In-Person Therapy

I offer a hybrid practice, meaning that psychotherapy sessions can be held in person in my office in Santa Cruz, California, or virtually through a HIPAA-compliant video platform for anyone located in the state of California. You may be considering whether you’d rather attend therapy in person or by video. This page highlights the benefits for in-person therapy, while this page highlights the benefits for virtual therapy.

Confidentiality: Your therapist is legally and ethically responsible for keeping therapy sessions confidential. In the case of virtual sessions, your therapist can only guarantee that their end of the connection is private, and will have no control over interruptions or privacy concerns on your end. In the therapist’s office, your therapist is able to control the privacy of the space for your entire session. This may afford more peace of mind.

Comfort: For many people, attending therapy in person is preferable because the physical space in the office provides a break from the outside world. The space may feel comforting, safe, calm, and provide a temporary, necessary reprieve from the rest of what is going on in your day-to-day life. While staying home for virtual therapy may provide convenience, sometimes our personal surroundings can still add stress or be distracting. 

Interpersonal neurobiology: One of the frameworks that I use in therapy sessions - Interpersonal Neurobiology - refers to the physical, biological, neurological effects that can happen between two brains when in the same room together. Your therapist’s goal is to achieve empathy, attunement, and co-regulation in session with you, which improves when we are in the same physical space. This is also an important part of attachment work. 

‘Psychotherapy changes people because one person’s brain can restructure the limbic brain of another…when a limbic connection has established an unwanted neural pattern, it takes a limbic connection to revise it’ (Lewis, Amini, & Lannon, 2001). 

Trauma work: Recovery from various forms of trauma is challenging, sometimes painful, and often scary to attempt, and it is crucial that you feel like your therapist can ensure a safe place for you to take this on. Sometimes, trauma work can feel more difficult when you are only able to see your therapist on a computer screen, and don’t have them physically present to help you if you feel triggered or activated.

Transparency: For some, in-person therapy just feels safer, more relaxed, and less stressful. Being open and honest may come to you more naturally in the physical space provided by your therapist, which may mean achieving goals and success more rapidly.

Many studies have indicated that telehealth can be just as effective and helpful as traditional face-to-face therapy; while this may be true for some, there will continue to be benefits and advantages to seeing your therapist in person:

• It can improve feelings of isolation, especially following the extended periods of sheltering in place, lockdown, and quarantine

• You will have a direct reason to leave your home and interact with others

• Your therapist will have more opportunity to pick up on non-verbal cues and body language, which can help your therapist support you

• You may feel more able to give the session your full attention, and be less likely to deal with interruptions and distractions

• Some activities and exercises that your therapist recommends may be easier to learn or practice in person