Your Questions
Answered

Do you really understand what transplant patients go through?

 

Yes, and not just professionally. I am an organ transplant recipient myself.

I had a double lung transplant in 2018, and I have lived those early morning body checks,

the weight of someone else's sacrifice, the isolation of carrying an experience

that no one around you fully understands. That lived experience is woven into every session.

You will not have to explain yourself from scratch or worry about being misunderstood.

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Do I have to be in California to work with you?

 

Yes. I am licensed in California and can provide therapy to clients

who are physically located in California at the time of their sessions.

If you are outside of California, I may be able to point you toward resources or referrals.

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What is body-centered therapy and do I have to do anything physical?

 

Body-centered therapy simply means that we pay attention to what is happening in your body during our conversations, sensations, tension, breath, the way emotions show up physically. You do not have to move, exercise, or do anything uncomfortable. It is a way of listening more fully to your whole self, not just your thoughts. For people who have had a complicated relationship with their body, this approach can open up a new way of relating to yourself that talking alone sometimes cannot reach.

 

I feel guilty for struggling when I should feel grateful. Is that something you can help with?

 

That tension between gratitude and grief is one of the most common and least talked about experiences in the transplant world. Feeling grateful and feeling burdened are not opposites, they can exist at the same time, and both are completely valid. This is exactly the kind of thing this work is designed to hold. You do not have to choose one feeling over the other, and you do not have to pretend.

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How much does therapy cost and do you take insurance?

 

I do not take insurance at this time. An initial assessment is $250 and weekly ongoing sessions are $225. I can provide a superbill which can be submitted to your insurance company for reimbursement. The client is responsible for managing their own reimbursement with their insurance company. I do take FSA and HSA as payment.

 

I am a caregiver, not a transplant recipient. Is this still a good fit for me?

 

Absolutely. Caregivers and family members carry their own profound weight through the transplant experience, often without anyone asking how they are doing. Your experience matters and deserves its own space. This work is for anyone whose life has been significantly shaped by transplantation.

 

What makes Second Breath Therapy different from general therapy?

 

Most therapists, even excellent ones, have not lived inside the transplant experience. They may be skilled at treating anxiety or depression in a general sense, but the specific landscape of transplant life, the survivor weight, the body grief, the identity disruption, the complicated gratitude, requires a particular kind of understanding. I bring both the clinical expertise and the lived experience that makes this work genuinely different.

 

I am still on the waiting list for a transplant. Can I start therapy now?

 

Yes, and in many ways the pre-transplant period is one of the most important times to have support. The anticipation, the uncertainty, the emotional preparation for what lies ahead, all of it deserves attention. You do not have to wait until after a transplant to begin finding yourself again.

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