Frequently Asked Questions
Getting Started
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Reach out on my contact page or via email at lisa.hamilton@marinlpcc.com. You can expect to hear back from me within 1-2 business days.
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In general, we will meet for 50-60 minutes for both telehealth and in-person therapy sessions.
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My rates are comparable with therapists of similar experience and credentials in the Bay Area. We can discuss rates during our complementary consult call.
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Yes, I have a limited number of sliding scale spots, and sometimes those spots are full. If you are interested in a sliding scale fee, please reach out or set up a free phone consultation with me to see what is currently available and where you would fall in my income sliding scale.
I will do my best to provide quality referrals if we can’t work together. There are a number of low fee clinics I recommend in San Francisco, and both the North and East Bays.
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I do not take insurance at this time and my clients pay privately for their sessions. Out-of-Network benefits can sometimes cover up to 40-60% of my fee and I am happy to provide you with a superbill for reimbursement.
To find out more about your mental health benefits you may want to ask your insurance company the following:
- Do they reimburse for psychotherapy?
- What are your mental health benefits?
- What is your reimbursement for an out of network psychotherapist? -
To more quickly understand you and your situation - as well as to make sure you get relief more quickly - I recommend seeing each other on a weekly basis to start. As you feel more stable, and your circumstances improve, we may begin biweekly sessions as long as your needs can be met with this frequency.
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Such a good question. Everyone is different and your process will be unique. Therapy length depends on several factors including what you want to work on, how much support you have, your background, your motivation to change, current stressors and more.
The intention of therapy is relief from your challenges and an increased quality of life. We will periodically assess how therapy is going and if things are improving.
Some people decide that ongoing therapy enriches their lives in ways that merits continuing, others address a specific concern and move on. For some, new goals emerge as they are inspired by their own growth. You will decide what is right for you.
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My cancellation policy requires 24 hours' notice. I understand things come up. I respectfully request that you please cancel as early as is reasonably foreseeable. I aim to meet the needs of other clients who may be waiting to get in, and it can be challenging with only a day or two notice.
Your appointment time is held exclusively for you. I charge a full session fee for missed appointments or cancellations with less than 24-hour notice because with such little notice, I am unlikely to be able to fill your spot.
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A therapist brings years of training and experience in mental health and making positive change. This helps you approach your situation in new ways – teaching new skills, providing a different perspective, listening to you without judgment or expectations, and helping you listen to yourself.
Friends and family can be a wonderful source of support, but they’re not trained to help you work through deeper patterns. They may share what’s worked for them or try to be supportive by agreeing, even when what you might need most is a different perspective or gentle guidance.
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I bring ongoing training and experience in multicultural competence, and I strive to meet each person with openness, curiosity, and respect for their unique lived experience. I am aware of what it can be like to be treated as “other” or to hold beliefs that differ from the prevailing culture, and I approach each person as an individual, not an assumption.
I view culture as dynamic and ever-evolving, and I see developing cultural humility as a lifelong process. I’m committed to continuing to learn and grow so that you can feel safe, respected, and supported in expressing yourself freely, without judgment.
About Therapy
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In a nutshell, therapy is a structured, supportive conversation with a trained professional that helps you understand your thoughts, emotions, and patterns, and learn ways to handle them more effectively. It’s a space to explore what’s going on in your life without judgment and with guidance.
Therapy is great for people struggling with mental health issues as well as for anyone who wants to understand themselves better and work through life challenges.
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It’s normal to wonder “am I someone who should go to therapy?” And if that’s you, odds are therapy can be helpful!
Therapy is useful in managing stress, building stronger sense of self, addressing anxiety and depression, resolving relationship challenges, or simply getting better self-awareness.
You don’t have to be in crisis to benefit from therapy. If something in your thoughts, emotions, or life feels hard to manage or keeps repeating, therapy can help. It’s less about “needing” it and more about whether support could make things easier or clearer for you.
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Yes. Therapy works for many people, especially when there’s a good fit with your therapist and you engage in the process over time. It doesn’t fix everything instantly, but it can lead to meaningful, lasting changes in how you think, feel, and respond.
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That’s completely normal. Figuring out what to talk about is part of the process, not something you need to have ready beforehand. You don’t need a perfect topic, you can start with exactly where you are.
A good therapist will help guide the conversation and explore whatever comes up.
“I have no idea what to say today”…is actually a great first sentence in therapy.
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People choose private pay for more privacy, flexibility, and choice in therapists, since insurance can limit who you see and what gets documented. It often allows therapy to be more tailored to your needs rather than insurance requirements.
Bottom line: private pay is like having full control over your care, while insurance involves a third party helping pay, but also influencing the process.
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Short answer: no.
Therapy is confidential, so what you share stays private.
And in many cases, it actually helps your career—by making it easier to manage things like anxiety, self-doubt, or procrastination, so you can show up more confidently at work.
A lot of successful professionals are in therapy. It’s not a weakness—it’s a smart investment in yourself.
Specific Concerns
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Therapy tends to be most effective when you show up consistently, are as honest as you can be, and stay open to exploring uncomfortable patterns. You don’t have to do it perfectly. You just have to engage with the process over time.
You don’t need polished insights. Some of the most meaningful moments start with something like: “I feel weird saying this…” That’s where the real material is.
You don’t need a full agenda, just a starting point: a moment from your week, something that bothered you, a thought that kept looping. Think: starting point, not perfect topic.
Therapy deepens when you begin to notice patterns: “I did that thing again…” or “I went straight to worst-case”
You don’t have to fix it, just notice it and bring it in.
You will find that progress looks subtle: small shifts, increased awareness, changes you notice later.
And the good news is you get to let go of “doing it right.” Instead of “Am I doing this correctly?” you can shift to “Am I showing up honestly enough?”
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This question is very common for high-anxiety, perfectionist types. For someone burned out, overfunctioning, and perfectionistic, this thought often loops endlessly: “If I can’t fix myself, I’ll never rest, never succeed, never be enough.”
Therapy doesn’t try to “fix” your personality wholesale. It focuses on patterns that cause suffering, not on erasing core identity traits. Instead of: “I am the problem,” the language becomes: “These thoughts, behaviors, or reactions are patterns I can work with.”
This subtle shift decreases self-blame while keeping accountability. Therapy teaches coping skills, boundary-setting, emotional awareness, and stress management. Even if core traits remain, you can stop them from causing burnout or anxiety spirals.
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This is a question that comes up a lot.
Therapists often spend 7–12 years in education and supervised training before entering private practice. This level of expertise, combined with ongoing certification and professional development, contribute to higher fees. Therapy is personalized and intensive, typically 50–60 minutes per session. You get focused attention entirely on you and your mental health.
Therapists pay for office rent, utilities, insurance, licensing fees, recordkeeping, and professional liability insurance. If you’re seeing someone in a comfortable, private setting (whether in an office or via telehealth), the cost reflects more than just the session. It covers the infrastructure to safely provide care.
Even when insurance helps, mental health reimbursement rates are often lower than the cost of running a practice, so private pay fills the gap.
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Please see this post by the Federal Trade Commission.