Header Right Headshot Michal Klau-Stevens (860) 233-6914
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FAQ

Where can I do my sessions?
I offer services online, in-person, at an office in Bloomfield, CT, and in your home (an additional travel fee applies).
What is your in-home services catchment area?
In-home services are available in West Hartford, Hartford, East Hartford, Avon, Bloomfield, Canton, Farmington, Glastonbury, Plainville, Manchester, New Britain, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, and Windsor.
Where do I park?

If we meet in the office in Bloomfield, I will send you a detailed email about parking and how to find the office in the office park.

Is your office accessible?
Yes
What are your office hours?
Office hours are by appointment only and vary daily from Monday through Friday. I can schedule sessions in some evenings, but I don’t schedule sessions on weekends.
How long is a typical session?
Talk therapy sessions are 50 minutes, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy sessions are 90 minutes.
What do I do to get started?
Use the contact form on the website to schedule a free consultation, or call or email me at the contact information listed on this website.
What is the hourly fee?
Talk therapy sessions are $150, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy sessions are $250. I am very committed to helping people access therapy and am willing to discuss changes in the fees to make it affordable.
How do I pay?
I keep a credit card on file for you and charge the card after each session.
Do you accept insurance?
No. I’ll be happy to discuss this choice with you if it makes you feel concerned or disappointed. By not contracting with insurance companies, I can provide more flexible services.
Can you help me file my insurance?
I can send you a superbill each month so you can submit it to your insurance for out-of-pocket reimbursement, if available through your insurance plan.
How do I make an appointment?
After our initial phone consultation, the best way to schedule a direct meeting with me is at the end of your session or by phone call or text.
Are there other things I should know about your office?
I didn’t choose the furniture.
Can I cancel an appointment? Do you have a cancellation policy?
I do have a 24-hour cancellation policy, so if you cancel within less than 24 hours in advance, you may be charged for the session. To cancel a session, you can call or text me.
What is a free initial phone consultation?
This is a time for me to learn more about your needs and what you are looking for, as well as for you to learn more about what services I offer and how I work. We’ll schedule your first session if we seem like a good fit. If we are not a good fit, I will point you toward other resources that might be more appropriate for your needs.
Who is your perfect client?
While I don’t have a “perfect” client, the population I have the most expertise working with is adult women before and during pregnancy and during early motherhood. I’ve worked with issues around maternity and motherhood for over two decades, and I am passionate about helping people navigate that period of life.
What is the trauma-focused treatment?

Trauma is the injury that occurs when circumstances overwhelm a person’s coping abilities. It can happen when a person feels they are in extreme danger or might die, or if they cannot escape a threat, or if those events occurred to someone close to them. It can manifest as recurring intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, irritability, angry outbursts, nightmares, forgetfulness, hypervigilance, or spacing out.

Trauma often requires a different approach to treatment and modalities that require additional training.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy and Ketamine-Assisted Therapy are specialized for treating trauma. I also used a trauma-informed approach throughout my practice.

What age range do you work with?
I usually work with people over 18 up into their 60s. I have been known to work with teens occasionally, and I’m happy to do Accelerated Resolution Therapy with people over 10.
Do you work with men? Women? Couples? Adolescents?
My main clientele is women, but I also work with other people. Veterans and active military are another population I focus on for the treatment of trauma. I work with couples and families, usually when a current client has a relationship or family issue, so we expand the services to provide a more holistic approach to finding a solution. Accelerated Resolution Therapy for the treatment of acute trauma is available for anyone over the age of 10.
Are you LGBTQIA-friendly?
Yes. I consider myself an ally. This is not an area of specialization for me, though.
Do you work with people from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions?
Of course! I try to be very aware of my position as a White cisgender Jewish woman and work with cultural awareness and humility with people from other backgrounds and cultures. I am familiar with Orthodox Judaism, which may be helpful to some people seeking services. I am outspoken and to the point that I may not fit well with the expectations of some cultures and backgrounds.
What can I expect in the first session?

While getting to know each other better, we will prioritize the issues you want to work on, develop goals and objectives for a treatment plan, and even jump into a session of Accelerated Resolution Therapy if there is a precise topic from the consultation we need to address.

Sometimes, people must build trust by talking; others are ready to jump right into the work. I’ll follow your lead.

What is therapy like with you?
I hope it is a relaxed experience. I am solution-focused and encourage clients to try new approaches, then come back with feedback about how things went. We will then re-evaluate and figure out the next steps.
How long will I be in therapy?

That depends on you and what you want. Services are voluntary and can end when you want them to. If you have an issue that can quickly be resolved in one or a few sessions of Accelerated Resolution Therapy, the length can be one or a few sessions.

Behavior change takes longer, but within six months, it is reasonable if you are doing the work outside of sessions. Some people like to stay on indefinitely for ongoing support because it can be beneficial for managing life. Rather than just dropping out, I would appreciate having a closing session if you are ready to end services. Closure is an essential part of the therapeutic process for both you and me.

Does anyone cry in front of you?
People cry in front of me all the time! I see it as a positive processing action and release from the body.
Do I have to tell you everything?

No. In fact, with Accelerated Resolution Therapy, I don’t even need to know what you are processing, and you do not have to share anything during the process if you choose. Having some information can help me better target the process for you.

You can decide what to share during talk therapy and keep to yourself. Keep in mind that not sharing essential aspects of an issue may mean that you are not genuinely processing everything that needs to be processed to come to some resolution with it. You’ll get out what you put in. Processing an issue with Accelerated Resolution Therapy first may make it easier to discuss.

Who benefits from therapy?
People willing to get into the pit and wrestle with their issues will benefit from having someone knowledgeable and skilled to help them figure things out.
Is there anyone you will not see?

While I have experience with helping people with high acuity problems like substance use disorder, borderline personality disorder, bipolar, and other mental health issues, I won’t intake people in active substance use, mania, active suicidal ideation, or other severe states of mental illness. Those require a higher level of care than I offer.

I do not work with young children, issues related to geriatrics, or traumatic brain injury.

What can a therapist do?
As an LCSW, I can assess, diagnose, plan treatments, provide counseling and therapy, do crisis intervention, advocate, and find additional client resources. I look at the whole biopsychosocial environment from the client’s inner world and the family, community, and society to support solutions to my client’s challenges. I do not prescribe medications, but I can refer you to a medical provider who prescribes, and I will work with other people in your support system to provide holistic care.
What is Accelerated Resolution Therapy?
It is a treatment modality that uses eye movements or bilateral stimulation and voluntary image replacement to quickly change negative images in the mind to positive ones while helping to release the emotional connections to them. You retain the information about what happened but lose the problem images, sensations, and symptoms. It has similarities to EMDR but tends to work faster and leads to positive imagery in each session.
How is Accelerated Resolution Therapy different from EMDR?

The main difference is that Accelerated Resolution Therapy works more with visualizations. In contrast, EMDR works with thoughts or cognitions, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy processes physical sensations. At the same time, in EMDR, that is usually done at the end of the session.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy also leads to “positivity” in each session, replacing negative images with positive ones, which EMDR does not do. Accelerated Resolution Therapy is quite scripted and standardized, while EMDR relies more on the clinician’s experience.

Many clinicians trained in both modalities prefer to use Accelerated Resolution Therapy and find that clients experience fewer problems between sessions.

What is a Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy provider?

I participated in a nine-month advanced training program for licensed healthcare professionals through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute to specialize in working with psychedelic medicines in therapeutic settings.

I am trained in working with ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA. Working with non-ordinary states of consciousness requires different approaches and skills than traditional therapy. As the use of these substances becomes more prevalent, there is a need for clinicians with specialized training to support further research and appropriate use as a treatment and to reduce harm from underground use.

What is Ketamine-assisted therapy?

It uses the dissociative anesthetic ketamine to provide a highly effective antidepressant while also providing a dissociative psychedelic experience to facilitate rapid shifts in the psyche. It helps people break through psychological defenses and “get out of their story” to see things from a new perspective. The treatment is effective for about 70% of people who experience treatment-resistant depression and can also be used to reduce anxiety and symptoms of PTSD.

The gold standard of care is to have a psychedelic-trained therapist present during medicine administration. Ketamine therapy is legal in all 50 states and is generally considered an “off-label” use of pharmaceutical medicine. Spravato nasal spray is FDA-approved for use with treatment-resistant depression. I collaborate with prescribers to work with different modes of administration, including IV, intramuscular, oral, and nasal, in clinical settings or at home.

What is psychedelic preparation and integration?

There is a renaissance in the use of psychedelics for therapeutic reasons and personal growth, and more people are experimenting with psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, LSD, DMT, and other psychedelic substances, either in ceremony or recreationally.

Some people are traveling to places where the use of these substances is legal, and others are using them in the underground. As harm reduction, I provide preparation for people who are planning to journey to reduce the risks of challenging trips and integration for people who have already experienced a psychedelic journey to help them integrate the experience.

I do not encourage the use of illegal substances, provide access to them, or facilitate their use.

Do you offer video or phone sessions?
Yes, I offer telehealth and telephone sessions. When possible, I prefer to see your face during the session.
Is our work confidential?
Yes. I observe strict standards of confidentiality. The exceptions are if you present an immediate risk of harm to yourself or others or if you share information about a minor being subjected to neglect or abuse. I am a mandated reporter.
How long have you been in practice?
I have been a social worker since 2018. I opened my private practice in 2024.
What are your strengths as a therapist?
I’m open-minded, solution-focused, grounded, and creative. I like to “find the ways that work” and work so clients feel they are getting the best care possible.
What do you enjoy about being a therapist?
Seeing people grow and improve their lives is very fulfilling work. I love it when people start laughing during Accelerated Resolution Therapy sessions because it shows they are making significant changes in their thinking and having fun with the process!
Have you been in therapy yourself?
Yes. I have used therapy at different points in my life when I’ve experienced challenges. Now, I use therapy as part of my self-care and mental health maintenance.
What is your educational background?
I graduated from UCONN with dual master’s degrees in social work and public health in 2018 and 2019. I am a trained master in Accelerated Resolution Therapy and a Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Provider through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute. I received my bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College. I am a lifelong learner and regularly attend additional training on subjects of interest.
What is the best way to get in touch with you?

You can reach me by phone (please leave a message!) or text. Email is a third option, but I’m not as responsive to emails because I only check my email occasionally throughout the day.

Do you prescribe medications?
No. I can refer you to a prescriber.
Are you licensed?
Yes, I am licensed in CT and MA.
Do you take notes?
No. I prefer to devote my full attention to you as we talk. I write notes after we meet in your electronic health record.
Is your furniture comfortable?
Most people find it comfortable, but the room configuration is somewhat odd.
Do I have to lie on a couch?
No. But if we do in-home services, we can sit on the couch where you feel most comfortable or wherever works best for you in your own space (except the bedroom, please).
Should I wear waterproof mascara?
It’s not a bad idea if you are a crier. As a former professional makeup artist, I appreciate the concern about the use of products. If you go the waterproof route, use a waterproof mascara remover.
Am I allowed to ask personal questions?
You can always ask, but I may not answer. It depends on the question and whether I feel comfortable with the self-disclosure. A little mystery about the therapist maintains my ability to act more like a mirror than a window.
What other jobs have you had?
I’ve been a professional makeup artist in Chicago and LA; a professional cake decorator and decorating instructor; and a chapter leader, board member, and president of a national grassroots advocacy organization promoting healthy birth practices and the midwifery model of care. I’m a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and was a blogger for a while.

My most important work has been raising my kids and caring for my husband and extended family.

How do I know if you are the right therapist for me?
By the end of the third session, you should feel comfortable sharing more difficult parts of your life with me and are starting to build trust and connection. If you are not feeling it by the end of the third session, I might not be the right fit.
저는 한국어를 배우는 걸 좋아해요!
I am well past day 500 of a Duolingo streak. I use Rosetta Stone, and I’ve watched over 70 K-dramas so far! I listen to Korean drama soundtracks, but I’m not a fan of K-pop.