Frequently Asked Questions About Deep Heart's℠ Core
Deep Heart's Core is about taking the time to return to your innermost self: the essence that, in its truest state, is vibrant and light, humming with the universe and the fine tuning of your own authentic spirit.
The spirit within us pushes to express its true nature amid a world that often tries to constrain it: having to keep to a clock, answer to a boss, or make quick decisions out of fear. When we live too long in that world, we feel the pinch and the desire to return home. We go looking for that true self in the hall mirror, when the true mirror is in God's eyes.
Home is always there. It is the cornerstone, the thing that holds beneath the surface no matter where you are, on the pavements grey or in the meeting room. Listen. Have the courage to hear that still small voice within.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
W. B. Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
What is Deep Heart's Core℠ and how is it different from All Heart Counseling®?
All Heart Counseling is my insurance-based practice for trauma, PTSD, depression, anxiety, and dissociative disorders, and it works the way most therapy practices work. Deep Heart's Core is private pay and built for work that insurance does not cover or does not cover well: couples and relationship counseling, standalone clinical hypnosis, creative and personal development, and support for therapists building a practice. Same office, same clinician, different kind of work.
Why the Name?
The phrase is the last line of "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by W. B. Yeats. Standing on grey pavement in a city far from the lake of his boyhood, he finds he can still hear its water, "in the deep heart's core."
Yeats is naming a place inside a person. Not the heart as feeling, exactly, but something further in: the innermost part of the self where feeling, soul, and imagination meet, and where a deep, permanent longing lives. It holds what you have always known about yourself and what you have always wanted, even through years of forgetting. It does not go away. It waits.
That is what this practice is named for. The work here is about reaching that place and listening to what has been living there all along.
Who is Deep Heart's Core℠ not for?
This practice is not the right fit for someone in crisis, in active addiction, or looking for medication management. It is also not for couples where one partner is unsafe with the other. For those situations I will point you to the right care. Deep Heart's Core is for people who are stable enough to go deep and ready to do the work.
What does the therapy hour look like?
That depends on you. I have a basic approach, which is to listen closely, follow what matters, and go deeper when something is there. What that looks like in a given hour depends on what you bring: some sessions are conversation, some go into the past, some involve hypnosis or imagery when we have agreed to that. I adapt to the person in the room rather than running the same hour with everyone. If you want to know what it would look like for you, the first session is where we find out.
What does a depth-oriented approach?
It means we look beneath the problem. Most patterns are the surface of something older. How you learned to attach to the people who raised you, whether it was safe to need them, and what you had to do to stay close or stay protected, tends to shape how you love and fight and withdraw now. The work is about understanding that, feeling it rather than just naming it, and letting it change. This is slower and less structured than short-term models, and more interested in meaning than technique. We will talk about what is happening and also where it comes from. I will not hand you a worksheet or a six-session plan. The aim is not to manage the symptom better. It is to become more fully yourself. Knowing this early can help you decide whether this is the kind of work you want.
What is your approach with couples?
I work from an emotion-focused model, which is well researched and built for exactly the problem most couples bring in: you keep fighting about the same things, you can predict the fight before it starts, and you still cannot stop it. The work begins with understanding the emotional cycle underneath those fights, the feelings that drive each of you into your position. Once you can both see the pattern, you can work together to break out of it rather than fighting each other inside it. Emotion-focused work is fairly structured and directive. Most couples find that a relief. If you need something looser, I can adapt.
How does depth work fit in with an Emotion-focused approach?
Emotion-focused therapy gives our sessions structure and a clear way to work with the cycle you are caught in. Depth work is what lets us understand why this cycle, and why it grips the two of you the way it does. Most of what fuels a recurring fight is older than the marriage. When one of you touches something like that, we slow down and work with it, sometimes together and sometimes individually, and then bring what you learn back into the relationship.
What does the first couples session look like?
The first session is mostly me listening. We start with what brought you here and what you are hoping for, and I ask a lot of questions: about your life now, where you come from, what has worked before and what has not. I am forming a picture, and I will tell you what I see as it comes together which may not happen in the first session. You will get a sense of how I work and whether you feel comfortable with me. If I think I am not the right fit for what you need, I will say so and point you toward someone who is.
For couples, the first session is the three of us together. I want to hear each of you describe what keeps happening between you, and I will probably see the pattern start to play out in the room. That is not a problem; it is the material. From there we decide together whether to go forward with the initial three months.
Paperwork and payment are handled before you arrive, so the hour is yours.
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Will you see each of us individually?
Sometimes. Depending on how the first session goes, I may ask to meet with each of you alone before we continue as a couple, or we may go straight on together. At any point in the work, I may ask to see one of you individually, and either of you can ask for an individual session with me. Most of the time that has nothing to do with secrets. Usually one of you wants to work on your own part of the pattern, or on something from your past that keeps showing up in the marriage, and that work belongs to you. Before any individual sessions, we will talk about how privacy works between the two of you and me.
If you see one of us alone, will you keep secrets between us?
I respect your privacy and your right to decide what you share, including with your partner. Most of what comes up in an individual session stays there, and that has rarely been a problem. What I will not do is hold a secret that compromises the couples work itself. If one of you tells me something the other would need to know to make an honest decision about the relationship, I will not pretend I don't know it while we go on as if nothing has changed. We will talk about how you want to handle it, and I will tell you if I can no longer continue couples work with it unspoken. The two places this comes up are infidelity and abuse. With an undisclosed affair, I will not carry on couples therapy while one partner is being deceived. Where there is abuse, safety comes before everything else, and how we proceed is my judgment to make.
Do you offer online sessions?
Yes. I see clients online and in person in Ohio, and most of my online work is with Ohio clients. I also hold licenses in Georgia, Indiana, and Florida, primarily so that clients I already work with can continue with me if they move or spend part of the year in one of those states. I occasionally take new clients from those states, depending on the fit. If that is you, reach out and we will talk about it. Hypnosis is offered in Ohio only.
Clinical hypnosis is a focused, absorbed state that most people recognize from being lost in a book or a drive. You are aware, you are in control, and you can stop at any time. In that state the mind is more open to new ways of seeing a problem, which is why hypnosis helps with anxiety, pain, habits, creative blocks, and old patterns that do not respond to talking alone. I am certified as an Approved Consultant with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Hypnosis is offered in Ohio only, and mostly in person. I do not generally do hypnosis online with new clients. For clients I already know, it is a case-by-case decision based on the work and my comfort with doing it at a distance.
How does Clinical Hypnosis Work and can you do it online?
What the costs or fees?
Individual Counseling $150, 1 hour
Marriage Counseling $150, hour
Couples Counseling $225, 90 min
Couples Focused Block, $575.00
Q&A call $50, 20 minute
other fees may apply
What is your cancellation policy?
Your appointment time is reserved for you. I ask for at least 24 hours' notice to cancel or reschedule. If you miss a session or cancel with less than 24 hours' notice, the full session fee is charged to the payment method on file. In unforeseeable circumstances, such as serious illness or bad weather, I may waive the fee or reschedule you as soon as I can. That is my call. If you expect to have trouble keeping regular appointments, tell me in advance and we will work something out.
For a Focused Block, the same policy applies to each session in it, and the block is prepaid. Treat the week the way you would treat a vacation: clear the calendar, protect the time, and let it be a timeout for your relationship. That is what the block is for.
Do you take insurance?
No. Deep Heart's Core offers counseling and specialized services entirely outside of the insurance-based model. There are real benefits to using your health insurance — and real trade-offs. First, almost all insurance do not cover couples therapy. Insurance requires a diagnosis, creates a claims record, and produces an electronic trail outside of your control. Health data breaches have affected millions of people, including the 2024 Change Healthcare breach. At Deep Heart's Core, no diagnosis is assigned for billing and nothing about your care is submitted to an insurer. Knowing the trade-offs lets you make an informed choice about your care.