Individual Therapy
My Approach
I often receive feedback from clients that they experience me as warm, collaborative, and invested and leave our sessions motivated to take action.
I believe this positive experience that my clients describe is partly due to my emphasis on partnership, autonomy support, empathy and compassion, and empowerment.
Partnership: I work collaboratively with clients to determine our treatment goals and approach.
Autonomy Support: I have expertise in human psychology and behavior and readily share my perspective and knowledge with clients; I also recognize that each person ultimately has autonomy in choosing their path. I support my clients in selecting and walking the right path for them.
Empathy and Compassion: To be helpful as a psychologist, I need to deeply understand my client’s experience and perspective. I find that compassion then flows naturally from this empathic understanding.
Empowerment: I help my clients discover and build upon their strengths, restructure limiting beliefs, develop confidence, and take action toward their goals.
Specialities
Anxiety and Stress: This can include frequently feeling nervous or “on edge,” difficulty controlling worry or relaxing, trouble sleeping due to worry/anxiety, or feeling overwhelmed. The umbrella term of “anxiety” also includes specific fears and phobias. Anxiety and stress may be something you’ve struggled with for a long time, or you may be experiencing significant anxiety/stress for the first time in your life.
Trouble Adjusting: We may sometimes struggle to adjust during a significant life change. The change may be an adverse event (like getting divorced, death of a loved one, or job loss), or it could be a positive event that nonetheless has been difficult to adapt to, such as getting married, having a child, starting a new job, or moving to a new city. Therapy can be helpful in troubleshooting adjustment difficulties and identifying opportunities to establish positive new habits and coping strategies.
Trauma/PTSD: After a traumatic event, we may find it hard to move on with our lives. We might replay the traumatic event in our minds, attempt to avoid reminders about what happened, experience negative changes in our beliefs about ourselves or others, have difficulty experiencing positive emotions, or feel perpetually “on guard” and have trouble relaxing or sleeping. The traumatic event may have occurred recently or many years ago. Either way, if you’re struggling to move forward from a traumatic experience. Either way, if you’re struggling to move forward from a traumatic experience, therapy will likely be helpful.
Emotional Eating: Emotional eating refers to eating behavior we engage in for reasons other than physical hunger. It can be brought on by emotional triggers (like feeling lonely, bored, or stressed), environmental triggers (like seeing an ad for your favorite food), or thoughts (such as “I just blew it by having that pasta; I may as well get dessert, too”). I work with clients to identify and address their emotional eating triggers.
Coping with Cardiac Issues: As a former cardiac psychologist in the outpatient cardiology department at Stanford University Medical Center, I have expertise in working with cardiac patients on anxiety, depression, interpersonal problems, and other issues that can arise following a cardiac event, diagnosis, or procedure.
Interpersonal Issues: While relationships can be a wonderful source of meaning and satisfaction in life, they can also be a source of significant stress when they aren’t going smoothly. I work with clients to identify the cause of relationship distress and develop tools for navigating the issue. I also help clients who struggle with anxiety or avoidance in relationships to understand and find healthier ways to meet their attachment needs.
Types of Therapy
I have training and expertise in the following research-based therapies. I tailor these approaches to meet the particular needs of my clients.
What to Expect
Schedule an Assessment
Make a Treatment Plan
Track Your Progress
Schedule an Assessment: We’ll schedule 1 to 2 initial sessions, during which I’ll conduct a comprehensive assessment. This will include gathering information about what brings you to therapy, as well as contextual/background information about your relationships, mental health history, occupation, etc. You are free not to answer any questions you choose, but the better I can understand your situation, the better I can help.
Make a Treatment Plan: After the initial assessment, I’ll provide verbal feedback and recommendations. Recommendations may include, but are not limited to, therapy (either with me or referral to another therapist if the issue/treatment is outside my scope), referral for medication evaluation (typically to a psychiatrist or your primary care provider), and/or connection to other resources.
Track Your Progress: During the initial assessment and periodically throughout treatment, I may ask you to complete questionnaires to assess your symptoms/functioning and progress toward our therapy goals. I will also check in periodically about your satisfaction with our sessions and progress, and we can adapt our plan as necessary.
Fees & Insurance
My fee is $285 per 50-minute session. While I am not contracted with insurance companies, if your insurance plan includes out-of-network benefits, your insurance company may provide partial reimbursement. If this is the case, I can provide you with a monthly billing summary (at your request) that you can submit to your insurance provider for reimbursement.
Get Started
If you have questions or want to schedule an initial appointment or free 15-minute phone consult, you can reach me at drvaleriehoover@gmail.com or by phone at (650) 642-3297.
