Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ’s About Working With Joel

How do I contact Joel?
The best way to contact me is by phone or text at (916) 587-1948. You can also email me or visit my contact page for contact information.
How much does it cost?

You can view my counseling rates Here

I do offer a sliding scale rate for people who are unable to pay my full fee – To determine if you qualify please Contact Me to discuss your options.

Payment is accepted by cash, check, or credit card.   

Can I use my insurance?

If you have insurance you may be able to use it, providing your plan coverages out-of-network providers. You should check with your provider to be sure you have this coverage. You can file a claim with your insurance company, and they will help you with reimbursement coverage for your visits. To assist you in the process, I can provide a monthly statement including vital information such as diagnosis, service dates, coding, signature and any other necessary data. Once this statement is produced and submitted by you, it is up to your insurance provider to protect the integrity and confidentiality of your information.

There are a few things you may not aware of regarding using medial insurance for mental health treatment. I’ve written and article on the topic entitled – Medical Insurance: Great for the body – Not so great for the mind

 

 

How do I book a session?
To book a session you can either contact me to set up a time or you can book a session online through my web portal. The web portal is available 24-hours a day for your convenience. 
Where are you located?
My office is located at 7844 Madison Ave | Suite 108 | Fair Oaks, CA 95728. We are located between Sunrise Blvd & Primrose.

 

What can I expect at my first session?
Your first visit is called the “Intake” and is used to help establish a therapeutic alliance between you and myself. This is a good time to ask any questions you have and to get to know one another. My goal is to get a good understanding of you as a person and your core relationships with family and friends. I’ll ask you a series of open-ended questions to establish a framework for setting some basic goals that you’d like to work on in therapy.

I will also go over what is called Informed Consent, which lets you know the risks and benefits to counseling as well as the limits to your confidentiality regarding topics such as mandated reporting.  Mandated reporting covers such items as any reasonable suspicion of child abuse and elder abuse, active suicidal thoughts, or threats made against others, which the therapist is most likely required by law to report to the authorities.

How long does the counseling process take?
The answer to that depends on many factors. The range of issues, the complexity of one’s case, combined with one’s strengths and abilities all work together, which is why the counseling process and duration is so individualistic. I generally take a solution focused therapeutic approach, which is intended to brief in nature. Most clients see noticeable improvements within a few sessions, while others may take longer. It should be noted, however, that some people will get worse before they get better, since the very nature of counseling is to process through what’s keeping a person stuck.
Do you work with kids?
Yes, I work with children 12 and older. I generally work with children primarily in the context of a family system. For younger children, I generally refer them to other therapist’s.
Are you Christian?

Yes, I am a Christian.  I have four years experience in ministry as a staff counselor for Bayside Church in Granite Bay and several years in private practice as a Christain counselor. While I have a strong faith, I also believe people can worship God in more than one way. As a counselor, I want to be supportive of each person’s faith rather than project my own values on to them. I find that a person’s faith can be a powerful and positive influence in their life, as well as a point of conflict for others. Working with people from a range of faiths, I try to help them resolve conflict(s) they may have in regards to their faith.

What's with the Mickey Hat?

It’s true – I often wear this silly Mickey Mouse ball cap!

We often take life far too seriously, and the Mickey hat is my way of saying “We need to lighten up and not take things so literally!” It also lets clients see me as a bit more approachable, which is why you won’t see degrees and diplomas plastering the walls of my office. It’s not that I don’t have them, it’s just that effective counseling should be about you, not me. The Mickey cap is my way of attempting to convey that.

FAQs about working with couples

Can I do couple's counseling if my mate won't come to counseling?
Couple’s counseling needs both parties to be called couple’s counseling. Although, I have found it is often easier if both parties participate in counseling together, I firmly believe that one person can have a significant impact on the health of the relationship if their partner is unable or unwilling to participate.
What is your approach to couple's counseling?
Each couple is different. But, two things that every couple can benefit from is learning how to better communicate and how to have a deeper understanding of what their partner is experiencing in their relationship.

It’s important to first establish safety and deescalate conflict. Next, identifying cycles of conflict, increase authenticity, deepen connection, growing understanding, consolidate new patterns of behavior, and developing a plan for resolve future conflicts.

My goal is to empower couples to work together, rather than against each other.

What if our issue is not one of the one's listed above?
There are a multitude of reasons that couples may find themselves having marital difficulties, If you are not sure what kind of counseling you need, call me and we can discuss it.
How long does couple's counseling take?
How long couple’s counseling takes depends on the issues and the severity of your problems. I start by meeting with a couple together. Next, I meet individually with each party. Following sessions are typically with both parties.

After the assessment process, we’ll work to establish realistic goals for moving forward. I work with most couples for 12-24 sessions. I have some clients, however, that I’ve worked with longer and some shorter.

How do you deal with secrets between partners?
As part of the intake process I’ll review my policy regarding secretes between couples and/or families members. In general, I’m not a holder of secretes that can impact your relationship. However, some secretes related to earlier life experiences that don’t directly effect your relationship may be acceptable to remain confidential from your partner.

FAQs about Marriage & Family Therapy

What is a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT)?
MFTs work with individuals, families, and couples to help process mental and emotional pain a person may be experiencing. They also help people with life transitions as a result of normal everyday life.

MFTs, along with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and clinical counselors, are counted as one of “The Big-5” mental health practitioners.

What’s the difference between an MFT and other mental health practitioners?
MFTs differ from other mental health practitioners primarily in the way they practice. MFTs typically work from a  framework that addresses the person or family as a whole system. Meaning, they look beyond the individual to see the person as part of a larger system with many working parts, i.e., home, work, school, and relationships. This is done in order to form a more holistic picture of the person’s unique combined system as a whole. While over 50% of their clients are seen individually, they will include other family members, when needed,  to help identify and correct co-created cycles or issues.

What types of issues do MFTs most often work with?
MFTs primarily work with mental health and adjustment issues related to everyday life. They most often help people with common transitional issues that are causing emotional or mental distress within the person’s life. Issues related to depression, grief, anxiety, relationship complications, parenting issues, communication problems, job-loss, school issues, substance abuse, anger, emotional regulation, sexual definitions, learning disabilities, affairs, health crisis, divorce, and eating disorders are just some of the common reasons people will seek help from an MFT.

 

What is the difference between an MFT Counselor, Christian Counseling, and Biblical Counseling?
MFT Counselors are secular trained professional psychotherapists that practice the art and science of psychotherapy. Many MFTs come from a secular humanists perspective and avoid or stay neutral on spiritual concepts. Generally, MFTs will stay within a treatment framework that is either evidence-based or that’s within one of the broadly accepted theoretical approaches used in the counseling industry.

A Christian MFT Counselor is a professional psychotherapist that combines both psychology and Christian principles into the counseling sessions, but only when requested by the client. Under the law, professional counselors can only introduce a spiritual element into the counseling once the client has been given the choice to include spiritual beliefs as part of counseling. This is done to support the client’s current worldview, not to convert or change a person’s theological position. Some Christians may feel it’s a conflict of interest to combine secular and Christian concepts, or when it seems that Christianity is taking a backseat to secular psychology. Because most churches provide very little in direct counseling for their members, Christian counselors fulfill an important need.

A Biblical Counselor is a religious counselor/advocate, generally a pastor or lay counselor that is associated with a church or religious organization. Their primary purpose is to support and promote the faith and spiritual well-being of individuals seeking counseling using Biblical principles as their foundation. While many Biblical counselors can be highly trained professionals, others are only as good as the leadership or program in which they work under. As such, it can sometimes be frustrating to find consistent standards between them.

 

What’s the difference between an MFT and a Life-Coach?
MFTs and life coaches can appear to be very similar since they are both help the individual to overcome personal hurdles. The biggest difference is that a life coach is more of a consultant and cheerleader to help people to meet clearly established goals. Life coaches don’t diagnose or treat mental illness, or practice psychotherapy, nor do they operate under any government authority. Some life coaches are associated with a church and/or some form of ministries. Most life coaches deal with people in the present and future context as opposed to mental health practitioners who often work with a person from a whole life perspective. Life coaches are generally very caring people that provide help for a specific topic like, professional development and general goal setting.

How can I be assured that the things I talk about are kept confidential?
By law, MFTs are required to maintain complete confidentiality of all your personal information, including everything you talk about in sessions. While every effort will be extended to maintain your confidentiality, there are limits to client confidentiality. MFTs are “Mandated Reporters.” This means, by law, they are required to report certain disclosed information should it raise to level of one of the following reportable events:

  1. A reasonable suspicion of known child abuse upon any person under the age of 18.
  2. A reasonable suspicion of abuse to a dependent adult and/or elder adult.
  3. A reasonable suspicion of active suicidal thought with a plan and the ability to carry it out.
  4. A reasonable suspicion of an active threat to harm an identifiable another person(s).
  5. Any ordered release of information from a judge authorized by law to make such demand.

If you are billing your insurance carrier for treatment, some general personal information may have to be shared with your insurance carrier. This is why many individuals choose to pay direct for counseling services rather than processing an insurance claim that becomes part of your medical record.