Boulder Transformational Therapy

What can I expect from my therapy with Sandy Novak?

You can expect a warm, safe, accepting environment. My aim is to develop a genuine and collaborative relationship with you and to co-create a treatment plan based on your unique hopes and goals. I work from an unshakable confidence that human growth is natural and moving in a positive direction. I will help you move forward in your growth.

How many sessions does therapy take?

Each person’s journey is unique, so it is hard to say exactly how many session your goals will take. My therapeutic approaches are all aimed at short term, effective resolution. Let’s talk about what you can expect based on your hopes and goals.

Can I use insurance to cover the cost?

If you have mental health benefits through your health insurance, you may be reimbursed for all or part of the fee. If you do not have mental health coverage or your coverage is poor, a sliding scale option is available. Check with your insurance carrier for mental health coverage. I will provide you with a complete insurance receipt at each session to expedite your reimbursement.

How do I schedule my initial appointment?

Call me at 303-629-2960 for my quickest response or go to the “Contact Me” tab to email me today. I will call or email you back with available times.

Sandy Novak has 21 years in private psychotherapy practice in Boulder helping individuals, couples and families. She has 35 years of teaching experience, including eight years with middle and high school students and ten years as senior adjunct faculty in Counseling Psychology at Naropa University.

Sandy is currently a family educator, teaching workshops for couples and parents in the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong. She served on the Red Cross National Disaster Mental Health team in New Jersey after 9/11 helping families who lost loved ones at Ground Zero. Sandy founded the Satir Institute of the Rockies where she trains psychotherapists in Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy. She has authored several publications, including as a contributor to the new book, In Her Own Words: Virginia Satir, 1963-1983.

Recognized as an expert in her field, Sandy is a frequent presenter at international family therapy conferences. She presented a professional paper on the effects of trauma on a child's development at an Oxford University Round Table in July, 2005.

Education:

• M.A. in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, Naropa University, Boulder, 1997
• Certificate in Family Therapy, Denver University Graduate School of Social Work, 1990
• M.S. in Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1976
• Satir Model Family Therapy Trainings through Avanta, the International Family Therapy Network, 1987, 1990
• Certificate in Somatic Experiencing Trauma Resolution Therapy (SEP) through the Foundation for Human Enrichment, 1992
• Training in BODYnamics Developmental Therapy through BODYnamics Institute, Denmark, 1994
• Trainings in Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy through the Satir Institute of the Pacific, 1997-2004
• Training in EMDR, 2001

How can I pay?
I accept cash or check at each session.


Can I use my insurance to cover the cost of therapy?
Therapy sessions are fee for service, meaning you pay at the time of service. If you have mental health benefits through your health insurance, you may be reimbursed for all or part of the fee. If you do not have mental health coverage or your coverage is poor, a sliding scale option is available. Check with your insurance carrier for mental health coverage. I will provide you with a complete insurance receipt at each session to expedite your reimbursement.

Sandy Novak, MS, MA. SEP, LPC
1480 Lee Hill Dr. #7
Boulder, CO. 80304
303-629-2960

Email Sandy

Step 1. Either:

• Schedule your first full session of 50 minutes and let’s get started. Contact Sandy at 303-629-2960 to set it up OR
• Schedule a No-Cost Initial Half Hour Consultation. Call me to set up an initial free consultation. In that visit we can meet and explore your goals. You can get to know me and ask any questions you may have. Call and I will contact you to schedule your intake.

Step 2. Fill out the Intake Questionnaire. The following Intake Questionnaire is available for you to download and print. It is helpful for you to have the questionnaire filled out prior to your initial consultation. The Adobe Acrobat reader is needed to open the document, if you need to the Adobe reader then please click here.

click on the bullets for more information

• Couples and Marriage Counseling
  
  • Helping couples meet their longings to be seen, heard, understood and accepted by their partner
  • Resolving differences so they become enhancers, not unfinished business
  • Rekindling positive energy between you
  • Premarital counseling
  • Specializing in working with gay and lesbian couples
  • Resolving childhood attachment issues that can get in the way of trust and closeness
• Trauma Therapy
  
  • Resolving panic, anxiety, depression, insomnia, hyper vigilance, lack of focus
  • Helping childhood or adult victims of physical, emotional or sexual abuse
  • Resolving surgery and dental traumas, car accident and natural disaster traumas
  • Treating childhood neglect or abuse
  • Helping adult children of a narcissistic parent
• Family Therapy
  
  • Helping families grow through crisis, transitions, and everyday challenges:
  • Support through the loss of a family member
  • Divorce and stepfamily issues
  • Adding a new child to the family, sibling rivalry
  • Coaching teens and their parents through adolescence and emancipation
  • Adapting to an empty nest
• Coaching Parents
  
  • Learning to set age-appropriate limits and boundaries and developing effective natural consequences for kid’s misbehavior and mistakes
  • Knowing what kids need at each stage of development to foster their emotional intelligence
  • Helping kids learn to make mature decisions and develop independence
  • Helping your child through divorce or other losses
  • Helping parents survive their child’s teen years
• Divorce and Step-family Coaching
  
  • Help through the stages of divorce
  • Support for resolving the emotional challenges of divorce
  • Helping you coach your child through divorce
  • Changing relationship patterns so you don’t choose the “same” partner the next time
  • Creating healthy step families and coaching in how to blend two families
• Adult Attachment Therapy
  
  • Resolving childhood attachment issues that can get in the way of adult relationships with spouses, children, friends, bosses, and co-workers
• Individual Adolescent and Adult Therapy
  
  • Making the changes you want for a more fulfilling adulthood
  • Transforming relationship patterns that formed in childhood
  • Changing “roles” or scripts we developed as a child
  • Transforming ways we learned to “cope” to make it in our family
  • Finishing unresolved issues with parents and caregivers
  • Recovering from having a narcissistic or personality-disordered parent or spouse
  • Resolving grief and loss issues
• Spirituality
  
  • Bringing mindfulness to every moment
  • Discovering self empowerment
  • Support through spiritual discovery, emergence and growth

Sandy Novak, M.A., M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor
1480 Lee Hill Drive, #7
Boulder, CO 80304
(303) 629-2960

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Raising Emotionally Healthy
Children Through the Satir Model: Sandy has been
teaching this four day workshop in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen,
China three times a year to enthusiastic parents and professional
counselors. She teaches for the Satir Institute of
China and other training companies that are bringing personal
growth and professional training to the Chinese
people. The work is challenging, the people are so
respectful and appreciative, and the cultural differences are
stimulating.

I offer the opportunity for you to change, the possibility for you to transform:

• Individual counseling to help adults and teens transform from the inside out toward freedom and high self-esteem
• Couples counseling to help couples build or reclaim closeness and intimacy
• Family therapy to help families grow together through all of life’s challenges and stages

My counseling style:

• A short term, caring, direct approach focused on resolution of issues
• A warm, compassionate, accepting relationship with you
• Transforming issues, not just talking about them
• Change therapies, proven to promote positive change in you

Primary therapeutics:

• Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy for individual, couple and family work.
• Somatic Experiencing™ Trauma Resolution Therapy
• Gestalt and other body-centered psychotherapies
• Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Therapy
• Integrative approaches