Mental Health Therapy/Counseling

What's Metabolic Psychotherapy?

Whether you call it metabolic psychotherapy, metabolic psychiatry, or something similar, these are all synonymous terms that describe a treatment specifically targeted to improve mitochondrial function and metabolic health. Recent research suggests that mental illness (or perhaps nearly all illness) is really just a result of metabolic dysfunction. Metabolic psychotherapy is for people who are seeking help with following a ketogenic diet/lifestyle to improve metabolism for their mental illness.

Can't I just find everything I need online?

Yes, you can! But good luck, if that's the route you choose. While almost all human knowledge is most likely posted somewhere online, there's a lot of conflicting information out there. You'll have a hard time discerning where to find sound information that's best for your condition. Even if you do find it, it can still be really helpful to have an expert guide you through the process anyway, because continually doing research is probably going to be a full-time job if you were to do it on your own. 

As a highly educated professional, I have years of experience and skills that you can't get merely by reading content and watching videos, or even by getting a degree, for that matter. Even when I finished graduate school, I still felt like I didn't know how to be a therapist until I got actual experience doing therapy for a while.

While I admire DIY people (I am one, too), sometimes, it makes more sense to just hire a professional so you don't waste so much time trying to figure it out. 

What’s the difference between talking to you or my best friend or family?

The main difference is training and experience. Your friends and family are great emotional resources, so make sure you are still connecting with them. But a therapist has specialized training and has helped hundreds or thousands of people. In my case, I have nutritional therapy and other training that even most therapists don't have. 

A therapist can offer a more neutral (less-biased) perspective on things.

Professional counseling is completely confidential which isn’t always the case for talking with loved ones.

Why shouldn’t I just take medication?

It's an old belief that mental illness is caused by chemical imbalances and that drugs correct them. Yes, a mentally ill person has imbalanced chemistry, but rather than artificially correcting it, it’s more important to consider why there’s an imbalance in the first place. It’s not just a stroke of bad luck, but often unintentional effects of lifestyle choices. Brain chemicals are dynamically changing and influenced by more than just medications. Diet, sleep, lifestyle, and environment change brain chemistry, too! On a more conventional level, even changing your thoughts (like with mindfulness) can change your brain.

Food should be your medicine first, followed by lifestyle and environment. This is because a healthy diet, lifestyle, and environment have almost no negative side effects and can improve many facets of health at the same time. This approach is both a treatment and a prevention.

On the other hand, medications usually trade one problem for another, such as improving mood but causing hormone imbalances. Medication tends to be much stronger than nature intended (and in isolated or even synthetic states). This creates a balance in one place, but causes an imbalance elsewhere. It’s also unnecessarily expensive.

Sometimes, it's necessary to take prescribed drugs, so if you are on medication, I won't judge, and I will work with you to potentially need a lower dosage or not need it at all anymore, if that's what you want. Keep in mind that I'm not a prescriber, so you'd have to talk with your doctor to get your medications adjusted as we work together.

What do I have to do in sessions?

Because each person has different issues and goals for counseling, it will be different depending on the individual. I tailor my therapeutic approach to your specific needs. What we do in sessions depends on the type of therapy we are engaging in. How much you choose to open up is entirely up to you, but most people who hold back tend to not progress in therapy as much. At the other extreme, those who come to therapy just to "vent" also tend to waste a lot of time and money. Find your "happy medium" that feels right to you.

I'm a therapist who gives homework because I believe in teaching self-reliance so you don't have to keep coming back to therapy. Just like how those who open up more in therapy do better, those who follow through with homework also do better.

How long will it take?

Unfortunately, this is not possible to say in a general FAQs page. Everyone’s circumstances are unique to them and the length of time counseling can take to allow you to accomplish your goals depends on your desire for personal development, your commitment, and the factors that are driving you to seek counseling in the first place.

I have seen people anywhere from one session to a few years.

What's the difference between counseling and therapy?

Honestly, there is a slight difference that's really only acknowledged on clinical licensure exams for therapists. Most of us, however, use these terms interchangeably. I am a "counselor" based on what my license says, but a "therapist" or "psychotherapist" is anyone who is a licensed mental health provider. 

Besides counselors, other therapists are psychologists, master's level social workers, and marriage and family therapists. We all have different degrees and licenses, but we do the same kind of work, so it ultimately doesn't matter which license your therapist has and whether they are doing "counseling" or "therapy." What matters more is how much you are connecting with them and how much they are helping you.

Why don't you take insurance directly?

Simply put, by not being in-network with insurance companies, it means no deductibles, no co-pays, and no surprise bills for you. It means simple, transparent pricing, and depending on your plan, paying cash might cost the same.

The longer explanation is that many healthcare providers are moving to a cash-pay model now because insurance companies notoriously dictate the way we can serve our patients. They even control how you are diagnosed and put that on your permanent health record. Essentially, insurance compromises our ability to serve you in the best way possible. 

For patients, many people have high premiums and very high deductibles that are seldomly met within the year. This is especially true for those who prefer natural/holistic health and don't see conventional doctors very much. If you don't meet your deductible, you'd be paying the full cash rate, or close to it, for most or all of the year anyway.

There's also sometimes confusion with what insurance will cover. They tend to change their minds. A lot of patients have ended up with unexpected bills over this.

So in the best interest of both clinician and patient, it seems most ethical not to accept insurance directly. But please know that your insurance may still cover therapy! I use a billing service that helps us submit for out-of-network benefits on your behalf, and they may get you covered up to 80%. You can check your benefits here, if you are curious.

I know therapy can be expensive, which is why I offer a sliding scale and discounted monthly rates for those who want or need to save some money (talk to me to get a lower rate based on an honest need). By paying cash, you will have consistent rates (no surprises) and will understand what you'll need to pay. You will be notified of any rate changes.

Why do you charge for consultations?

For many years, I offered free consultations. Eventually, I was forced to change that because people were abusing it and not respecting my time by no-showing. By paying a small amount for a consultation, I know you are committed to it, or at least I'll be covered for the time. I have still made it somewhat free in that I will put your consultation fee toward your next scheduled session or package if you choose to move forward with services.

Clinical Nutrition

Wait, what? Are you a therapist or a nutritionist?

I'm both! I focus on mental health as a licensed counselor in Utah, but I also specifically sought out training in clinical nutrition to support physical health. I did this because I realized that true health/medicine needs to incorporate nutrition. Our bodies (and brains) are made up entirely of nutrients. Nutrients help the brain signal to the rest of the body how to function.

So yes, I offer psychotherapy as one service, and clinical nutrition as a separate service. I also combine the two if you want to do nutritional/metabolic psychotherapy.

Why shouldn't I just take medication or get surgery?

I am not a physician and can't claim to "treat" physical conditions. But I will say this: medication is typically so strong that it's out of proportion with what Nature intended. It almost always creates unwanted side effects and has long-term consequences for your overall health, perpetuating a perceived need for further medication. It's designed to address symptoms rather than root causes. It's also unnecessarily expensive and, let's be honest, it's a commercial product that companies are very successful at getting people to take through their exorbitant marketing budgets. They are incentivized to keep people sick. Otherwise, they'd stop making money.

I have a food-first approach and consider food to be medicine. Your body is designed to heal itself if given the right circumstances, meaning the right nutrients and the right environment. In contrast to medications, this is focused on addressing root causes rather than just symptoms.

But I encourage everyone to be wise with these things. There are some instances in which medication and surgeries make sense, like acute conditions. If you break an arm or have some other emergency that you aren't properly trained to handle yourself, definitely seek medical attention. And in rare circumstances, I will recommend seeking out conventional care.

Do I need Nutritional Services?

The word "diet" comes from the ancient Greek and literally just means "a manner of living." This implies that diet is not only about food, although our culture has, unfortunately, skewed it so much to hyper-focus on weight-loss, body image, and other superficial goals. 

Holistic/Functional nutrition or nutritional therapy is about epigenetics. This is a scientific term referring to the culmination of how nutrition, environment, and lifestyle affect our genes, and ultimately, our health. Food is far more than the sum of its calories. Food is not merely fuel, but it is nourishment. I purposely diverge from the conventional perspective of a dietitian because I recognize the importance of quality over quantity. Higher-quality, nutrient-dense food means better health. It's that simple. Dietitians, while I commend them for their intentions, seem to typically focus on calories and macronutrients (especially a low-fat, high-carb diet) with little regard to bioindividuality and bioavailability. I don't agree with that.

It's important to recognize the tiny details, because they can make all the difference! Our diet impacts how we look, how we think, how we move, how we sleep, and how we function. If you feel like your health could be better in any way, then better nutrition could be for you! Because food never tastes as good as good health can feel.

Since we all have to buy groceries anyway, we might as well make an effort to make our food nourishing! This is where you'll learn to do it.

What is the difference between a Registered Dietitian and a certified nutritionist?

To put it simply, the main difference is in credentials put after a name, and in most cases, also the philosophy we operate under. A Registered Dietitian (RD) may have a license issued by their respective state. But not all states regulate this. Arizona, for instance, doesn't even license dietitians.

"Nutritionist" is a generic term for anyone practicing nutrition. This term gets a lot of scrutiny, mostly from RDs who are upset at the competition, but also because anybody could use this title in most states because it's unregulated. It's a tricky one because you don't really know the extent of a person's training just by seeing this title. They could have very sound, scientific training meeting or exceeding an RD, or they could have done only a two-hour seminar like most medical doctors (don't trust a doctor's nutrition advice unless you know they got additional training).

A Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), which is what I am, is a person who has undergone rigorous training in the biochemical sciences and has had supervised, clinical experience. The training involves live, interactive lectures, written assignments, a comprehensive exam, a practicum, and capstone project. This is a certification since the school isn't accredited and can't offer actual "degrees." Although from my experience and comparing to the multiple universities I've attended, the NTP training is higher quality than most university offerings in terms of critical thinking, rigor, and utilizing unbiased science as a framework for understanding.

If you'd like to read more about this, I've written a blog post that you can find here.

What can I expect from my first visit?

After you've submitted all your paperwork, your first visit will begin with reviewing your completed medical forms, current food intake, health concerns, medical history, dietary supplement use, and talking about what your desired outcomes are.

We will work together to create a nutritional plan and follow-up appointments will track your progress from a physical and emotional perspective to ensure that the individually-tailored nutritional plan is working properly for you, and adjusting as needed.

Do you coordinate with other healthcare providers I am seeing?

Yes! Depending on your needs, I can have you sign a release of information form and collaborate with other providers.

Will my insurance cover nutrition?

Possibly. Because I'm not a registered dietitian in a state where dietitians are regulated, I can't take insurance for nutrition. However, it is possible that you can get some reimbursement for out-of-network services if you are seeing me for nutritional psychotherapy and we bill it as psychotherapy.

If you are only seeing me for nutrition (no particular focus on mental health), there's little chance it'll be covered by insurance. But I'm not saying it's not possible; check with your insurance directly to be sure.

Isn't holistic or natural health quackery?

I had to throw this in here because I live in a community that doesn't seem to appreciate wholesome approaches to health. "Quackery" is a term used by some to delegitimize the competition. Other common ones, especially since the recent pandemic, are "pseudoscience" and "misinformation." I've seen these used by RDs, MDs, RNs, therapists, and laypersons. We've seen a lot of reactive and speculative name-calling like this in recent years as political and social issues become more heated. As a therapist with a background in sociology, I find it interesting how backwards it all is. Natural health is legitimate and science-based as a whole, but I agree that there are some methods people are using that may very well be "quackery." But as I humble myself and really look into things, I am often surprised how legitimate some seemingly outrageous claims are.

It's important to recognize that natural medicine is heavily under-funded compared to mainstream medicine because it's more focused on helping people heal rather than simply making a profit like it's conventional counterparts. This lack of funding leads to a perceived lack of research and some people erroneously jump to the conclusion that it proves fallibility. But please don't assume that a lack of research proves anything. Science is ongoing and will always be incomplete--it's the very nature of research!