FAQ

Primarily, by not accepting insurance, I can fully show up for you and design the best treatment for you using the tools that best fit your needs. The insurance rules often do not support this and are confusing and time-consuming for the client and me. Imagine being paid for your work and then months (or even years) later asked to give the money back because someone decided the work didn't qualify for payment. That, unfortunately, has been the consequence of some mental health providers within specific insurance networks. I am not independently wealthy. My family and I are dependent on income to survive, just like you. The risk of not receiving payment gets in the way of me fully showing up and being the best partner I can to guide your outcomes. There are other disconnects as well. I work from a developmental perspective, not one of the medical models of mental illness and labels that, unfortunately, cause limitations for you in other aspects of life like employment. It reinforces faulty beliefs of lifelong disorders and brokenness. Lastly, when I work with couples and families, the family is the client – not a specified family member, as the insurance model would require. I work against the mindset a specific family member is the 'problem.' The problem and the work are within and between everyone. I keep my rates competitive in the market. I invest heavily in time and money to bring innovation to my practice. My mission is to resolve causes of symptoms and get you out there living, not set an expectation that you'll need to see me for the rest of your life. I'm committed to providing you the fastest path to change with tools that support you in achieving long-term sustainable change. Insurance companies do not share this mission and goals, so it complicates things.

Tuesday: 10am - 6pm, virtual only Wednesday: 11am - 6pm, Big Lake or virtual Thursday: 10am - 6pm, Wayzata only Friday: 9am - 2pm, virtual Fri/Sat/Sun: intensives available one week / month

Standard individual sessions are $175 and standard family sessions are $250. When our plan includes different length sessions, the cost is proportional to these rates.

No, I do not accept insurance. Clients pay with a credit card, including cards for their HSA, and payment is processed at the time of service. I can provide a superbill for submission to your insurance company for out-of-network reimbursement. Check with your insurance company to see what coverage you have.

Once you schedule an appointment, I expect you to pay for the session unless you provide 24 hours advance notice of cancellation for non-emergency.

I understand that many people can benefit from these specialized services and may have limited finances. I offer a fixed number of sliding scale slots. The reduced rate, nominally $140 per standard therapy session, is offered for a short period of time for the use of a specific goal using the Safe and Sound Protocol or other sound-based techniques. The intention is to efficiently do some deeper work to bring change in base autonomic functioning that can bring change to your financial situation. The reduced rate is not an option for basic talk therapy. There is currently a waitlist for reduced rate slots. Request an initial free consultation if you are interested in being added to the waitlist. I am also working to launch coaching circles and group workshops to provide access to these tools. Learn more and get on the communication list at www.systemicgrowth.org.

I see clients in three locations: 1001 Twelve Oaks Center Dr - Suite 1030, Wayzata, MN 55391 960 Humboldt Dr - Suite K, Big Lake, MN 55309 At your home/office through virtual platform called Simple Practice

Use the options at the bottom of the page to 'Schedule an initial consultation' which has no cost to you. Once you decide to work with me, you will have access to schedule appointments through a client portal.

The point of the name is two-fold. First, the name speaks to attribute of life - vitality - being in dynamic energy and exchange. Vitality does not mean 'being happy' all the time (not doable) but 'being engaged.' Vitality is riding the waves of ups and downs as an active, alert participant - seeking the growth in the downs, so the ups are even higher. Also, internally humans are full of rhythms. Your heart, your sleep, your productivity wihtin a day and across years, all have a rhythm. Health is a rhythm that flows - within you and with others. Your inner rhythms and flows are a mirror image of the rhythms and flows (or turbulence or stagnancy) in life. We are going for your best rhythm for living!

Standard sessions for individuals are 50 minutes long. Sessions for specific phases of work range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Standard sessions for couples and family are 80 minutes long, allowing adequate time for everyone to be heard AND make progress. Frequency is determined to match your needs and balance with life. Intensives are customized to fit client needs, our goals, and chosen techniques. An example is Deep Self Discovery w/ SSP, which is three hours each for five days.

There are options for that! However, one of them is NOT to flip the app on and send you on your own. The Safe and Sound Protocol is a powerful intervention that stimulates change in the nervous system. Providing you with an effective experience of it for you and your goals takes some prep and guidance along the way. In the simplest scenario, we can do this with a short series (8-1) coaching sessions around the intention of understanding and shifting autonomic regulation patterns. Depending on the extent of current dysregulation in the system, you may need more active guidance and coregulation through the protocol. Working together, we'll find the right balance of cost-effective, convenient, safe, and effective. I will request that you authorize me to coordinate care with your ongoing therapist. It is important that our approaches are synergistic and consistent or it could have a detrimental impact on your internal functioning.

Start with the broadest collection of people who want to participate. Don't use couples therapy to get your partner to do their own work. Start a Relationship Reset because you are both ready for it, or at least ready to consider it. Avoid signing your teenager up for therapy as a solution to your distress. Let's first address your distress so you are free to be part of the solution to whatever distress is meaningful to them to resolve. Accept if you are the brave leader of change for the whole family. For family dynamics to change, individuals have to change. Starting from within you might be the best place to start. Regardless, let's get started with an initial free consultation and you can decide from there.

The majority of my clients are adults either seeking services for themselves or are interested in a family-based developmental approach to helping their children (of any age). I've occasionally agreed to work with an adolescent individually such as expanding regulating capacity through the SSP. Inevitably, his or her progress is limited by the dynamics with the adults in their life. It is essential that parents understand their contributions to a child's problem-behavior and/or distress so they can be part of the solution. It's natural and solvable; no one is to blame and everyone benefits.

My primary approach is problem-solving. Find what matters to you, how to measure it, and then get to work solving what's in the way. I have decades of leading and teaching problem-solving. You'll be amazed at your potential. My lens is one of dynamics - seeing the interconnections that can hide in plain sight. Emotional blockage affects physical health; mental blocks constrict emotional flow; feedback loops (sometimes unspoken) from another person in the present unknowingly poke at old wounds. You can see these, too, and it becomes a relief in itself. As we get to solving, I'll use Internal Family Systems; Polyvagal Theory and Polyvagal-informed methods like the Safe and Sound Protocol; EMDR including preverbal reprocessing and cravings/urges specific protocols; Integral Somatic Psychology, and sound healing techniques. Always educating; always opening options for you to have choice in your approach. Researching research articles and participating in seminars are part of my nature. I am continually adding new techniques to fill gaps that my clients experience.

Coaching supports the natural developmental process. I'll meet you where you are, collaborating to understand the communication (thoughts, emotions, and interoception) from within you. We'll use discomfort and stress as a prompt to stretch and grow. We may encounter cobwebs from the past to clear, but the focus is on growing forward in understanding and being your best you. Therapy works from the DSM and having a diagnosis similar to the medical model of healthcare. We then define a treatment plan to address the diagnosis. It tends to bring a framework of brokenness that needs fixing, so we may need to first move out of that unhelpful belief. Whatever you are facing, your vitality is a springboard for restoration and renewal. My hope is that, if you pursue therapy services, you'll not only 'return to a base functioning', you'll excel towards so much more.

My goal is not to help you 'cope' with your symptoms or the distress they cause. Coping in the short term leads to bigger distress in the long term. We'll work with the things you don't like (how you feel, a pesky habit) and first understand it. We'll understand it as solution that they bodymind naturally adapted to be useful. This opens a path to get to the root cause and clear it up. You'll learn how your feelings are information for you, not something to get rid of or turn off. Maybe the system needs a tuneup so they are less overactive or can stay online without overwhelming you. We most often find the roots of symptoms and problems are in a nervous system that holds old trauma imprints are never learned to flow emotions. Once we expand your capacity, decisions in your life become easier and more aligned with who you are not, not societal pressures.

The SSP is an effective tool for children and adults. Since a family (or household) is the base regulating system for a child, I'll first work with you to expand your understanding of the interpersonal dynamics involved with family and individual regulation. You'll learn firsthand about your nervous system and your regulating patterns so you are effectively equipped to understand and work with your child. After completing the SSP yourself, I'll provide coaching to you so that you can foster stronger coregulation and connection with your child rather than bringing in another unfamiliar person to do it with. In rare situations, I will work directly with the child in addition to you.

Like everyone else, anything that bumps up against my emotional wounds is an irritation. When someone important to me minimizes my experience and tells me it's no big deal, get over it. They may be right, but I'll get there in my own time. And a little bit of understanding and empathy can go a long way. On a practical note, I get irritated when I HAVE to shovel to get my car out of the garage to go to work. I much prefer mowing the lawn because I can decide how long to let it go! :)

If it's a day off, I'm out on hiking trails, practicing deep meditation, or connecting with family and friends in the winter. There's no getting around having errands and chores, so I make the most of those days with music to fit the mood. As my kids have scattered around the country, vacation is most often enjoying time with them. Ideally, I like to vacation on a beach under a palm tree with a stack of books – geeky ones usually.

I have an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Bethel University and maintain MFT licensure with Minnesota. My training includes the following: Safe and Sound Protocol certified remote facilitation; EMDR including Cravings/Urges, working with dissociation/preverbal trauma, somatic focus; Neurobiology of the Relational Life Model; Dialectical Behavior Therapy; and Coaching for Mixed Models and Jungian psychology. I also have an M.S. in Statistics from Iowa State University and Six Sigma Black Belt. My training and experiences allow me to bring wellness data and monitoring tools to my therapy and counseling practice to support your growth and put tools in your hands for long-term sustainable change. Years of corporate work within Research and Development equipped me to self-study. They help me apply the latest trauma research from pioneers in the field, such as Bessel van de Kolk, Stephen Porges, Janina Fisher, Peter Levine, and integrate knowledge across medical, mental health, and energy medicine to guide resolution. Current trainings in progress: Sonic Anatomy (using vocal vibration as a resource for internal healing) and Integrative Medicine and Nutrition for PTSD and Complex Trauma Certification Course. I am an endorsed by Unyte Health as a mentor to SSP Providers and actively participate in research studies to build evidence for emerging techniques.

I don't have a bucket list. I have a Living-Every-Day-of-My-Life list! I spend time with nature (around me or within me) daily. See or hear something from a new perspective. I'm practicing to listen to my internal desires. It's a new learning. I have a deep desire to write, to condense the tons of learning and research I've done over the years into something useful for others. And I want to see all of the national parks in the US. I have long way to go!

I love horses with huge eyes and a gentle, strong nature.

Blue-Green, with depth.

My mojo routine is balanced to tend to mind, body, spirit. Since I often work into the evening, mornings are my time! I meditate, stretch, plan. Start the day with water, a cup of my favorite tea, and cook breakfast with a playlist in the background - Morning Boost, Start the Day with Love, or Kicka*s, depending on what the day calls for!