Questions You Might Be Thinking But Haven’t Asked Yet
The therapy questions, the practical questions, and a few things you may be wondering before deciding whether you want to work with me.
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Nope. You don’t even have to like talking about your feelings. You can start with what happened, what you’re thinking about, what’s pissing you off, or the fact that you have absolutely no idea what you’re supposed to say. We’ll figure out the feelings part together if and when it’s useful.
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Welcome, intellectualizers!
Insight is useful, but understanding a pattern and actually changing it are two different things. We can use the part of your brain that wants to analyze and understand while also paying attention to the emotional information that logic alone may not be resolving.
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Then I want to know what you hated about it. Maybe it felt too passive. Too clinical. Too vague. Maybe you didn’t connect with the therapist or were asked to do things that made absolutely no sense to you.
A bad experience with therapy gives us useful information about what probably won’t work for you this time around.
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Absolutely! (I do sometimes, too.)
You don't have to censor yourself or worry about sounding a certain way. If swearing is how you express yourself, we're going to be just fine.
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Not just because therapists are apparently contractually obligated to ask about your mother. Your past can absolutely matter when it helps us understand something happening now, but we don’t need to spend every session digging through childhood memories simply because they exist.
First, Let’s Talk About the Therapy Part.
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Please tell me!
I would much rather hear, “Yasmin, absolutely not,” than have you politely participate in something you hate because you think that’s how you’re supposed to do therapy. We can talk about why it isn’t working, adjust it, or try something else.
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I don’t think anger is automatically something we need to get rid of. Anger is information. It can point us toward violated boundaries, unmet needs, grief, injustice, hurt, fear, or something that has been building for a very long time. We’ll work on understanding what it’s telling you and finding ways to respond without letting it cost you the things you actually care about.
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Please do! I’m not automatically right because I’m sitting in the therapist chair. If something I say doesn’t fit, tell me. Therapy works a lot better when we can actually talk to each other instead of you trying to figure out what answer I want to hear.
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Of course. I can't promise I'll answer every question, but you're always welcome to ask.
Sometimes sharing something about myself makes sense in the context of our work, and sometimes it doesn't. Either way, we can talk about it.
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Geek Therapy uses things like books, movies, anime, comics, superheroes, video games, tabletop games, fandoms, sci-fi, and fantasy as another language for exploring real-life experiences.
And no, you absolutely do not have to identify as a geek. If it fits you, we can use it. If you’ve never rolled a D20 in your life, we’ll be just fine.
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That’s not unusual, and forcing a teenager to immediately “open up” usually isn’t a particularly useful place to start. I focus first on building trust and getting to know your teen as a person. They’re allowed to be skeptical and need time.
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Parents are important, and I want you involved in ways that support the work.
At the same time, teenagers need enough privacy to build a trusting relationship with their therapist. We’ll talk about what appropriate parent involvement looks like before we begin.
There are limits to confidentiality, particularly when safety is involved, and we’ll discuss those clearly. Outside of those situations, I work to protect your teen’s privacy while still helping you understand how you can support them.
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I work with teens experiencing things like anger, irritability, big emotions, isolation, school stress, lack of motivation, friendship or relationship problems, family conflict, and feeling misunderstood. I’m also a good fit for teens who are creative, nerdy, intense, outside the mainstream, or skeptical about therapy.
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I absolutely can, when it fits the teenager. Books, games, anime, movies, characters, fandoms, and other interests can give us a much less awkward way to start talking about identity, relationships, emotions, choices, or something happening in their own life.
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You don’t need to have a diagnosis or know exactly what’s going on before reaching out. If something has changed, your teen seems to be struggling, or what’s happening is affecting their relationships, school, mood, or day-to-day life, we can start with a conversation about what you’re noticing.
If You’re Here Because of Your Teen...
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I provide online therapy to clients located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida, where I’m licensed to practice.
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A standard individual therapy session is $150 and typically lasts about 55 minutes. Longer and shorter session options may also be available when appropriate.
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I accept UnitedHealthcare, Optum, and Cigna, as well as BCBS for clients in Pennsylvania. Insurance participation and coverage can vary by state and individual plan, so we’ll confirm whether I’m in-network with your specific plan before getting started.
I also keep a limited number of reduced-fee spots available based on financial need and current availability. If cost is a concern, you’re welcome to ask.
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Most individual therapy sessions are approximately 55 minutes. When appropriate, I also offer shorter or extended sessions ranging from 30 to 90 minutes.
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I ask for at least 48 hours’ notice when you need to cancel or reschedule. I allow one courtesy late cancellation or missed appointment every six months.
After that, late cancellations and missed appointments are generally charged $100 or your agreed reduced-fee rate.
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No. I don’t provide emotional support animal letters or evaluations for testing accommodations.
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Start by requesting a consultation. You don’t need to send me your entire life story in the contact form. Give me enough information to understand what you’re looking for, and we can figure out whether working together makes sense from there.
Okay, Now for the Logistics.
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Collaborative, direct, curious, and understanding of the reality that you’re still learning.
I want supervision to be somewhere you can bring complicated cases, questions, uncertainty, mistakes, ethical concerns, and the occasional “I genuinely have no idea what I’m doing here” moment without feeling like you need to impress me.
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The cases keeping you up at night. Questions about treatment planning or interventions. Documentation. Boundaries. Ethics. Your own reactions to clients. Something you said in session that you’ve been replaying for three days. Supervision isn’t only for neat clinical questions with neat clinical answers.
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Then we talk about it. Learning to practice independently means learning how to recognize mistakes, think critically about what happened, repair when necessary, and make better decisions moving forward. Pretending you never make mistakes would be considerably more concerning.
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Absolutely. My goal isn’t to create miniature versions of me. I want you to develop your own clinical judgment, understand why you make the decisions you make, and become a therapist whose approach actually feels like your own.
Looking for Supervision Instead?
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Licensure requirements vary, so we’ll also make sure my qualifications and the supervision I provide align with the requirements for the license you’re pursuing before we begin. You should verify your individual requirements with the appropriate licensing board.
Still Have a Question I Didn’t Answer?
Fair. Every situation is a little different.
If you’re wondering whether therapy or supervision with me might be a fit, reach out and tell me what you’re looking for. We’ll figure it out from there.