Frequently Asked Questions

No. But YOU can. With the right support, feedback, practice, tools, and a shared frameworks, relationships can recover from extremely challenging circumstances and choices. It IS POSSIBLE to build safe, supportive, trustworthy partnerships. Jess has supported partners to successfully heal from multi-decade betrayal trauma, previously undisclosed addictions (involving substances, sex and/or gambling, etc), management of chronic pain, ADHD and Autism impacts, and high-conflict histories, as well as the slings and arrows of day-to-day life. You chose each other. Together, you are responsible for the relationship. No therapist can actually do the couple's work to "fix" things. Jess can, however, honor your decision to continue to choose each other, and can give you excellent tools to build the relationship you desire.

I have recently relocated to Denver, Colorado, and am operating virtually as I prepare a permanent in-person location. For relatinship intensives and workshops, I am coordinating safe, private meeting spaces locally, or can travel to your location to work with you.

I'm not in-network with any providers, which means all clients can seek reimbursement from their insurance after paying me directly. Individual Therapy I work with all insurance by providing a “superbill” (a fancy name for a receipt) that clients can submit to their insurance for reimbursement. Relationship Therapy Unfortunately, most insurance plans do not cover relationship therapy. This is partially because the relationship itself is the client, and so billing according to one partner's medical diagnosis isn't aligned. To figure out if your insurance will reimburse you for relationship therapy, call or email your provider and ask the following questions: • Is CPT code 90847 with ICD-10 diagnosis code Z63.0 a covered benefit under my current plan? • If so, at what rate is reimbursed per 120 min. session?

Session cost: • 120-minute relationship session: $460 • Relationship Intensives and Multi-day Workshops: Priced individually depending upon facilitator travel, timing, duration, etc. Payment is due at the time of service.

I offer a limited number of reduced-fee appointments. To apply, reach out to me via the "Contact" page, and request a sliding scale application.

I get it - things happen! It can be an adjustment to think of paying for a service that you weren’t able to utilize. It’s not your fault, after all, that you got sick, or carpool was late, for example. Whenever I am able to, I'll do my best to fill your spot if you need to cancel with less than the minimum notice. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible. I am committed to your success as a client, and therefore committed to protecting time for you. Requesting 48 hours notice for relationships and 24 hours for individuals allows me to ensure that, even when things come up every once in a while, you are still able to access the support you seek for your ongoing work. Relationship sessions cancelled less than 48 hours before the session start time are charged 1/2 the session feel, and less than 24 hours are charged the session fee. Individual sessions cancelled less than 24 hours before the session start time are charged the full session fee. Sliding scale clients are charged their full reduced fee.

My role is to support your healing, growth, and transformation as you define it. Through warm, carefully structured sessions, we proceed at exactly the pace that feels right for you as we figure out how you’re experiencing challenges and what you’d like to change. Once we have an idea of what change you want , I’ll offer you several options of activities, exercises, and frameworks that might help you get from here to there. I’m always happy to explain why I think a particular approach might be a good fit, and I’m always ready to change course if something about the way we’re working doesn’t work for you. While I have developed expertise in many vetted approaches and schools of thought, you are the expert on your experience. You can expect a respectful, supportive, collaborative approach from me as we strive to support your unique work. Finally, I am committed to outcomes. I don’t think my role is to passively listen and only validate while clients talk. Rather, I see my role as utilizing proven methods to help you build on your strengths, make powerful discoveries, and live a more fully embodied, enriching life. I build capacity; I begin our work together focused on how it will end as you move into the life you desire with the skills to define, build, and keep it on your own.

I am deeply committed to supporting clients from a person-first stance. I support every person's right to figure out who they are, what they want, and how they want to get it. I am enthusiastically committed to providing an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for all, including attuned consideration of race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, relatioship structure, and military status. It's tempting to want to work with someone who seems just like us, because we assume we share some values, life experiences, or perspectives. Sometimes, however, this can lead to both facilitators and clients making assumptions about each other that aren't helpful. I strive to see you for exactly who you are, and understand your experience as you live it. While I strive to curate ongoing cultural humility, I can’t anticipate your specific, lived experience. Rather than assume I know you based on a category, however, this is an invitation to learn about your specific experiences towards maximally personalizing your work. I don’t have to share your values in order to respect and honor them in our work together. It’s not your job to educate me about a demographic experience, but it is my job to help you explore how your particular experience of your identity overlaps with what you want for your life. It is my honor to collaborate with you in that work.

I can’t make anyone participate in this work, and you can't, either. If your partner is resistant to participating, it's for a good reason. Go ahead and learn as much about their hesitation as possible, and do your best to cultivate a win-win solution that incentivizes them to give it a shot. I can commit to honoring a reluctant partner's courage to give a session a try by offering a structured process that feels fair, non-shaming, highly practical and action oriented - so each partner can freely and fairly evaluate whether this work is right for them once they fully trust that no one is trying to blame the relationship's challenges on them.

This work is likely a good fit for your partnership if: ☐ You want more than just someone to listen. ☐ You are open to structure, guidance, and direct feedback. ☐ You are willing to look at our own patterns, not only your partner’s. ☐ You want practical tools we can use outside of sessions. ☐ You can tolerate some discomfort as you learn new ways of relating. ☐ You want to reduce conflict and build emotional safety. ☐ You are ready and able to practice between sessions. ☐ You value depth, clarity, and accountability. ☐ You are open to longer sessions to maximize efficacy. ☐ You want expert support that is thoughtful, respectful, and grounded in experience. It's less likely a good fit if: ☐ You are mainly looking to vent without changing anything. ☐ You want the facilitator to take sides or decide who is “right.” ☐ You are not willing to examine our own role in ongoing patterns. ☐ You prefer unstructured or open-ended sessions. ☐ You want help with specific content, but aren't interested in changing patterns. ☐ You want therapy to feel comfortable and reassuring 100% of the time. ☐ You are not ready to invest time, focus, or energy outside of sessions. Please note: if you are experiencing a pattern of ongoing, coercive control (aka abuse) through emotional, financial, socially isolating, or physically violent interactions, relationship support is not likely to change this dynamic - or your partner. If you are seeking support for these patterns, please seek individual therapy with an emphasis on building a safety plan ASAP.

Every relationship is different. And every relationship shows stress in its own way. Some couples have explosive arguments. Some are working through betrayal. Some are dealing with addiction. Some look like the perfect couple in public, but haven’t touched each other in years. Stress can come from many places: childhood trauma, chronic pain, porn, money, parenting, or relationships outside the partnership. The details vary, but the impact is real. My approach is strengths-based and direct. Very little surprises me. I don’t judge your patterns; I help you understand how they are working, how they are not, and what to do to change them. Strong relationships are built on clarity. Relationships grow stronger when each partner can define what they want, and ask for it in a way their partner can actually hear. I help you build that clarity. I help you learn what your partner needs from you in order to hear you. I help you make those asks with confidence. And I support you in creating a relationship that feels strong, connected, and truly your own.

My work is goal-oriented. Each session is designed to help you strengthen - and practice - the skills you need to build a secure, lasting relationship. I am also efficient. Many couples avoid seeking support concerned they will just pay someone to watch them argue. I may let a conflict unfold briefly so I can understand your patterns (how you speak, react, and relate to each other), but I do not let sessions drift. I will respectfully interrupt, redirect, or slow things down if the conversation is moving away from connection, problem-solving, or real progress. Sessions are active and responsive. No two sessions look exactly the same, because I adapt to what your relationship needs. That said, there are a few things you can expect: • You will spend more time facing each other than facing me • I will guide you through specific exercises to help you better understand each other • I will interrupt or redirect you if something is harming the relationship • I may coach you on tone, word choice, facial expression, or body language • I will point out many opportunities to make an empowered, positive choice that will work This way of working frequently leads to being better heard, better understood, and more able to get what you need from each other.

My standard sessions are 120 minutes. A typical 50-minute session is often just enough time to stir things up, but not enough time to learn and practice new ways of relating. Many couples leave feeling unsettled instead of supported. For this reason, I do not offer 50-minute couples sessions. In a 120-minute session, we have the time to get to the root of the issue, practice new ways of interacting, and help you leave feeling more stable, connected, and aligned as a team.

If you have more questions about couples' therapy, please check out the PACT page in the 'About' section. If you have questions this site doesn't answer, please reach out and let’s get you more info!