Frequently Asked Questions

Therapy is a safe, private space for healing, introspection, and growth.

The client-therapist relationship is one that is based on trust, comfort, and support. When you first meet with your therapist, you can expect that they are deeply interested in understanding:

• Who you are
• Why you’re seeking help
• How she can help you thrive

Your therapist will conduct an initial assessment with you, including a discussion of what is most important to you in your life, relevant personal history, your concerns, your strengths and what you hope to get out of psychotherapy.

Often, much of the necessary information is gathered in the first few visits, however, at times you are asked to fill out helpful questionnaires outside of session time.

The matters that we discuss in sessions are confidential.

Everything we discuss remains private, unless you have authorized your therapist to release information to another party.

As  therapists bound by an ethical code, there are situations that warrant exceptions to confidentiality. These include:

• Reports of harm to children, disabled individuals, or older adults
• When it is necessary to protect you or others.

Additional guidelines apply to clients under the age of 18. You can trust that your therapist is experienced and comfortable discussing such issues, and helping you handle them in a sensitive manner

The first session includes a review of a few brief forms and policies. Project Yes requires payment at the beginning of each session.

Each session that follows starts with a brief check-in and often, an outline of how the time will be spent. If home practice is part of the therapy, you will spend time going over these materials. The bulk of session time will be used to make progress on your overall therapy goals. The last few minutes of session are reserved for reviewing any handouts and scheduling upcoming appointments.

The progress of psychotherapy is highly individualized. Together, you and your therapist will formulate a plan of what psychotherapy will look like for you, including how often (and for how long) we meet, goals and how progress will be monitored.

Typically, therapy is most effective with a session at least once a week for 60-90 minutes. Depending on your goals or concerns, therapy can range from short to long-term. There are structured treatments for specific symptoms (e.g., 12 sessions), however, based on your needs and type of treatment you choose, the structure can be adjusted and vary in length.

Project Yes promotes holistic care, thus, you might be referred to outside resources that support your overall physical, emotional and spiritual well-being

Therapy is most effective when an individual is actively involved in the process. 

This extends far beyond our office walls. You have far more time to practice living life better in your day-to-day experiences, compared to the small amount of time you spend at Project Yes.

Your therapist wants you to make progress between sessions. This includes completion of handouts, tracking symptoms, engaging with others and practicing skills. You might also be offered suggestions for supplementary reading or given information you can share with a supportive person in your life

All payments are collected at the beginning of each session/ at the time service is rendered.

Dr. Tatyana Kholodkov is in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, including the state health plan. All other therapists are out of network. We do offer a limited amount of sliding scale slots.

For all other forms of insurance, you can use your out of network benefits. As a courtesy we can submit out of network claims on your behalf once monthly, however some clients prefer to submit claims themselves.

We have opted out of Medicare, and thus are not able to see clients who intend to submit for reimbursement from Medicare, either as a primary or secondary form of insurance.

Please note we do not accept insurance for couples therapy. All services have a 48 hour cancellation policy including first appointments.

YES. Our practice is explicitly LGBTQIA affirming. 

We welcome you and all the ways you identify as YOU. We will ask you for your pronouns, and understand if you prefer not to have any or change them. We know that gender dysphoria is real and in mind-body practices will make room if that arises too. You can alter any part of how you would like us to know you or how you present yourself in appointments at any time without fearing judgement. We are inclusive of trans and gender non-conforming people. We also ask ourselves deep questions to help us be more understanding, and educate ourselves in order to do right by you.

YES. We believe that power and dominance permeates our culture, leading to much pain and suffering. 

Racial and cultural trauma can lead to feelings of confusion, hurt, misunderstanding, and deep loss. If these are part of your experience, whether in the form of a micro-aggression, direct discrmination, or harm, we are here to witness your pain. If desired as part of your therapy journey, we can process your experiences and help dismantle any self-stigma you have internalized.

Project Yes believes that as therapists we have our work to do to deal with the oppression, disenfranchising, and marginalization in our society. In addition to engaging in training, we do our own self-study, especially on our social location as individuals. Our therapists engage in advocacy and other empowerment efforts. We seek to make changes and will offer repairs when we make mistakes. We may ask you questions about your experience as we seek to understand, but we also will be mindful of not burdening you with educating us.

Trauma can touch the lives of any person. 

The fact is, many people are walking around with multiple layers of trauma on a daily basis, even if they do not meet criteria for having PTSD. We acknowledge that trauma can be single or chronic events, interpersonal, occupational, ancestral, cultural, gendered, racial, and is also deeply systemic. Therapists at Project Yes understand how trauma can impact one’s entire world and sense of self. When a helping professional is trauma informed, they are able to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma and make efforts to prevent any further retraumatization. We promote trauma recovery by being trustworthy, transparent, and working with you in an empowering, collaborative manner.

You deserve to feel safe, as a person, and in your own body. If meeting in person, we invite you to set a comfortable distance between you and your therapist. If you come to a yoga or meditation class, you are encouraged to honor your body and conditions. We offer cues that you can follow if something shows up that is triggering. You can also practice with your eyes open or choose to close them as is comfortable for you. We do explicit consent for any hands-on adjustments that occur in a yoga class and adjust in very limited ways. The resting pose is taken with heads pointing towards the area where the teacher sits.

There are numerous approaches in psychotherapy that have undergone extensive research and thus have empirical support to be used for given concerns. 

All of our therapists have extensive training in EBP’s. These range from cognitive-behavioral therapies, exposure-based therapies, and what are referred to as “third wave” psychotherapies (e.g., ACT, DBT, and mindfulness-based approaches). Cognitive-behavioral based approaches are focused on change and are highly effective for altering patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that contribute to distress. The third wave therapies focus on holistic well-being and offer numerous kinds of practical skills, and are not just focused on reduction of symptoms. They incorporate use of mindfulness, acceptance, meta-cognition, and examining your life values.

We also understand, however, that these evidence-based approaches have limitations in terms of how they are studied. We also don’t want your therapy experience to feel like you are going through a manual. We see each client as a unique individual and tailor your treatment to be relevant to your concerns and goals. This means that we will likely use numerous different approaches, or pull skills drawn from more than one therapeutic orientation. Our highly-trained therapists carefully consider what would be effective and will revise the plan with you as needed.

Some clients also seek the integration of non-traditional psychotherapy elements, such as utilization of yoga, polyvagal-based techniques, or incorporating spirituality or a client’s traditional healing approaches. Particularly in treating trauma, we recognize that more than talk therapy is often helpful and we can offer mind-body and trauma informed yoga approaches. As appropriate, any of the above can be part of your therapy journey too.

All clinicians at Project Yes are sex positive, meaning that we support that there are many forms of sexual expression, experience, and pleasure. 

We do not pathologize behaviors that others may view as “non traditional” and will not make assumptions that what you are doing is unsafe or peculiar. There may be particular forms of sexual expression we are unfamiliar with and will seek to educate ourselves on matters that are important to you.

We also view relationships as something people define for themselves, in terms of what a relationship is and with whom one relates. We do not believe that the only form of relationships is monogamous, and will not assume you are dissatisfied in one relationship if you are also engaging in ethical non-monogamy (at times referred to as polyamory). In our practice, the focus is on your thriving, and you can be at ease knowing you can freely speak about the kind of relationship(s) you have or with whom.

At times community members may be reluctant to go to therapy because they are concerned a therapist will make connections to their lifestyle or relationship choices that may not be relevant to the issues bringing them to therapy. Perhaps they also just want a space to talk about whatever concern they have without someone being shocked. We are here for you, without judgement. Our therapists can handle explicit conversations about sexual activity and/or any BDSM or kink practices. We want to have a space where you can be you, and your therapist is an ally to non-vanilla communities.

We are in an exciting time where knowledge about the human sexual experience and relationship continues to grow. We are dedicated to receiving ongoing training in this area to be able to provide good care to you!

At Project Yes, we provide a variety of relationship services. 

Some clients are turned away from other practices because providers will only work with those who want to preserve or work on improving their relationships. However, at times in life we know we may want to say goodbye and not sure how, or afraid or don’t know how to have that conversation. It’s usually one partner who calls, but at times all parties in the relationship are ready to have this talk. We can support to have an ending in a healthy way. Relationship dissolution counseling is therapy for break-ups: we help you navigate these difficult conversations, whether you are ready to break up the very first session or as part of a series of conversations the therapist facilitates. The therapist will also help, if desired, with how to have a healthy goodbye, such as exploring how to adapt to the new dynamic, move out, initiate separations, etc. We can also focus on the meaning of the relationship if that is something that is helpful for you. Should one or both of the individuals desire follow-up support, they can either be seen by separate therapists in the practice for individual therapy or both can be given referrals to providers in the community.

Dr. Tatyana Kholodkov is developing a sub-specialty in working with journalists who are exposed to occupational chronic stress and trauma. 

She has a strong appreciation for the role of journalism in society, particularly after spending time side-by-side with journalists during disaster deployments. She considers it a privilege to work with news professionals and acknowledges the tremendous sacrifices required for this work. Dr. Kholodkov has thus sought out specialized training from the Dart Center of Journalism and Trauma on professional culture and through the Freedom of Press on data security.

PSYPACT is the psychology inter-jurisdictional compact, allowing therapists who hold this credential to provide tele-health psychotherapy services in a large number of states. This is helpful for our many clients who travel, have mobile jobs, or otherwise frequently cross state lines.

Several of our psychologists hold the PSYPACT license. States are constantly being added. As of summer 2021, we welcome PSYPACT referrals from: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia/ DC, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia.

There are a number of reasons individuals choose not to use insurance for therapy. 

Primarily, clients may be concerned with privacy and ways in which having to use insurance can impact their care. In order to be reimbursed by insurance it is necessary to have a psychiatric diagnosis. At times, a diagnosis may be appropriate, but we also often find that concerns bringing clients into therapy do not fit into a diagnosis. We also see clients who do not wish to have a diagnosis attached to their medical history, or who are concerned that a pre-existing condition impacts their insurance coverage in the future. Clients who are high profile or in fields where their records are reviewed or security clearances may be impacted also often prefer to not use their insurance coverage. There are also circumstances where individuals share an insurance plan with others and do not want their information visible, or are concerned about having EOB forms mailed to their home. Individuals who pay out of pocket are not required to have a diagnosis in order to have therapy services, and by having a smaller footprint thus having the peace of mind that their record remains private.

Insurance companies also dictate the type and length of services that therapists can provide. Despite the fact that numerous approaches are developed to be delivered in sessions that are 75+ minutes (such as for phobia, couple’s or trauma treatment), insurance companies do not pay for extended sessions. By not using insurance, you and your therapist can set session lengths without such limitations, and your therapist can practice in a way that is consistent with their high level of training. Together you can develop a plan that works for you and your specific needs.

Social media content produced by Project Yes is for educational and marketing purposes only. 

It is not a replacement for therapy or other medical services, and any messages on social media is not medical advice. A person following or reading our social media content is not considered a client under the care of this practice. As part of respecting your privacy, Project Yes will not “follow” any clients on social media. Contacting your therapist is limited to the phone or email agreements you have established, and social media messages are therefore not answered as part of our boundaries. New clients are similarly asked to contact us via our website or for a faster response by phone. We do not engage in any clinical assessment or therapy services via DM’s. Please be advised that if you follow us on social media or like a post, this may be visible to others. You are welcome to follow @TherapyMindfully on Instagram, @ProjectYesPLLC on Facebook, and look out for our upcoming Youtube Channel.