Clinical science is the idea that your therapist should know more than your bartender. Therapists generally have tremendous space to decide what treatment they want to offer. This has led to many therapists offering treatments that have never actually been shown to work for the problem that they are treating. Clinical scientists rely strictly on science to select their assessments and treatments.
You can read more here.
Receiving treatment from a clinical scientist will feel different than treatment from other clinicians. Movies portray therapists as all-knowing, intuitive warm women counseling a person crying, reclined on a couch. The common features of a clinical scientist provider is that we measure you constantly and use technology extensively. Data show that clinicians who use their “gut” to judge how therapy is going consistently overestimate progress. In other words, clinicians think therapy is going better than it actually is. For a clinical scientist, accurate information, even if it is not encouraging, is essential.
This approach can be challenging for clients. Some clients want to discuss their stressors each week or speculate about how their childhood caused their problems. Clinical science is probably not a good fit for you if you want to process each weeks activities and stay in therapy for years. Clinical science will be a better fit for clients who prefer to understand both their strengths and weaknesses and work on skill building designed to help you solve challenges in the future. Put another way: Our job is to make it so you don’t need us any more.
When you initially log in to the calendar, you select the time that is best for you. We will review your appointment request and approve it during business hours. The Simple Practice calendar is HIPPA-compliant, so it will protect your information like any medical record requires.
Evaluation
Evaluations last 3 sessions, with the third session starting the treatment (or contacting referrals) as Dr. Prause will recommend and discuss with you. Each lasts 90 minutes. All partners should come for romantic relationship or sex therapy.
Psychotherapy
You will only be able to sign up for psychotherapy sessions after you have attended evaluation. Psychotherapy typically will be scheduled for 50 minutes.
Consult call
If you are not sure your difficulty is within the scope of Dr. Prause’s areas of expertise, she welcomes you to call first. Calls are free and are scheduled for 15 minutes.
Dr. Prause currently offers intervention for
Romantic relationships
The goal of this therapy is usually to preserve and improve a primary, romantic relationship between (at least) two adults.
Sex therapy
The goal of this therapy is typically to increase sexual satisfaction, whether you have a current sexual partner or not.
Sexual harassment (Adult Sexual Abuse by Nonspouse or Nonpartner)
The goal of this therapy is to reduce the risk of future sexual harassing behavior of non-consenting adults.
The best way to get the exact cost is to schedule an appointment, and you will see the cost for exactly what you are requesting before you are committed to it. There is an option to request a very brief, free phone call (or secure communication) to answer very specific questions.
The initial evaluation will include a series of structured tests and questionnaires in addition to the clinical interview with Dr. Prause. Even if you decide not to pursue therapy at Liberos, you will have concrete information about your current status to take with you. Afterwards, most treatments will follow a weekly, 50-minute session, but these vary depending on the treatment and your availability.
You are protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. You are protected by the Board of Psychology that overseas Dr. Prause’s licensure. You are protected by compliant communication by our provider Simple Practice. Dr. Prause is a member of the Association for Psychological Science, which also has ethical guidelines for members. Dr. Prause also conducts research, which is overseen by her affiliations with national universities. You will be explicitly consented before being enrolled in any experiment.
The waiting room is mixed use. This means that no one will know you are waiting to see our office just because you are in the waiting room. The therapy room is private and uses sound-dampening to protect our communications. If you require additional privacy considerations, such as due to publicity concerns, please request these in a free phone consultation before scheduling your appointment.
There are limits to those protections, which Dr. Prause will review with you prior to starting treatment. These include, for example, threats of imminent harm to yourself or others.