Click here to access the Initial Visit Information Form.

Whether you are coming in as an individual or a couple, please download the Informed Consent and Office Policy Form from the link below, print it, sign the last page which is the signature page, and then take a picture of your signed form. Send the photo of your signed form via e-mail to Dr. Joan Druckman or you can sent the photo of the signed signature page as a text message to 916-847-5328.

Alternatively, you can download and enter an electronic signature into the last page of the Informed Consent and Office Policy Form. You can add an electronic signature by using a PDF editor tool (like Adobe Acrobat) to upload a signature and insert it into the page. For instructions on how to e-sign a PDF, please see the Adobe Acrobat instructions. When you are done signing it electronically, you can e-mail it to Dr. Joan Druckman 

Finding a good therapist fit is important. You need to feel that your therapist both cares about you and is capable of helping you with the problem or issues you want to address. I usually suggest a free, brief, initial phone call for me to get a sense of your problem and to determine whether it would make sense to schedule a first appointment. This also gives you an opportunity to ask me any questions you might have that are not answered on this website.  

If it seems appropriate to move forward with an initial appointment, then we will meet and get to know each other. Then we will begin to assess and understand your particular situation in more detail. Usually, after that first appointment, you will have a good sense of whether you’d like to schedule another follow-up appointment. Generally, it can take 3-5 sessions to really know whether the therapy approach I am offering is something that works for you.  

My goal is to provide excellent service to all of my clients and if I don’t think my approach can help you, I will offer you some recommendations and referrals to other providers who I think can. 

EFT was developed by Dr. Sue Johnson (www.drsuejohnson.com) to help couples not only decrease destructive conflict but also to improve communication and strengthen relationship bonds. There are two main steps that couples will experience during their EFT sessions. First, EFT identifies the couple’s negative interaction patterns that are often driven by underlying beliefs and emotions. Then, EFT focuses on changing this negative interaction pattern by deeply understanding each partner’s behavior, beliefs, and emotional responses. Couples with successful EFT therapy report greater levels of emotional safety, intimacy, trust and connection. According to the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT: iceeft.com), there is a substantial body of EFT research outcome studies that find 70-75% of couples who complete EFT therapy move from distress to recovery and approximately 90% show significant improvements. iceeft.com/eft-publications-articles

The length of therapy depends a great deal on your therapy goals, your commitment to the process, and your availability for appointments. Some couples and individuals have a very specific issue they want to work on and our work can be short-term. Others want to go deeper and have more generalized change that can take longer. 

Many of my clients come every week, but not all. Some clients have work schedules and/or life circumstances that make it difficult for them to come each week. I do my best to work around your specific needs. I have found therapy works best when we start out with more frequent appointments and gain momentum for change and then reduce frequency as your situation improves. 

All of the information you share is confidential. I am not permitted to discuss you or your therapy without your written consent to do so. There are some exceptions however. Please see the “Informed Consent Form” for those exceptions related to danger to self or others. As further protection for your confidentiality, I do not accept friend or contact requests from any current or former clients on any social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, etc. 

If you prefer, you can email or text me but please be aware that neither texting nor email is a secure form of communication and I cannot guarantee your confidentiality if you choose to use those methods to contact me. I generally use email only to arrange or modify appointments rather than to discuss any clinical content related to your counseling or therapy. The most secure way of communicating with me is by phone. I do my best to call you back within 24 hours of your call and I suggest that you provide me with a few convenient times to reach you to increase the likelihood that we connect. 

I am not a preferred provider on any insurance panels at this time, including Medicare. Some insurance (not Medicare or HMO plans) has an out-of-network benefit that will reimburse you for some portion of the fee. Whether you have an out-of-network benefit depends on your specific policy and you can call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card to determine if you have this benefit. Please be aware that couples counseling is often not a covered benefit. If you call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card, a representative can tell you if couples counseling is a covered benefit. Upon your request, I am happy to provide you with an invoice at the end of each month with all the information you need to submit to any insurance or HSA for your reimbursement.

Please contact me for my current fees. I accept both checks and cash and ask for payment at the time of the scheduled appointment.  I also have a Venmo account and my user name is @Joan-Druckman. Please note if you have not made “Default audiences for future transactions” private in your Venmo privacy settings, this transaction may be publicly displayed on Venmo’s app and website. You can also use Zelle as a bank transfer method of payment. I also have an IVYPAY credit card system designed for therapists in which you can use your credit card or HSA account credit card.  There is a $6.00 service fee for credit card use.