Frequently Asked Questions

If you are not happy, if you’re feeling unsatisfied in one or more area(s) of your life, if you feel anxious or upset much of the time, therapy may help. If people tell you that you’re too quick to anger, if you’re sad and teary more often than you’d like, if you feel that you over-react to others, therapy may help. If you have checked your mental health issues or concerns with “Dr. Google,” and have diagnosed yourself, therapy may help. If you want a “check up from the neck up,” therapy may help.

Many people get a referral from a health care provider, or a recommendation from a friend, relative, clergy person, co-worker, or other trusted individual. Some people check their insurance website or the internet. However you get names, trust your gut. The very best therapist for one person might be a bad or uncomfortable fit for someone else. You should feel respected, heard, liked, cared about. It’s not unusual to speak with two or three or even more therapists before you find your best match. Therapy is a relationship, and the “chemistry” matters. Don’t worry about hurting someone’s feelings by moving on quickly; any good therapist wants his, her, or their patients to thrive, and if it can’t be in treatment with him, her, or them, it should be in a more favorable and appropriate place or setting.

 In general, the duration of therapy depends on the goals, style, and wishes of the patient. When treatment is symptom-focused (like CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy] or therapeutic hypnosis), it tends to be more brief, spanning a few sessions to a few months. Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic treatment, where your unconscious is explored, your inner self is brought to the fore, and your internal processes, behavior, thoughts, wishes, dreams, fears, feelings, and relationships are analyzed and delved into in depth is a much longer and more fulfilling process, yielding far more lasting and satisfying results. Supportive and ego supportive psychotherapy, where issues and concerns are managed as they arise in life, can be a very long-term experience. The amount of time you need should be the amount of time you take.

In general sessions are held at least once a week. This frequency has been shown to improve your level of safety and trust, enhance your ability to work deeply, and make meaningful changes. One session per week is considered minimum to accomplish deep goals. Meeting less often tends to reduce the effectiveness of treatment, but can be a good way to phase out therapy, when you’re approaching time to terminate. Less frequent sessions have been arranged if our goals involve support and problem-solving, rather than deeper, more analytic or intense work. It is not considered “less than,” but rather “different from,” dynamic treatment, and the choice will always be based on what you need and can be benefit from right now. It is also sometimes a compromise we need to make because of logistics (generally time or financial considerations). Multiple sessions per week is often the most effective way to work deeply, and to spend less therapy time reporting the events of your life, and to look at you, your life, your inner thoughts and feelings, your history. 

Most of the time, sessions are 45 minutes in duration, but we can consider 60 minute sessions if they are clinically indicated.  Occasionally, therapeutic hypnosis sessions make be 30 or 60 minutes in duration, based on clinical decisions.

 This is an interesting issue for many people. Our health insurance is expensive, and using it to cover part (or all) of your therapy is enticing. It reduces your costs tremendously, no doubt. The down-side of using insurance is that it requires that Dr. Taustine give you a psychiatric diagnosis, and share that information (and any other required material) with your health insurance company. In most cases, this is not a problem; if your employment or other situation requires absolute and complete privacy and discretion, you may wish to avoid using insurance. Once bills are submitted to your health insurance company (which contain demographic and diagnostic information), this office has no further responsibility for how that information may be used.

Different therapists use various words to refer to the people they treat. Dr. Taustine’s preference is “patient,” because it denotes a clinical, health-related relationship, rather than a business-related one. When you’re in therapy, remember you and your clinician are two (or more) people with the express goal of helping, healing, and understanding the difficulties which brought the patient into treatment. 

Dr. Taustine does not prescribe medication. She can consult with your primary care provider (with written consent), regarding appropriate use of psychiatric/mental health medications, or offer you referrals to psychiatrists or psychiatric nurse practitioners.

The short answer is no. Dr. Taustine works with only adults, roughly 18 + years of age, under ordinary circumstances.  If your mental health issues fall outside her area of expertise and professional comfort, she will refer you to another provider.   There are times where an individual's symptoms or pathology may be better handled and treated in person, and Dr. Taustine will make every attempt to expedite an appropriate face-to-face referral.  Remote treatment will only be performed when it is in the patient's best interest.  Your safety, well-being, and health are of paramount importance.

Excellent question! There are literally thousands of therapists of all different types in New York State. Dr. Taustine is highly experienced, empathic, skillful, and ethical. She is, more importantly, human and genuine in her relationships with her patients. Many people have begun working with her after “failed” treatment elsewhere, and have felt relieved, comforted, safe, respected, and hopeful in the environment and culture of her approach and style. Naturally, she is not the best fit or choice for everyone, and, if you begin treatment with her and don’t find it to be helpful, you should know you’re free to terminate and find a different therapist.

Feel free to call (516.799.3320) or email (DocLucie@gmail.com) for more information or to schedule an appointment. Once you have set up an initial appointment, you can go to the "Forms" tab, read the "Welcome and Greeting" letter, and complete and return the "New Patient Forms," prior to your first session.  If you prefer,  Dr. Taustine can email or snail-mail you a packet of paperwork, including demographic forms, health history forms, a consent for treatment, and HIPAA forms, to return prior to your first appointment. Dr. Taustine is looking forward to speaking with you and helping you move towards your goals, towards inner peace, towards greater emotional comfort, and towards, as they say, living your best life.