Therapy
I provide virtual individual and relationship sessions to adults in PA and NJ. I will be glad to join you in exploring who you are, how you feel, how you relate to others or to yourself, and how you have been affected by past events and systemic experiences.
I have experience working with diverse populations, particularly with queer, trans, and non-binary community members and with people who have experienced trauma and/or attachment wounding. Additional areas that I can bring robust experience to support you with include:
Depression
Anxiety
Strong emotions and sensitivity
Borderline personality disorder or borderline traits
Experiences in relationships with others, such as trouble forming or ending relationships, difficulty with or questions about communication, wanting more or less closeness with others, or wanting to feel more fulfilled in your relationships
Experiences of marginalization or inequity
Navigating situations and identifying your needs as an autistic person and/or someone with ADHD (note: I do not use or draw from ABA)
Exploring your identity or sense of self
Support letters for gender-affirming procedures
Being a therapist or a student in a mental health or social work field
I bring a strong anti-oppressive, queer, and trauma-informed lens to our work. This leads me to value informed consent, transparency, authenticity, and collaboration as foundational to meaningful therapy. I also maintain awareness of links between systemic, interpersonal, and individual difficulties and the ways in which each of these may impact you.
I believe that everyone deserves a non-pathologizing and affirming therapy space. In my practice, this includes people with ADHD, autistic people, people with borderline features or who have been diagnosed with these, people practicing polyamory and/or kink, people under the asexual umbrella, people engaged in sex work, and people or systems experiencing plurality or DID/OSDD. Beyond this, I am dedicated to providing anti-racist care.
My Approach
The main approach that I use is internal family systems (IFS). IFS provides a framework based in the idea that all of us have a number of parts that may have different experiences, feelings, or roles for us. This invites nuance and openness to the fullness of your experience. Using this model, we can notice what different parts of you are holding and offer presence and care where they are needed. We can also travel deeper into the inner workings of your experiences. I may invite you to connect with what is coming up for you through somatic (body-based), visual, or verbal channels. I have completed Level 2 training with the Internal Family Systems Institute.
I also frequently draw from relational therapy, an approach that prioritizes the importance of relationships in your life, including the relationship that we mold in therapy. When this feels meaningful to you, I will invite you to explore our dynamics and what these bring up for you. I will welcome your input in the process of our work together.
At times, I may bring in additional approaches. This will depend on your needs and on preferences you may have about approaches that feel supportive.
Getting Started
I offer a free 15-20 minute consultation to explore whether working together feels like a good fit. I will ask a little more about your hopes for therapy and I will welcome you to ask me whatever questions will help you get a sense of whether I can meet your needs. We will also discuss fees (more about this below). If you feel comfortable during the consult and want to go forward with therapy with me, great! I will send you an invitation to the electronic health portal that I use, Simple Practice, along with initial forms that I will ask you to complete. We will schedule an intake session during which I will ask you more about your goals, background, and mental health history. This allows me to get a fuller picture of where you are and where you have been so that I can better support you to get to where you’re going. Following the intake, we will have ongoing sessions and decide together what to focus on, how, and at what pace. If moving forward after the consult doesn’t feel like the best option, that’s also okay and I can support you in identifying other possibilities that may work better for you. To schedule a consultation, I welcome you to fill out the contact form, to email me at thigpen.lcsw@gmail.com, or to call me at 215-608-4727.
Fees
My full fee for sessions is $160 for individuals and $190 for relationships, due on the day of session through card in the electronic health portal. I am not in network with any insurance providers; however, some commercial plans will reimburse for a certain percentage of your session cost. If wanted or needed, I will be glad to provide you with a superbill for you to access this. I offer sliding scale spots from $155 to $40 for individuals ($185 to $60 for relationships) as well as a limited number of pro bono or reparation spots. I currently have availability at $80 or higher. If you’d like to be added to my waitlist for a lower fee spot, please contact me. Please note that existing clients with changes in circumstances are prioritized for sliding scale spots as well as for pro bono or reparation spots. Spots toward the lower end of the sliding scale as well as long-term pro bono/reparation spots are prioritized for QTPOC. We will discuss fees during our initial consultation and can continue to discuss this as needed over the course of our work together. In most circumstances, you will be charged your session fee if you cancel within 24 hours of a scheduled session; you will NOT be charged if you provide more than 24 hours’ notice.
If it is possible for you to pay $160 or closer to the higher end of the sliding scale, I ask that you do so to facilitate access for others for whom that is not possible. In weighing what feels possible for you, please take the following into account: income and stability of income; savings; access to generational wealth; access to others’ income; social locations such as race, gender, and ability; expenses including bills, debts, and people whom you support financially; assets; and whether you frequently have money to spend on areas outside of necessary expenses.
Please note that I have a fee increased policy where fee-paying clients are asked to increase their fee by $5 to $10 at the start of the calendar year if they have not recently increased their fees.
Why don’t I take insurance?
While therapy through insurance can be more affordable, it can also be more constrained in a variety of ways for both clients and providers. In choosing an out-of-pocket, sliding-scale model, I am prioritizing access for those most marginalized on the pro bono/reparations and lower-cost end of the scale, while also prioritizing your own decision making and agency over your care. This additionally allows me to focus more of my time on direct work with clients rather than on administrative work. I acknowledge that this limits access to therapy with me for some and that ideally, high-quality therapy that truly centers your needs would be freely available for everyone. This is how I am navigating the not-ideal reality of the current system.
Why is therapy so expensive?
The cost of therapy covers a lot. In this case, people paying higher fees allow me to sustainably provide lower-cost sessions, ensuring a more equitable fee structure. Beyond this, here is what your payments cover: self-employment and business taxes; licensure fees; business expenses such as an electronic health record; my income and benefits; and expenses that are important for me to provide resourced and competent care, such as trainings and consultation.