FAQ

My office is located at 2133 13th Street, Suite 200, Boulder, Colorado 80302, but I work remotely with people throughout the state of Colorado using teletherapy. All you need is a cell phone, computer, or tablet along with a secure Internet connection, and you’re good to go!

I am currently only covered through out-of-network (OON) benefits.

Many people don’t realize that even when providers don’t take insurance, they can often be reimbursed, sometimes up to 90% depending on your OON benefits.

Call your insurance company to determine if you have OON behavioral health benefits, the reimbursement rate, how to submit claims, etc.

All you need to do is ask me to provide you with a Superbill after each session and then submit that to your insurance company.

I get how frustrating it is when you find someone with whom you want to work, and they don’t take your insurance.

There are several reasons why mental health providers like me don’t take it.

The main reason is that I would be required to provide your insurance company with a diagnosis that will follow you forever. That means that any diagnosis will be considered a ‘pre-existing condition.’

Medical records are fair game for subpoena in lawsuits, and mental health diagnoses have implications for life insurance coverage and future employment decisions.

I once had a supervisor say that most forms of therapy are the same, just packaged differently. I think that’s somewhat true unless it’s something like ‘swear therapy’ – I’ve never heard of such a therapy, but I guess it could be a thing.

To be more technical, and if you’re interested, here is a brief and simplified breakdown of my ‘therapeutic orientation’ when working with folks.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on changing negative thoughts, difficult feelings, and problematic behavior. Exposure therapy, which is used to treat things like phobias and other fears, is a form of CBT that is premised on having someone face a fear in a graduated way so it’s not overwhelming. Eventually, the anxiety associated with the feared thing habituates because they get used to coping with it.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of CBT. The significant difference is that CBT focuses on changing negative thoughts, and ACT emphasizes that there are some things we can’t change, and we need to accept. It also focuses a lot on making value-based decisions, which are important in helping people get unstuck.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is another form of CBT that focuses on developing 4 skill areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Some other background: My approach is grounded in Interpersonal Neurobiology. That means that I consider how experience impacts the development and functioning of the brain/mind.

A client once joked with me, “If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother!” He was right. But that’s not the whole picture.

Who raised us and how that happened impacts the development of our brain. But the brain has plasticity, so that means it can change as we have other experiences.

That explains why therapy can work to positively change your mind, so long as you have a secure and trusting relationship with your therapist.

I also love Humanistic Psychology, which emphasizes that people are inherently ‘good’ and are motivated to fulfill innate potential. It also stresses that it’s important for counselors to see the world through the eyes of clients. If you’ve ever had bad therapy, I’ll bet that part of it was that you didn’t feel understood because that was an area that was lacking.

If you want to know more, feel free to ask!

I know, it sounds super sci-fi, but VRT is a really exciting and powerful therapeutic tool. It’s used in CBT for things like exposure therapy for phobias and anxiety, eating disorders and negative body image, bullying, as well as mindfulness, relation skills training, performance enhancement, and a whole lot more.

See the page on VRT if you want more in-depth information. While there are some exclusion criteria, it’s generally considered very safe and effective. We can talk more about the logistics if you’re interested.

I understand choosing a therapist is hard. The following is a summary of my qualifications if you’re interested.

Perpetual college student – that’s me! I graduated with a degree in Psychology (minor in Cell and Molecular Biology) from Occidental College in 2004. I received my Psy.D. (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology) from Phillips Graduate Institute in 2009, with an emphasis in Multicultural Psychology.

I am a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist Consultant (CEDS-C) and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Level 2 (CCTP-II). I have additional training from the University of Oxford in Enhanced Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E) for eating disorders, the Beck Institute for anxiety treatment, the Gottman Institute for couples dealing with affairs, and a certificate in Virtual Reality Therapy for anxiety treatment from the Psious Academy.

One of my current roles is President the Denver Metro Chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP) and I was previously the Education Chair.

Places I’ve worked as a clinical psychologist and/or received training include (not exhaustive):

• ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders at Denver Health (adults and adolescents)
• University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School
• Metropolitan State University of Denver Counseling Center (staff and post-doctoral training)
• Weber State University Counseling Center
• Utah State University Counseling and Psychological Services
• Avalon Hills Residential Eating Disorder Program (adolescent unit)
• California State University Polytechnic-Los Angeles, the California Family Institute, San Bernardino County Mesa Clinic (child and family track and Perinatal clinic)
• Camp David Gonzales Youth Detention Center
• Counseling Team International (critical incident stress debriefings and EAP services with first responders)

I’ve conducted research and published on eating disorders with really amazing experts in the field and have a number of research publications: 

• Gibson D, Benabe J, Watters A, Oakes J, Mehler PS. Personality characteristics and medical impact of stimulant laxative abuse in eating disorder patients-a pilot study. J Eat Disord. 2021 Nov 4;9(1):146. doi: 10.1186/s40337-021-00502-9. PMID: 34736530; PMCID: PMC8567337. https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-021-00502-9
• Geer B, Gibson D, Grayeb D, Benabe J, Victory S, Mehler S, Mehler P. Metformin abuse: A novel and dangerous purging behavior in anorexia nervosa. Int J Eat Disord. 2019 03; 52(3):319-321.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30629296/
• De Young K, Bottera A, Kambanis E, Mancuso C, Cass K, Lohse K, Benabe J, Oakes J, Watters A, Johnson C, Mehler P. Delusional intensity as a prognostic indicator among individuals with severe to extreme anorexia nervosa hospitalized at an acute medical stabilization program. Int J Eat Disord. 2022 Feb;55(2):215-222. doi: 10.1002/eat.23641. Epub 2021 Nov 13. PMID: 34773668. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34773668/
• Kambanis PE, Bottera AR, Mancuso CJ, Cass K, Lohse K, Benabe J, Oakes J, Watters A, Johnson C, Mehler P, Young KP. Delusionality of beliefs among 50 adult females with severe and extreme anorexia nervosa upon admission to an acute medical stabilization facility. Eat Disord. 2022 Oct 25:1-9. doi: 10.1080/10640266.2022.2135982. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36282147. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36282147/
• Acknowledgments: Rylander, M., Taylor, G., Bennett, S.et al. Evaluation of cognitive function in patients with severe anorexia nervosa before and after medical stabilization. J Eat Disord 8, 35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-020-00312-5 https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40337-020-00312-5

I also have experience conducting psychological assessments (cognitive and personality), ADHD assessments, and neuropsychological evaluations.

I have memberships with the American Psychological Association, Colorado Psychological Association, International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, Academy for Eating Disorders, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, and Psychologists for Social Responsibility.

I’ve supervised doctoral trainees and taught a variety of courses and workshops at universities and in other settings on topics such as eating disorders, microaggressions, diversity topics, compassion fatigue, bullying, stress reduction, and coping skills.

My emphasis in grad school was Multicultural Psychology and I helped found the annual tri-institutional Higher Education Diversity Summit (now HEDS-365) during my post-doc at Metropolitan State University of Denver, along with the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver. I’ve served as a Diversity Mentor for the Colorado Psychological Association

Yes, but not always. Why? It’s often helpful to work on certain aspects of therapy in-between sessions. And that doesn’t mean that I assign things to you. We work together to find what works best for you.

Funny (really not-so-funny) story: I once had a therapist when I was in my early 20s who would assign me these worksheets. While I do think it’s important to be open to learning, they didn’t mesh with what I needed at the time. Only, I was a people-pleaser, and we didn’t have a good enough relationship for me to tell her (plus, she never asked). So, I would end up rushing to do them while sitting in my car in her office parking lot before sessions.

PLEASE don’t do that. When we work together, we are a TEAM. So that means I’ve got your back and you can be open about what’s working or not.

That said, things like exposure exercises are evidence-based and need some in-between challenging by you to be more effective. I also want you to learn to cope in healthy ways, so if going for a walk, trying some deep breathing at home, etc. is something you consider too much homework, then we may not be the best match.

Therapy can make you feel vulnerable, and it can sometimes be difficult to talk about things. But answering a questionnaire is often a lot easier and can get the conversation started about aspects you might not typically mention.

I find it tremendously helpful to use assessments to monitor progress when working with clients. We’ll also examine your strengths and use them in our work together so therapy is really tailored to you. Don’t worry, none of it is super long or complicated. Promise!

There’s actually research to support the idea that swearing can be therapeutic AF, so don’t shy away if you need to. I want you to be yourself.

You don’t have to worry about offending me or anything. I also grew up on the east coast (you know what I’m talking about if you’re from there) and have a penchant for colorful language myself (as appropriate…I’m not dropping F-bombs with kiddos or anything).

Be yourself. The goal is to boss up and change your life, right? If kick-ass you needs to swear once in a while, then go for it.

I’m afraid I’m not skilled enough to do it alone. But I love the idea. Maybe someday? I love the outdoors and think there’s almost nothing more therapeutic.

I’m going to encourage you to get out and try new things. Not just for the heck of it. But because we need to create new pathways in your brain to counter the old ‘stuff.’

Whether it’s rock climbing or anything else that’s on your bucket list, you get to decide what that looks like.