Is online therapy right for me?
Online therapy offers a convenient and accessible way to engage in psychotherapy and can be a very effective form of care, but it is not appropriate in some circumstances. Anyone who is currently experiencing an acute mental health or medical crisis would benefit from local, in-person services or a higher level of care.
Who does Aly work with?
- Aly is licensed to provide online psychotherapy for clients who reside in California and Oregon only.
- She does not treat families, couples, or minors.
- Consultations and women’s groups are available for clients located anywhere.
- In-person intensives and women’s retreats coming soon in a nature-rich setting in the rural South/Midwest.
What are the differences between therapy and consultation?
- Therapy and consultation appointments typically last 55 minutes.
- Longer sessions (up to 90) minutes are available and may be suggested in some cases, such as for AF-EMDR or trauma-focused work.
- Psychotherapy involves formal processes like clinical assessment, history taking, and treatment planning and has the best outcomes when meeting at a regular, weekly cadence. As a psychodynamic and client-centered clinician, Aly believes it is the relationship itself that heals and she values building relationships with clients over time and prefers long term therapy work.
- Consultations are likely a more appropriate choice for individuals seeking one time, short-term, or intermittent guidance or support related to a particular question or concern that aligns with Aly’s specific areas of interest and expertise.
Can I use my insurance? What are Aly’s fees?
- Aly does not accept insurance but can provide monthly superbills for those with out-of-network benefits to submit for reimbursement.
- Therapy and consultation fees are based on standard market rates.
- Sliding scale is available.
- Online women’s groups are a low fee way to work with Aly and are available online. Please reach out for more information.
SPECIALTIES
Women with relationship “addictions”
As a CSAT, Aly enjoys supporting women in breaking free from patterns of compulsive dating or involvement in sexual intensity or fantasy-driven relationships that just end up causing more harm.
With expertise in partner betrayal trauma, intimate partner violence, and Dark Triad or sex offender profiles, Aly also offers training for women who want to learn how to better recognize “red flags” of manipulation, undue influence, and coercive control in relationships or cultic groups.
Feminist analysis and media literacy focus
“The personal is political” is a central concept in feminist therapy approaches, and Aly engages clients in examination of how their “personal problems” are actually shared by multitudes of other women and that may be saying something about the status of women as a sex-class.
First introduced to media studies in the early1990s, she is interested in exploring the ways in which media can be used to socially condition people into accepting a “malignant normality.” She guides clients to be critical of the media they consume using tools like the Bechdel Test, asking questions like “what product is this selling?” and “who benefits?” and tracking how their nervous system responds to these inputs.
She calls the broader culture to account for the harmful impacts caused by ever more extreme and rigid sex-role stereotypes, youth/beauty norms, sexual objectification, and criminal, sexual behavior wearing Cleckley’s Mask and asking to be called “adult entertainment” or “pornography.”
Contact Aly to be on her waitlist for an upcoming feminist consciousness raising group about these topics.
Adult ADHD/Autism, cPTSD, and Differential Diagnosis
Aly is an adult diagnosed ADHD/Autistic with specialized training and skills in recognizing nuanced, high-masking, female presentations of ADHD and Autism. She provides clinical consultation for therapists seeking help in differentiating ADHD/Autism in adult women from complex/PTSD, chronic anxiety/depression, and other common occurring diagnoses & misdiagnoses (i.e., Borderline Personality disorder).
Neuro Affirming Autism Screening
In 2023, Aly and her autistic colleague, Candice Christiansen co-created a Neuro-Affirming Autism Screening Tool to help guide clinicians in better identifying and assessing for autism in adult women presenting to treatment with betrayal trauma, and sex/love addictions for their presentation at the annual IITAP Symposium in Phoenix.
This tool is available at the link above and Aly also offers one-time or ongoing clinical consultation for individuals and therapists about using this screening – contact her for more information.
Neuro-Curious? Women’s Groups
Aly also runs a series of 8 week groups for women interested in exploring adhd and autistic neurotypes with a focus on neuro-affirming assessment, group process, and opportunites to unpack the multi-layered complexities of the female experience with ADHD, Autism, and AuDHD.
Flyer for Aly’s upcoming neuro-curious women’s group
Individual consultation and clinical consultation is available for those who would prefer to learn this information outside of the group context.
Links to more about:
Polyvagal theory
Contact Aly D MFT
alyd.mft@gmail.com
Aly Dearborn, 2019.
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