Therapeutic Services
Each service at Art of Ascension is an invitation to explore healing through mind and body
Sessions are adapted based on your current needs, capacity, and readiness—allowing for progress that feels steady, not forced.
Therapy here is experiential and integrative. Below are the core ways we might work together; in practice, we often blend them based on your needs and capacity.
Clinical Therapy
Clinical therapy sessions are for adults residing in South Carolina who are seeking support for diagnosable concerns such as anxiety, depression, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), or trauma-related symptoms. We’ll clarify your goals, create a treatment plan, and use a combination of talk therapy, somatic work, EMDR, and creative approaches to support meaningful, sustainable change.
Virtual or in person sessions available (South Carolina Residents only).
Clinical Therapy Services are offered at $235/hour.
45 minute Sessions are offered at $175.
creative arts therapy
Creative arts therapy is a way of working with images, symbols, and materials when talking alone isn’t enough. I lean on the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) to choose media and processes that match your current capacity.
Art becomes a safe container where your nervous system can show us what it’s been holding.
Virtual sessions available to U.S. residents, in person available for those within driving distance.
Creative Arts Therapy is available through Clinical and Integrative Therapies and can also be a stand-alone service for $200/hour.
For more information on Art Therapy
→ American Art Therapy Association
→ South Carolina Art Therapy Association
EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured, body-aware therapy that helps your nervous system “digest” overwhelming or stuck experiences so they no longer run your life from the background.
In our work together, I’ll invite you to briefly bring a memory or pattern to mind while using gentle bilateral stimulation—such as eye movements, taps, or tones—to support your brain in making new, more adaptive connections.
Virtual or in person sessions available (South Carolina Residents only).
EMDR is available through Clinical and Integrative Therapies.
For more information on EMDR
→ EMDRIA EMDR International Association
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, body-focused approach that helps your nervous system slowly unwind from the impact of stress and trauma.
Instead of diving straight into the story or “figuring it out” with your mind, we get curious about what is happening in your body —sensations, impulses, images, emotions—and give those experiences enough space and support to complete.
Virtual sessions available to U.S. residents, in person available for those within driving distance.
Somatic Experiencing is available through Clinical and Integrative Therapies and can also be a stand-alone service for $200/hour.
For more information on Somatic Experiencing:
→ Somatic Experiencing International
Experiential therapy is how I describe the way I weave together the modalities I’m trained in—art therapy, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, mindfulness, and more—into one coherent, responsive experience rather than a specific protocol. Instead of forcing you to fit a particular model, we let your nervous system, your story, and your present-day capacity guide which tools we use and when.
Over time, this kind of integrative work tends to feel both grounding and expansive: you’re learning practical skills, processing what’s been held in the body and mind, and slowly reshaping how you relate to yourself, your symptoms, and the life you’re creating moving forward.
Clinical Therapy Services are offered at $235/hour.
45 minute Sessions are offered at $175.
Experiential Therapy
Creative Arts Therapy FAQs
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Creative arts therapy uses materials and processes like paint, collage, clay, or drawing to explore experiences that may be hard to put into words. We use the arts as a mirror—it reflects inner narratives, emotions, and body states in a way that can feel safer and more spacious than talking alone.
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Not at all. This is not about making something pretty or “right.” It’s about the process—color, texture, movement, symbols—and what they bring up in you. Your nervous system and unconscious have their own language, and art gives them another way to speak.
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Many people do! We start simply, with structured materials, processes and clear guidance. You are always free to say no to an art invitation and stay with talking or somatic work instead. Over time, people often find that art making becomes a place of curiosity rather than performance.
EMDR FAQs
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EMDR is a structured, body-aware therapy that uses bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tapping, or tones) to help your brain and nervous system “digest” overwhelming or stuck experiences, so they no longer run your life from the background.
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EMDR is often used to treat trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), but it can also be helpful for anxiety, chronic shame, grief, phobias, and persistent negative beliefs about yourself. It’s especially useful when you “know better” logically but still feel hijacked emotionally in certain situations.
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We’ll first spend time building safety and skills so you feel prepared. When you’re ready, you’ll briefly bring a memory, image, or belief to mind while we use bilateral stimulation. I’ll guide you through short sets of bilateral stimulation (approximately 10-60 seconds) then pause the stimulation to ensure you are able to return to the present moment and check in with whatever thoughts, sensations, or feelings arise. We’ll pace the work so your system is not overwhelmed.
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You do not have to tell me every detail of what happened for EMDR to be effective. We’re more interested in how your body and nervous system are holding the experience now. We will not push past your capacity, and we always have options to slow down, pause, or return to stabilization work.
Somatic Experiencing FAQs
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Somatic Experiencing is a gentle, body-focused approach that helps your nervous system slowly unwind from the impact of stress and trauma. Instead of forcing insight with your mind, we get curious about sensations, impulses, emotions, and images that are showing up in the present moment.
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Traditional talk therapy focuses primarily on thoughts and stories. Somatic Experiencing includes those, but invites us to notice how your body is participating—tightness, numbness, agitation, heaviness, or ease. By inviting the body to participate directly, we help your system complete stress responses that have been stuck, which can reduce symptoms like anxiety, shutdown, and chronic tension.
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That’s very common among the people I work with. We go slowly and gently, and we never force you into sensations that feel intolerable. Sometimes the first step is simply learning how to notice what feels even a tiny bit neutral or safe in your body, and we build from there.
It is also very common to experience symptoms of feeling disconnected, “checking out”, mental fogginess or lapses in memory. These are considered to be normal responses to highly triggering or traumatic circumstances where our minds and bodies had no other choice to minimize emotional or physical pain. There is a spectrum of dissociative symptoms that people can experience and we can also explore these with curiosity and compassion so they can resolve and be integrated with the rest of your experiences.
Integrative Therapy FAQs
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Integrative therapy means I draw from multiple approaches—art therapy, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, mindfulness, and more—rather than using a static model. We choose what to use based on your needs, your history, and how your system is responding over time.
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Some modalities (like EMDR) have structured elements, but overall, the work is tailored rather than programmatic. We’ll regularly check in about what’s helping, what isn’t, and how your goals may be evolving, and we’ll adjust our approach accordingly.
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I am an out-of-network, private-pay provider and do not bill insurance directly. This allows us to focus on what’s most supportive for your healing rather than what an insurance company will approve or reimburse.
Also, because I do not accept insurance, I provide a Good Faith Estimate to each of my clients. This form details the amount of money you will realistically be expected to pay so there is always a measure of transparency re: treatment payments.
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Insurance-based therapy usually requires a formal mental health diagnosis, ongoing proof of “medical necessity,” and sometimes access to your treatment notes in order to continue coverage. By working privately, we protect your privacy, have more freedom in how we work together, and are not limited by session caps or rigid treatment requirements that may not fit complex, long-term healing.
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Many clients are able to receive partial reimbursement from their insurance company when they have out-of-network mental health benefits. I can provide a monthly superbill you can submit to your insurer, and they will determine what portion of the fee they will reimburse you directly.
FSA and HSA cards and accounts may also be used for mental health services and sometimes also require a Superbill or statement to use funds.
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A superbill is a detailed receipt that includes the information your insurance company needs to process an out-of-network claim, such as diagnosis code, session dates, and fees. You pay me at the time of service, then use the superbill to request reimbursement from your insurance plan, if you have those benefits.
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You can call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask specific questions such as: “Do I have out-of-network outpatient mental health benefits?”, “What is my out-of-network deductible and how much of it has been met?”, and “What percentage of the session fee will be reimbursed once my deductible is met?” You can also ask where to submit superbills and how long reimbursement typically takes.
Insurance FAQs
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I don’t communicate directly with insurance companies or submit claims on your behalf. My role is to provide you with clear documentation (such as superbills) and support you in understanding what to ask your insurer, while you remain in control of what you share and how you use your benefits.
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Most insurance companies require a mental health diagnosis to reimburse for therapy, even for out-of-network providers. If you plan to seek reimbursement, we can talk about what that means, what diagnosis fits your experience, and how you feel about it being part of your medical record before moving forward.
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Private pay offers greater privacy, fewer limits, and more choice. Your information is not routinely shared with an insurance company, there are no imposed session limits, and we can use the approaches and pacing that best fit your nervous system and your goals. For many of my clients—especially those with complex or chronic experiences—this freedom and confidentiality are an important part of feeling safe enough to do deep work.
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During our consultation call, we can discuss and agree on what rate you can responsibly afford and the availability/frequency of sessions needed to support your challenges and goals.
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Only you can decide what is sustainable for you. Some clients choose to attend weekly for a season and then shift to biweekly or monthly as they stabilize; others use out-of-network benefits or FSA/HSA accounts to offset costs. We can have an honest conversation about frequency, timing, and what’s realistic so that your healing work supports you rather than becoming another source of stress.