Call Us Now
443-994-6625
65 Old Solomons Island Rd., Ste 104,
Annapolis, MD 21401
Call Us Now
443-994-6625
65 Old Solomons Island Rd., Ste 104,
Annapolis, MD 21401
In seeking a therapist, be clear about your needs. Do you prefer someone who is going to take a more direct approach or do you want someone who will just spend time with you in your pain? As a parent, how much do you want to be involved in your child's therapy? Do you want to be challenged regularly or do you want to be lead to your own conclusions? Do you prefer a female or male therapist?
The first session is a chance for us to get to know you and for you to get to know us. We are mostly determining if it feels like we can work together and that we will be able to effectively help you to meet your goals. We will be gathering a lot of background information that helps inform your care. Sometimes this feels like an interview, but it is important in helping us to determine goals that will mark progress in your therapy. We always want to connect with you at the end of the first session to ensure a good fit and that you feel comfortable moving forward.
Therapy can be helpful to you or your child in a variety of ways. Therapy can help you manage emotions that often seem overwhelming or consistently dictate your choices. Therapy can help children and teens improve their behavior at home or school. Therapy can be helpful in processing traumatic experiences and resolving symptoms associated with those experiences. Therapy can build tools and strategies for calming you in the midst of highly stressful situations. Therapy can improve the quality of your relationships and help you find meaningful connection.
Therapy helps you to become aware of the thoughts, emotions and sensations that drive choices in your life, sometimes without you even knowing. In that awareness, therapy can help you to make better choices that allow you to experience life fully. In light of that, sometimes it can get harder before it gets better. However, the pain is part of the process and the path to healing.
We do not prescribe medication, as we are not medical doctors. But, if medication is a tool that we decide could be helpful in achieving your goals, we would love the opportunity to collaborate with your doctor and ensure a coordinated level of care. We will only reach out to your doctor with your written permission.
This depends largely on your goals and the nature of concerns that you are bringing with you to therapy. Often we recommend participating in therapy for 6 months and then evaluating the progress that has been made on the goals that you have identified. It is never our goal for you to participate in therapy for therapy's sake. We want you to feel confident that your work is paying off and that you are getting closer to where you want to be.
There exists two general thoughts can be helpful in determining if you or your child/teen would benefit from seeking therapy. First, how distressing is the problem? Within that, you should consider how much time you invest in addressing the problem and to what extent you work to hide the problem from others. Additionally, how much has the problem contributed to a decrease in your quality of life?
Secondly, how much is the problem interfering with my daily activities? Does the problem take up more than 1 hour of your day? Have you adjusted your expectations to accommodate the problem? Are you avoiding opportunities or making different lifestyle choices to address the problem?
Yes, in general, the law protects the confidentiality of all communication between a client and a therapist. However, there are a couple of exceptions. If we sense that you are threatening bodily harm to another person, we are required to take protective actions, which may include notifying the potential victim, notifying the police, or seeking appropriate hospitalization. Additionally, if you threaten harm to yourself, we may be required to seek hospitalization for you or contact family members who can help provide protection. If any of these situations arise with minors, we will immediately contact parents.
If we need to contact an individual or agency to share/release part or all of the information relevant to your care, we will always first get your written permission to speak with them.
While the law does permit sharing information with parents of a minor, we ask that you respect their process and confidentiality with the therapist. With teens in particular, we want to avoid surprises. So, if something comes up in therapy that we feel would be best to communicate with you as the parent, we will often have the teen do that with us in session. We want to make sure to preserve the therapeutic relationship in order for us to continue to do our work.
It is important to present therapy in a positive light - it is not a punishment or consequence, which, if presented in that manner, can cause the child to be resistant to the idea. Find a calm moment to introduce therapy to your child. It is often helpful to identify a problem with which your child recognizes and describe the therapist as a "helper" that can work with us to solve that problem.
If we are talking to your child about therapy, it is easy to say that, for the first session, you will just be playing with your therapist. (To learn more about play therapy, click here). It is your job to give them a "grade" and determine if you want to go forward . Often it is helpful to say that we are going to try for three times before we make any choices. We want to give them as much autonomy in the process as possible.
Additionally, it is important to normalize therapy and communicate that your child/teen is not attending therapy because they are "broken", but rather to support them in their growth. It sometimes is helpful to say that you, as a parent, are looking for ways in which you can make life more smooth and will also be looking for input from the therapist.
Because this is a new experience, there is often some anxiety about attending therapy. Finding the right time to introduce therapy is important in managing that anxiety. We recommend that younger children be told 1-2 days prior to the appointment in order to allow them to ask any questions that they may have, but avoiding rumination that might increase their anxiety. For teens, they often benefit from knowing 5-7 days ahead of the appointment in order to accept the idea. Of course, if they are asking about therapy, let them know right away, as that might alleviate some of the symptoms just knowing that steps are being taken to help them.
It is expected that you pay for your session at the time of service. We accept cash, check, HSA card or debit/credit card. Our rates are determined by the experience and licensure level of each particular therapist.
We do ask that you be mindful of our cancelation policy, which asks that you give us 48 hours notice for any changes to your appointment. This helps us be sensitive to the time that the therapist has set aside for you and ensures consistency in your therapy process. In doing so, you will avoid any fees associated with a late cancel or no show.
In the event of inclement weather, we will follow the Anne Arundel County School system regarding changes in schedule due to weather. If the school system is closed due to inclement weather, we will expect you for a Telehealth appointment rather than your regularly scheduled in-person appointment. If you were scheduled for a Telehealth appointment, that appointment will remain unchanged. A school closure does not mean that our office will be closed. Please be aware that the normal cancellation policy will apply if you fail to attend that Telehealth appointment.
If the school system has a delayed start or early dismissal, expect to hear from your therapist regarding options for that appointment. We will consider both your safety and ours.
While we do not participate with insurance companies as an in-network provider, many of our clients are eligible to be reimbursed for a portion of the fee. Please feel free to speak with your therapist if you would like us to electronically submit claims to your insurance company, and we we will provide you with the information that you need.
The most effective way to reach your therapist is to schedule an appointment by calling their direct extension from the main line or using the client portal. If you need to discuss a matter outside of your appointment, please and leave a message if you are not able to get directly through. We will then make it our goal to get back to you within 2 business days.
Due to our time constraints, we limit the extent of our phone interaction and reserve the most time for our appointments. If you are experiencing an emergency situation, please call 911 or visit the nearest emergency room.
Please note that because of the nature of the internet, you should always be mindful that privacy cannot be assured. Therefore, confidentiality does not extend to email communication, although we will never distribute or forward your emails to anyone. We ask that you give us 2 business days to respond to emails, if you are requesting a response.
We do try to be available afternoons and into the evening to avoid disrupting school and work, but, as you can imagine, those are the hours for which everyone is looking and they can be tight. If you have flexibility during the day, it is more likely that we can schedule you more quickly. We often work with schools in particular to find the least disruptive time. If you cannot immediately find what you are looking for, we can add you to the wait list so that when an appointment time becomes available within the window you are looking, we can let you know.
To schedule an appointment, you can call us on the main line or fill out the contact us form on and we will get back to you by the end of the next business day to set up an appointment.
Since Solace is an out-of-network provider, payment is expected at the time of service and any reimbursement from the insurance company would be strictly reliant on your out-of-network benefits for mental health care. We want to be transparent about our fees, so that you are able to effectively determine if we are a good fit for you, and ensure that you are able to commit to your full therapeutic process. The fees are dependent on the provider which you are assigned and the type of service provided. Following is our fee structure:
| Description of Service | LCPC, LCSW-C | LGPC, LMSW |
| Initial Diagnostic Evaluation | $205.00 | $185.00 |
| Psychotherapy, 38-52 minutes | $175.00 | $155.00 |
| Psychotherapy, > 53 minutes | $245.00 | $225.00 |
| Psychotherapy for a Crisis | $195.00 | $175.00 |
| Family Psychotherapy | $195.00 | $175.00 |
| Group Psychotherapy | $105.00 | $85.00 |
| Correspondences Outside of Session | Prorated based on rate of $175.00/hour | Prorated based on rate of $155.00/hour |
| App'ts. Canceled within 48 hours | Full Appointment Fee | Full Appointment Fee |
| Production of Records/Legal Fees | Prorated based on rate of $175.00/hour | Prorated based on rate of $155.00/hour |
If you have any questions contact us we will answer your questions as quickly as possible.