The cause,
not the symptom.

Mostly talking. You sit down, and I ask what brought you in. There is no test, no questionnaire to score, and no one deciding whether you qualify as “bad enough” to be here.

You will not be asked to start at the worst thing. Tell me what you can tell me. If a question is too much on the first day, say so and we move around it. “I don’t know” is a real answer, and a common one.

What I am listening for is the story — not a diagnosis, not a label. How long this has been going on, who else is in it with you, and what you have already tried.

Anxiety, anger, shutting down, not sleeping — these are usually doing a job. They are protecting something. Managing them without asking what they are protecting is why the same feeling keeps returning in a new situation.

So the work is to find what is underneath: an old experience, a message you were given early, a loss nobody in the family named out loud. In plain terms, we go looking for the cause and treat that.

It is not a longer version of symptom management. It is a different direction, and it is why the change tends to hold.

What you say in this room stays in this room. I do not discuss clients with anyone — not family, not an employer, not a school, not an insurance company. This is a private-pay practice, so no carrier receives your sessions or requires a diagnosis to authorize them.

There are a small number of legal exceptions that apply to every licensed therapist in Georgia: if there is imminent risk of serious harm, if a child or vulnerable adult is being abused, or if a court orders records. I say those out loud in the first session, before you decide what you want to share.

Nothing is a surprise later. That is the point.

There is no test for readiness, and no moment when it becomes comfortable. Most people who call are not sure they are ready. They are tired of the same week happening over and over.

If you are waiting to feel prepared, that wait can be long. Not feeling ready is one of the most normal reasons to call, not a reason to hold off.

You also do not have to be in crisis to be here. Something can be worth looking at before it becomes an emergency.

The first step is a short telephone call — about fifteen minutes. You tell me a little of what is going on, I tell you how I work, and you ask me anything, including what it costs.

There is no pressure to book and no obligation to continue. If it is not a fit, I will say so plainly and point you toward something better suited. If it is, we schedule the first session.

You can also simply call the office and ask a question without giving your name.