Frequently Asked Questions

Our Intake and Administrative team specializes in helping new clients connect with a great-fit therapist, so they’re the first point of contact for anyone who wants to connect. We’ll help you schedule a brief phone consultation to discuss your needs and preferences, and we’ll make a recommendation based on your priorities.

We’re a small, independent clinic which means that we’re able to make personalized, human recommendations — without using algorithms or AI. Our Intake team can take your preferences for therapy style, personality, budget, identities or cultural backgrounds, and more into account in finding the right therapist for you.

We usually get it right, but in the rare cases that we don’t, we’re happy to help you switch to a different therapist, or make a recommendation outside of Stella Nova.

Stella Nova focuses on serving and centering the needs of women, couples, and LGBTQIA+ adults. You’re welcome here — regardless of what body you were born into, what gender you were assigned at birth, what pronouns you use, and how you express your gender today. In fact, we don’t turn anyone away based on gender. If our mission and our values vibe with what you’re looking for in a healing space, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re especially enthusiastic about serving the needs of BIPOC clients and immigrant communities. 

We do sometimes run workshops or events that are limited to specific identity groups in order to create a safe space for participants. For example, we may run a group specifically intended BIPOC individuals, or a workshop for trans women. We trust that participants will self-identify into spaces that serve them and do not police or gatekeep around identity. We expect all attendees at Stella Nova events will abide by our values of respect and inclusivity towards our staff and other attendees.

Not sure if a service or an event is a good fit for you? Send us a message and we’re happy to answer any questions you have.

Our services vary in price based on the therapist with whom you work, their credentials, and any special skills or expertise. Our rates for individual therapy start at $160 for individuals, and $192 for couples. After we get a sense of what you’re looking for, we can give you a personalized quote. And we’re happy to take your budget into account when matching you with a member of our team. We do have a limited number of reduced fee slots to allow us to provide services to individuals experiencing a financial hardship.

As per Federal law, you have the right to a “Good Faith Estimate” of what services will cost. But in reality, there’s no estimating or guess work involved — our fees are transparent and we’ll go over all the relevant financial info before you start services with us.

We are not in-network with any insurance panels; however, many of our clients utilize out-of-network benefits and receive reimbursement for services. We are happy to provide the appropriate paperwork for you to submit. You may also be able to use your FSA or HSA benefits to pay for therapy directly.

If you’ve never been to therapy, you might be imagining something like what you’ve seen on Hoarders or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The reality is far less sensational and, sadly, devoid of musical numbers (so far).

Your first session will be a chance for you and your therapist to get to know each other, discuss your goals and concerns, and develop a preliminary plan for moving forward. That plan might include things like an exploration of your thoughts and feelings, practicing new tools in session, and skills to practice at home. We’re not one-size-fits-all, and we work hard to meet your needs and your preferences on an individual basis.

You might cry, but it’s not required. In fact, we spend a lot of time laughing, too.

If you do cry, know that you’re not alone. In fact, if you come at any time after noon, there’s approximately an 89.4% chance that you’re not even the first person to cry in our office that day. (Note: That’s a 100% made-up number, but, really, it’s totally normal.)

Video calls are great at connecting people across long distances. Unfortunately, interstate therapy poses a variety of legal, ethical, and practical challenges for therapy. For this reason, Stella Nova is currently only taking on new clients who are physically located within the state of California and New York, where we are licensed and registred.

We may, under limited circumstances, be able to work with ongoing clients who are temporarily out of state to offer continuity of care. If you are a current client and anticipate needing to leave the state, please discuss your options with your therapist as soon as possible.

Most clients prefer to meet weekly, and we recommend that in most instances. It seems to be a good cadence for getting some momentum going, especially early on. Setting a weekly meeting time is also a way to prioritize therapy as a part of your healthy routine.

If you are interested in a schedule that’s more or less frequent, let us know! We will do our best to accommodate where we can.

As AI is becoming more a part of our everyday lives, it’s important to know how it’s being used in your mental healthcare! Stella Nova does not use AI as part of our clinical practice (for example, to write our notes, make treatment recommendations, or create transcripts of your sessions). Our website, blog, and social media posts are also written by people—despite what our love of the em dash may suggest.

We’ve made this choice because we believe therapy is fundamentally a human-to-human experience, and it should stay that way. We also believe that your privacy should come first, and that means not having AI listen in on conversations that should be between you and your therapist only.

That being said, it is possible that AI may be used by our external partners or vendors in the course of their work, for example, by our marketing team. There may also be situations that we are unable to avoid AI coming into contact with your data—most notably given our use of Google Workspace for our email and internal communication. We attempt to minimize this wherever possible, and any of our partners who handle your data have agreed to do so in a HIPAA-compliant manner, as outlined in a signed business associate agreement.

We are currently seeing clients via virtual therapy only — the lowest-risk option for COVID safety. But you can rest assured that COVID safety will be high on our list of priorities at any future in-person locations as well. We have a number of therapists on our team who are familiar with supporting clients around Long Covid, and we welcome clients who are Covid-cautious for any reason.

No need to apologize for your potty mouth here. If the best way to express yourself in therapy is with a few well placed F-bombs, bring it on. Therapists are generally pretty hard to shock.

Mental health is a feminist issue! It’s impossible to talk about our mental and emotional health without recognizing the impact that oppressive systems have on our lives. ⁠Gender inequity means that women and gender non-conforming folks face unique challenges at work and at home, such as experiences of bias and discrimination, gendered role expectations in our families, or lack of professional support and mentorship—that can profoundly impact our well-being.

As feminist therapists, our work recognizes the impact of the systems we live within, and honors the ways we’ve learned to cope and survive, while creating space to grow towards the lives we want. ⁠We stand against sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, fatphobia, ageism, and other forms of oppression as an integral part of our mental health mission. 

You can find our HIPAA statement here. This outlines your rights and our obligations under HIPAA, which is a federal law. However, in many circumstances Stella Nova policies exceed the privacy requirements outlined there. If you have any questions about our policies and procedures, you can ask your therapist and we’re happy to clarify. 

Stella Nova means ‘new star’ – a metaphor for bursting with potential and energy. Like stars, we believe that we shine brighter when we come together. Come join our constellation! (See what we did there?)