Therapy-ish Consultations:
A Unique Approach to Professional Support & Guidance
Service Details: Taking a Closer Look
Summary—What Consultations Are
Therapy-ish Consultations are 1:1 standalone meetings for adults 20 and older, scheduled one at a time on an as-needed basis. These can be one-time sessions, but you're welcome to schedule additional Consultations on your own timeline and at your own convenience. Consultations are held via phone or video and offered to people in Maine only.
Consultations consist of conversations where we focus quickly and dive right in to get down to the business of addressing your current problem or struggle and provide you with tools, strategies, and resources for immediate use. Problems or struggles commonly addressed in Consultations include those in the areas of relationships/family, work/career, health/well-being, or overall stress.
What Consultations Can Help With
A problem or issue or more general patterns/trends in your life.
A problem or issue in your life in areas such as:
Relationships & Family—
Issues or conflict in intimate relationships, friendships, social life, family, or parenting
Work & Career—
work stress, burnout; uncertainty about career direction; job transition
Health & Well-being—
stress related to health problems or illness (yours or a loved one’s); coping with chronic health issues
Recreation/Play/Leisure—
coping with barriers to getting enough rest, relaxation or recreation; problems with excessive screen time or technology overload; limited hobbies or creative pursuits; difficulty with work/life balance
Financial—
stress over financial concerns or managing money
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Interpersonal effectiveness—
trouble setting healthy boundaries, navigating interpersonal dynamics or communicating effectively
Life transitions—
difficulty navigating emotional challenges associated with significant changes; lack of support during a transition, such as relocation, career change, divorce, loss
Life choices and decisions—
difficulty making important life decisions; worry about making the wrong choice leading to procrastination; dealing with external pressures, over-analysing, decision fatigue, uncertainty about long-term impact
General patterns in your life relating to:
General overwhelm—
frequently feeling overloaded and unable to figure out which task or problem to address first; feeling stuck or immobilized; difficulty making decisions
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Stress—
lack of effective strategies to manage stress related to work, relationships, or other life factors; difficulty with stress resilience—bouncing back from the challenges and setbacks that life brings
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Self-worth/self-esteem—
trouble with negative self-talk/vocal "inner critic"; self-criticism and judgment; constantly comparing oneself to others; "imposter syndrome"; appearance-related distress
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Self-awareness—
lack of insight leading to a limited understanding of oneself; difficulty identifying and handling emotions; unawareness of how one's words/behaviors impact others
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Thoughts, Emotions & Behaviors—
difficulty identifying thoughts/thinking patterns and emotions and their effect on one's behaviors; struggles with emotional maturity, emotional intelligence, or emotional regulation
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Personal Growth—
wanting guidance with self-exploration and personal development to gain a deeper understanding of yourself
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Existential or Spiritual Concerns—
wanting to explore questions about purpose, meaning, or spirituality
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How Do Consultations Work?
1) Free 10-minute call
If you haven't worked with me before, you're encouraged to schedule a 10-minute phone call at no charge, during which you can get further clarity on my services and we can see if we're a good fit to work together.
2) Schedule
We schedule a Consultation at a mutually agreed upon time. I can almost always get new clients in within a few days, because I schedule meetings on an as-needed basis and not more than a week in advance.
3) Questionnaire
You fill out a brief Pre-Consultation questionnaire which is designed to help you prepare for the session and get us focused so we can dive right in when we meet. (It's optional, but suggested!)
4) Meet via Phone or Video
We meet over the phone or video (you choose) and have a conversation—we talk through whatever you're struggling with and discuss possible solutions or steps forward.
5) Post-Consultation
You leave the conversation with practical strategies, tools and practices you can use right away. You'll receive a written summary of what we talked about along with a list of action steps and resources. You're encouraged to take some time to "digest" what you learned, try some things out, and schedule another session if needed.
How Consultations Can Help
Versatile & Tailored to Your Unique Needs
Consultations can be used to address a specific issue, problem or something you're stressed about. Together, we sort things out, think things through, and figure out next steps to move forward. You'll gain new ideas, perspectives, and clarity on workable solutions.
Solution-Focused
Support
Consultations can help you navigate the self-help and personal growth/development world, make sense of the content you're reading or listening to, and personalize it so it fits your needs. This can be especially helpful if you do your own learning/study on the internet and social media, with the massive amount of material to sort through.
Self-Help
Navigation
Consultations can function as an annual or quarterly check-up to be proactive and preventative with your psychological well-being. We assess the “big picture” of your life and your valued directions in relationships, health, work, and play, to ensure alignment with the goals that matter most to you.
Preventive & Proactive
Focus
Consultations can help you identify and prioritize your needs and get pointed in the right direction for support or services in your community or online—maybe resources you didn't know existed or how to find them. Examples include: organizations or specialists, groups, educational resources like books, articles, videos, handouts, trainings, audio and written exercises, podcasts and webinars.
Resource
Finding
In Consultations you can learn (or brush up on) skills, tools and strategies to address issues in any area of your life, to deal with stress, and to build overall well-being. Examples include: mindfulness, psychological flexibility, communication, self-compassion, and emotional awareness.
Life Strategies, Tools & Skills Training
When you’re unsure about therapy or unfamiliar with how it works, I can guide you through the mental health landscape & help you clarify what type of therapy is a fit for you, where to find it, and what you want to address in therapy. If you’ve already been in therapy & no longer need it, I can provide support—when something challenging comes up or you want to brush up on the skills you learned in therapy.
Pre- or Post-Therapy
Support
What Consultations Are Not
Not a substitute for therapy:
Described as therapy-ish, Consultations are distinct from psychotherapy/clinical counseling and are not a substitute for it or any other kind of mental health care or substance abuse treatment.
Not a Counselor-Client relationship:
Although I am currently a licensed therapist, in my role as a Consultant, I would not be your regular therapist, as I don't offer clinical counseling/psychotherapy at this time. When you work with me, we are not entering into a Counselor-Client relationship at any time.
Not for treatment of mental health conditions:
Consultations are not appropriate for treatment of mental health conditions, such as depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, trauma-related disorders, eating disorders, or substance-related disorders. If you need help with a mental health condition, you will be best served by engaging in psychotherapy/clinical counseling.
Not for trauma work or longstanding issues:
In Consultations, we will not address trauma or deeply painful, longstanding issues, nor will we delve into your past/childhood history or address the psychological root causes of a problem. These are best addressed in psychotherapy/clinical counseling.
Not frequent, ongoing appointments:
When you work with me, the Client-Consultant relationship is confined to each standalone session. I don't schedule frequent, ongoing sessions or reserve regularly-scheduled appointment times for clients. Consultations steer away from reliance on regular, ongoing services and focus on your own self-reliance, agency, and personal development outside of sessions. Although some people want sessions periodically, these are scheduled as-needed. People contact me when a Consultation is desired and we schedule within a few days, not more than a week in advance.
Not Life Coaching:
Some might see my Consultations as resembling life coaching. Even though there might be some shared qualities, my Consultations don't adhere to a life coaching model, so I don't label my work as coaching or identify myself as a coach.
Not sure if Consultations are for you?
That's OK...we can figure that out together!
We can chat about it during our free 10-minute preliminary call.
And if at any point, even during a Consultation, we find that you'd be best served by therapy instead, I can help you navigate the mental health system and find your way to the right counselor for you.