FAQ

My office hours are:

Monday 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM CT

Tuesday 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM CT

Wednesday 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM CT

Thursday 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM CT

Fridays are by appointment only for Individual Trauma intensives.

Reach out by completing the form below, calling (615) 422-5141, or emailing gena.leone.nashville@gmail.com.

If you need to cancel an appointment, I require 24 hours’ notice. If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, you will receive a bill for the full session rate.

If it is a true emergency, I will try to reschedule your session within the week (if I have availability that works for you).

A “Good Faith Estimate” is a part of The No Surprises Act, which went into effect in January 2022 and gave patients the right to understand costs for services and receive a “Good Faith Estimate” from their provider. We will cover expenses for services fully in your initial session, where you will receive a Good Faith Estimate for our work together.

You have the right to receive an estimate in writing at any time. If you would like a Good Faith Estimate, please ask me, and I will provide you with one.

The No Surprises Act states the following:

Health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.

You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency services, including psychotherapy.

Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least one business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider and any other provider you choose for a Good Faith Estimate before scheduling an item or service. Be sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

If you receive a bill greater than or equal to $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.

For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/.

Each person’s length of therapy varies. Some people come with a particular goal in mind. Once they have accomplished that goal, they end therapy. Other people need more support and a more prolonged therapeutic relationship. As long as you continue to benefit from the therapy relationship, we can continue working together.

Length of time also depends upon the frequency of attendance. Some people choose to attend weekly sessions, while others prefer to attend every other week. It isn’t uncommon to participate in weekly sessions initially to gain momentum and traction and then reduce the frequency as needed.

I use a variety of modalities depending on your needs. We will discuss these together and discuss what would work best for you.

Some of the modalities that I utilize in therapy sessions are Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Hypnosis, Sand-tray therapy, Expressive Arts, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and Brainspotting.

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy tries to identify and change negative thinking patterns and pushes for positive behavioral changes. DBT may be used to treat suicidal ideation and other self-destructive behaviors. It teaches skills to cope with, and change, ineffective behaviors.

The initial use of DBT was to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD), but it can treat other mental health conditions. DBT can help people who have difficulty with emotional regulation or are exhibiting self-destructive behaviors (such as eating disorders and substance use disorders). This type of therapy is also sometimes used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The dialectic is the ability to hold two opposing truths simultaneously. For example, “I can do better, AND I am doing the best I can.” This dialectic allows someone to live in the middle path and not in an all-or-nothing mind state.

DBT includes four primary skill sets: core mindfulness skills, distress tolerance skills, emotion regulation skills, and interpersonal effectiveness skills. Through education and implementation of these skills, behaviors can change.

Depending on the severity of the behaviors addressed, there are different uses and applications for DBT. For example, if someone needs treatment for severe, life-threatening, or quality-of-life-threatening behaviors, working with a DBT adherent therapist is best.

In such cases, the therapist works with a DBT consultation group and provides phone coaching and the teaching of skills through a DBT skills group. However, we can integrate DBT skills into individual therapy sessions to help with various issues.

Watch this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJA53l91LSk

Brainspotting is a trauma therapy that works with the brain and the body through direct access to the autonomic and limbic systems within the body’s central nervous system. It is a treatment with profound psychological, emotional, and physical benefits.

This therapy gives us a tool to locate, process, and release experiences that are typically out of reach of the conscious mind. These are things we often struggle to even put into thoughts and words. Brainspotting helps to unwire the pathways in your brain so that the trauma network disconnects from everything that has ever happened in your life.

So, when something makes you afraid today, it’s no longer attached to everything in your life that has caused fear.

Brainspotting causes the brain to take the traumatic memories and consolidate them into long-term memories (it happened in the past, but it’s not affecting me now), moving them into proper storage in the subcortex.

Below you can watch a Q&A with Cynthia Schwartzberg and Lisa Terry about Brainspotting. Cynthia is the President of Southeast Brainspotting Institute and trained with the creator of Brainspotting, David Grand. (David Grand developed Brainspotting after utilizing a technique he called Natural Flow EMDR.)

Let’s start with what Hypnosis is NOT. Hypnosis is not sleeping, mind control, a power exchange, or a loss of control that will cause you to quack like a duck without your awareness. It does not help everyone or solve everything. You will find different definitions depending on what Internet site you visit.

One simple definition is the following: Hypnosis is a means of hacking into the REM (Rapid Eye Movement or dream state) mind state while awake. Usually, when we sleep, the brain goes into the REM brainwave state for one quarter of that sleep time. Through hypnosis, the brain accesses REM while awake and in a light or deep trance-like state.

Once in this state, the mind is more susceptible to the power of suggestion. The suggestion makes hypnosis a valuable tool for correcting unwanted behaviors and/or releasing past traumas. According to Human Givens, anyone who can focus their attention, have a good imagination, or become emotionally aroused will enter a trance at many points in time.

Most people are in a trance-like state most of the day, especially while on social media, watching television, or driving. With hypnosis, one can bypass the prefrontal cortex, or conscious mind, allowing the suggestions to take hold in the unconscious mind. It’s that simple!

Purple is my favorite color. I love animals and love to hike. I received my first degree in fashion design and have never been to Italy! Oh, and TP must go OVER, not under!