll receive an email from Simple Practice, our HIPAA-compliant and secure client portal, asking you to create your portal login and complete a few simple intake forms on the site, including a credit card authorization so that your sessions can be auto-charged. Once those intake steps have been completed, you and your practitioner can set a date for your first session!

We do have two offices available for our practitioners to see people in person– one in the heart of Washington, D.C. and one in Northern Virginia. However, we also offer HIPAA-compliant telehealth therapy sessions and virtual coaching and education as well. It is up to each individual practitioner whether they are willing and able to offer in-person sessions, but all are able to offer virtual sessions.

That’s completely up to you and your practitioner! Many people have weekly or biweekly sessions, but you can decide what your needs and your budget require. You might even reach a point where you ask to have your practitioner available for occasional single sessions as needed (if your practitioner feels that would be effective for how they work).

In general, the law protects the confidentiality of all communications between a client and psychotherapist. No information is disclosed without prior written permission from the client. However, there are some exceptions required by law to this rule. Therapists are required by law to report to the authorities the following circumstances:

• If we suspect that an individual may be involved in child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse.
• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person.
• If a client intends to harm himself or herself. The therapist will make every effort to work with the individual to insure their safety. However, if an individual does not cooperate, additional measures may need to be taken.

Coaching in our practice is treated with the same level of confidentiality as therapy, but it does not have the legal restrictions and protections that therapy does. We do take your privacy very seriously and prioritize confidentiality with our coaching services as well.

In accordance with sex therapy training and current accepted practices in the field, we don’t believe sexual behavior in itself to be addictive in the way that substances are addictive. We do find that some clients have out of control or problematic sexual behaviors and we are glad to help clients identify the cause of those behaviors and work to develop better control. 

Medication and therapy complement each other very well, but they don’t do the same things. In many cases, medication helps manage your symptoms and support your everyday functioning in a way that makes therapy much more effective. We are not qualified to advise you about a medication regimen, but we can help refer you to someone who can.

Not everyone who is in therapy takes medication, and not everyone on medication is always actively in therapy. However, many people find that it’s really helpful to do both, just as you might combine therapy with other healing modalities like bodywork, nutrition, or gender-affirming surgery.

Absolutely! We can always refer you to other therapists or coaches as appropriate, but even if you’re sticking with your practitioner, we can help you find related professionals. This could include psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, or pelvic floor therapists, but it could also include bodyworkers, acupuncture, support groups, or even (especially with coaches) wardrobe consultants, personal trainers, makeup artists, and photographers.

Currently, all classes and workshops programmed through the Center are held virtually and are aimed at adult learners. Our topics tend to reflect our specialties and include polyamory/nonmonogamy, body image/fat liberation, neurodiversity, gender issues, dating and social skills, relationship skills, communication, kink, and sexuality. They are generally 1.5-2 hours in length, and all of them offer sliding scale and are recorded for all participants. Past workshop recordings are available for purchase as well.

Yes! We are even able to customize a training session to your needs– for example, educating staff on the needs of neurodivergent, queer, or trans employees or constituents.

Please reach out to us to discuss your situation and what you’re looking for. We’re happy to work with you to bring you something that fits within your budget and gives you the skills and information you need.

That’s absolutely possible. Many of our practitioners are extremely experienced public speakers and educators who already attend and present at conferences and conventions around the country. Reach out to us and let’s see if we can match you with someone who would be perfect for your event.

Yes! We are AASECT-approved to offer CEUs for our virtual workshops. You must register at the CEU level, attend the live session (not just watch the recording), and complete the workshop evaluation in order to receive your certificate. Many professionals find that our specialized topics give them a deep dive into niche areas that are difficult to find CEU courses on, but that are so valuable for working more effectively with clients.

We also offer supervision for clinicians working toward full licensure. Reach out to us to discuss your situation if this is something you need.