If you’re new here, welcome. This page answers the questions I hear most often from prospective clients.
If you don’t see your question, feel free to email me at dr.janice@novatidecounseling.com or call/text 214-394-2091.
Ready to move forward?
Schedule a Free Consultation Through Headway
Getting Started
How do I get started?
The fastest way to get started is to schedule a free 15-minute consultation through Headway. You’ll answer a few quick questions, choose a time, and you’re on the calendar.
What is the free 15-minute consultation?
This is a brief call to get a broad sense of what’s bringing you to therapy, what you’re looking for, and whether we’re a good fit.
This is not a therapy session. It’s simply a starting point.
Do you offer in-person sessions?
At this time, I provide services via telehealth only.
What states are you licensed in?
I am licensed in Texas, Colorado, and Utah.
How often do we meet?
Most clients begin with weekly or every-other-week sessions. Frequency depends on your goals, the intensity of symptoms, and the level of support you need.
How long are sessions?
Most sessions are 50 minutes.
Therapy Style + Fit
What is your therapy style?
My style is warm, direct, and values-driven.
Therapy works best when there’s honesty, trust, and a willingness to do the work.
I offer compassion and support, but I also believe meaningful change requires honesty. I will help you identify patterns, challenge avoidance, strengthen boundaries, and move toward the life you want with structure and accountability.
I’m afraid you’ll judge me. Will you?
No.
Therapy is not a courtroom.
If you’re carrying shame, trauma, confusion, or regret, my job is to help you understand what happened, what it did to you, and what comes next.
Do you allow venting in sessions?
Absolutely.
Some sessions need to be a brain dump. Offloading is a real and important part of therapy.
Sometimes you need to say everything out loud before you can sort through it, understand it, and calm your nervous system.
That said, therapy with me is not only venting.
If every session becomes a crisis recap with no reflection, no skill-building, and no change between sessions, that’s survival mode on repeat.
My job is to help you move beyond coping.
So yes, we make space for catharsis.
And we also do the work that changes your life outside the therapy hour.
Do I have to do work outside of session?
Usually, yes.
Not because I’m strict or punitive, but because that’s how therapy works.
Insight is powerful. Insight alone rarely changes long-standing patterns.
We’ll talk about what’s happening, and we’ll also create a plan for what you’ll practice between sessions.
That might include:
• Journaling
• Boundary practice
• Nervous system regulation tools
• Communication strategies
• Tracking patterns in real time
You don’t have to do it perfectly.
You do have to engage with the process.
What kinds of clients are the best fit for you?
I work best with clients who are ready for honesty, reflection, growth, and accountability.
Many of my clients are high-functioning on the outside but anxious, exhausted, overwhelmed, or emotionally tangled on the inside.
Many are recovering from experiences involving:
• Gaslighting
• Narcissistic abuse
• Emotional manipulation
• Coercive control
• Chronic self-doubt
Others are navigating anxiety, life transitions, identity questions, relationship struggles, disability adjustment, political grief, trauma, or burnout.
Who are you not a good fit for?
No therapist is the right fit for everyone.
Therapy with me is probably not a good fit if you’re looking for someone to simply tell you what you want to hear, validate you while nothing changes, or focus only on what happened without exploring your own choices, power, and agency.
If you’re not ready for change yet, that’s okay.
I may simply not be the therapist you need right now.
I’d rather be honest than waste your time. Or mine.
Services
Do you offer EMDR?
Yes.
I have EMDR training and integrate EMDR into therapy when it’s clinically appropriate and aligned with your goals.
Do you offer clinical supervision?
Yes.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S) and provide supervision for LPC Associates in Texas.
I also enjoy supporting practicum students, internship students, and developing clinicians who want thoughtful, growth-oriented supervision.
Do you provide immigration mental health evaluations?
Yes.
I have specialized training in immigration mental health evaluations and provide evaluations for a variety of immigration-related matters.
Immigration evaluations are separate from therapy and follow a structured forensic format.
Fees + Insurance
What is your self-pay rate?
My self-pay rate is $150 per session.
Do you take insurance?
Yes.
I am in-network with several insurance plans and also offer self-pay options.
Which insurance plans are you in-network with?
I am currently in-network with:
• Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS)
• Aetna
• Cigna
• UnitedHealthcare (UHC)
UnitedHealthcare includes affiliates such as Oscar, Optum, and Surest.
Can you tell me what my insurance will cover?
When you complete your Headway registration, both of us receive an estimate of your benefits and expected costs.
Ultimately, copays, deductibles, coinsurance, and coverage depend on your specific insurance plan.
Values
Are you LGBTQ+ affirming?
Yes.
I provide LGBTQ+ affirming care and strive to create a space where clients can show up fully as themselves.
Are you disability-affirming?
Absolutely.
I recognize that disability affects far more than physical functioning. It can impact identity, confidence, relationships, employment, independence, access, and the way people are treated by others.
As a therapist who has been blind since birth, I understand many of these realities both personally and professionally.
Are you anti-racist and social justice oriented?
Yes.
Therapy doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
Systems, culture, identity, discrimination, access, and social conditions all affect mental health.
We can acknowledge those realities while still focusing on your goals, choices, strengths, and growth.
Can you help with political grief?
Yes.
Political grief is real.
Many people are carrying exhaustion, fear, anger, uncertainty, or hopelessness about what’s happening in the world around them.
Therapy can help you regulate your nervous system, set healthier boundaries around media consumption, reconnect with meaning, identify where you have influence, and build agency without burning out.
Couples Counseling
LGBTQ+ and ENM Relationships Welcome
Therapy that honors identity, consent, and complexity.
How do we know if couples therapy is the right next step?
Couples therapy is often helpful when both people want the relationship to improve but feel stuck in patterns they can’t seem to break.
It may be time for couples therapy if:
• You’re having the same argument repeatedly
• Communication turns into defensiveness, shutdown, or escalation
• You feel emotionally disconnected
• Trust has been damaged
• You’re considering separation and want clarity
• You want to strengthen the relationship before things get worse
If you’re asking, “Is it time?” the answer is usually yes.
What if one of us is more motivated than the other?
This is very common.
Couples therapy can still be effective if:
• The less motivated partner is willing to participate consistently
• Both people are willing to be honest
• Both people are willing to practice skills outside of session
If one person is attending only to prove a point, avoid accountability, or demonstrate that they’re “the good one,” therapy will struggle to gain traction.
Do you take sides?
No.
But I do tell the truth.
I’m not here to referee. I’m not here to validate harmful dynamics.
I’m here to help you build a healthier relationship.
That means I’ll name patterns, interrupt destructive cycles, support both partners, and challenge both partners when needed.
What happens in couples sessions?
Couples therapy with me is structured and practical.
We’ll work on:
• Patterns underneath the conflict
• Communication skills
• Emotional regulation
• Repair skills
• Boundaries and agreements
• Rebuilding trust
• Emotional connection and intimacy
I’ll often assign small between-session exercises because change happens in the relationship, not just during therapy.
Is couples therapy just talking about our feelings for an hour?
No.
Feelings matter, but effective couples therapy has to go beyond emotional dumping.
Our work may include:
• Insight and pattern recognition
• Emotional safety building
• Conflict-management skills
• Accountability
• Practical tools you can use at home
If all we’re doing is repeating the same fight every week, we’re wasting your time and money.
Do we need to be married to come to couples therapy?
Not at all.
I work with couples who are:
• Dating
• Engaged
• Married
• Long-term partners
Commitment matters more than labels.
What if we’re not sure we want to stay together?
That’s one of the most valid reasons to come in.
Couples therapy can help you slow down reactivity, understand what’s happening underneath the conflict, determine whether repair is possible, identify needs and limits, and make decisions with honesty and respect.
Sometimes therapy strengthens a relationship.
Sometimes it provides clarity about ending one.
Both outcomes can be healthy.
Can couples therapy help after cheating or betrayal?
Yes. It depends.
Repair is possible when:
• The truth is fully on the table
• The partner who caused the betrayal takes accountability
• Both people are willing to engage in structured repair work
• There is a genuine commitment to rebuilding trust
If there is ongoing dishonesty, manipulation, blame-shifting, or trickle-truth, therapy becomes significantly less effective.
I’ll tell you that honestly.
Do you offer PREPARE/ENRICH?
Yes.
I’m trained in PREPARE/ENRICH, a research-based couples assessment that helps identify strengths, growth areas, conflict patterns, expectations, stressors, communication styles, and emotional connection.
It gives us a roadmap so therapy becomes targeted and measurable.
What if our biggest problem is communication?
Then you’re in good company. 🙂
Communication is rarely the only problem.
Usually underneath communication struggles are things like:
• Emotional insecurity
• Resentment
• Past wounds
• Lack of repair
• Power struggles
• Fear of vulnerability
• Feeling unseen, unheard, or emotionally unsafe
We work on communication and the deeper issues driving it.
Do you work with couples where one person has trauma or anxiety?
Yes. Often.
Trauma and anxiety can influence conflict patterns, emotional intensity, shutdown responses, defensiveness, attachment dynamics, and communication.
We address both the relationship dynamics and the nervous system dynamics.
What if we fight all the time?
Constant fighting is often a sign of poor repair skills, emotional disconnection, long-standing resentment, chronic stress, unmet needs, or unresolved pain.
Therapy helps slow the cycle down, interrupt escalation, and build healthier patterns.
How long does couples counseling take?
It depends on how long the patterns have existed and how consistently you engage in the work outside of session.
Most couples benefit from weekly sessions initially and gradually space sessions farther apart as progress occurs.
I’ll be honest with you about what I think the relationship needs.
How do we get started?
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation through Headway.
Or reach out directly:
Email: dr.janice@novatidecounseling.com
Call/Text: 214-394-2091
Next Steps
Ready to get started?
Schedule a Free Consultation Through Headway
Email: dr.janice@novatidecounseling.com
Call/Text: 214-394-2091