Dr. Amber
has been a long standing nickname given to me throughout my life. I
am by nature a healer and helping others brings me happiness.
My client base is diverse
ranging from celebrities to homeless persons.
Every one of my clients is
treated with the same care, respect and strict confidentiality.
I offer both talk therapy and
life coaching services. I am not a licensed psychiatrist and
therefore cannot prescribe prescription medications. I have used
herbal supplements when I feel appropriate and with very
positive results and I will go more into detail further into
this introduction.
I do feel psychiatric
medications are over-prescribed and people are over diagnosed.
However, medications under the
care of a psychiatrist are sometimes most certainly called for
to assure the patient gets the best quality out of their life
and certain mental illnesses can be life threatening and require
a medical treatment plan which includes medications.
If you are
in a situation where
psychiatric medications are required I can offer you ongoing
emotional support, being told one has a mental illness requiring
medications can be very distressing in itself. With your
permission, I can also take an active role in your care by
working with your
psychiatrist or prescribing doctor
to assist in monitoring your treatments success.
If you need help helping
yourself I am here to assist in getting you the specialized care
you need rather it be finding you a psychiatrist, support group,
rehabilitation center or other types of specialized services you
could benefit from. I have even assisted clients in things
ranging from fighting denied insurance claims, home foreclosure
and job procurement.
Sometimes talking it through
is just not enough to overcome ones obstacles and you simply
need a little help getting your life in general back on a
positive and manageable track.
In
1994, I began a career in the
medical field and I have worked in psychiatric, rehabilitation
and sub-acute hospitals and I have worked for both suicide and
domestic abuse hotlines.
This section is intended to
give you a look at who I am and my motivations to
provide this service. I am happy to answer questions about
myself during
our sessions as well.
I think it is important my
clients know I am not providing this service for the paycheck.
I am charging for this
service because I cannot live without a paycheck.
I provided my chat therapy
sessions free of charge along with other pro-bono endeavors for
years until juggling a paying job as a software developer along
with became too time consuming and physically taxing for me.
Every hospital I worked for I
also wrote computer applications, starting with programs that
simply made my tasking easier. I automated tasking from the
positions I held allowing me to take on additional medical
related positions. I gained valuable medical experience.
The job market in the
mid-nineties was poor and with each high paid employee lay off
at the hospital I was employed I was given their
position. It was much more cost efficient to have a licensed
psychiatrist sign off weekly on my work with patients then pay
for a full time licensed therapist or psychiatrist. Helping
patients and their families through the most difficult times was
immensely rewarding.
I married at the age of
eighteen and had a baby at nineteen. My husband was very abusive
so I fled with our daughter. As a single mother I followed the
money and pursued a career in information technology, but I
never stopped studying psychiatry and holistic medicine.
I will be the first to tell you
money does not buy happiness. Not having enough can make anyone
unhappy but happiness is challenging when you are not enjoying
your workday or any other facet of your life for that matter and
money alone cannot fix that.
The sessions I have with my
clients do not feel like work to me.
I charge the minimum necessary
to keep my services available.
As one past client put it:
Subject line:
patient referral
"Dearest Doc Amber,
I was so saddened to read you
no longer offer chat therapy but I understand. I whole heartedly
feel you should simply charge for the counseling and life
coaching services you provide rather then cease providing them.
I was a mess when
we first starting talking and very confused I had wasted thousands of
dollars I couldn't afford on traditional therapy and was no better or happier to
show for it. He certainly would not have even considered calling
my landlord and getting me out of the switch and bait lease I
had foolishly signed myself into!
I could go on
and on you did so much for me and my daughter outside the realm
of standard therapy.
You are doing future clients a
huge disservice by not letting them make their own decision to
either compensate you for your time or not get your help.
Our talks gave me
the strength to leave my abusive husband, start a real career
that I love,
not to mention make over 4 times that as when we first started our
sessions! I am even in a loving relationship with a genuinely
nice man who treats my daughter as his own. I have sent you a
wedding invitation :)
Never did I think my life could change so much and so
fast. I am happy and went from hopeless to hopeful after only a
few sessions with you.
You have a gift and it is your
responsibility to share it but certainly not starve in the process. I remember you once said to me
too much humility can become self destructive pride.
I have enclosed a check for
$5000.00 as a thank you and for well earned reimbursement for
all the no cost sessions you provided me. Please cash it, you
know if I couldn't afford it I would not have enclosed it.
I also urge you to re-start your sessions and make the last
website you ever create your own and put this letter on!
If you change your mind my
friend could really use your help and I know she would be happy
to compensate you. "
Thank you again for everything
you have done for me and my daughter.
Love & Peace,
Tonya H.
In case you were wondering, I
did not cash the check.
Like many of us I have had
hard times many a direct result of bad choices I made for
myself. I have made some horrible mistakes many almost life
ending. I have also made some excellent choices which have
brought me much success.
I started out very rocky in
life and with each bad choice I stacked the odds more heavily
against myself. I spent a great deal of my teen years homeless,
battled drug addiction, married a very abusive man and had a
baby by the time I was nineteen.
By time I am was twenty-four I
appeared as successful as any average adult who hadn't made bad
choices. I then suffered PTSD due to my past but obviously got
through that as well.
My interest in psychiatry and
helping others has
continued to bloom and flourish every since. I have also continued my studies in
herbal medicines, holistic alternatives and
dietary health.
I offer nutritional counseling
and herbal medications if deemed beneficial for your individual
needs.
However, your medical record
with recent blood test results the standard panel plus thyroid
is needed before I can recommend most herbal medicines and not
until consent from your primary care physician is given are the
supplements shipped.
I then fax to your doctors
office the list of recommended herbal supplements and any major
dietary change recommendations and your doctor must approve it
or you can in good faith have your doctor sign it and you can
fax it to me. Whichever is easiest and most comfortable for you.
By law your doctor is required
to keep your medical information confidential without a written
release from you. I do not discuss my clients sessions with
their doctors in anyway without written consent from you - they
simply need to agree the supplements will not be harmful to your
health.
Any herbalist willing to whip
out a list without knowing what medications you are on and any
existing conditions you have should be avoided, when used
properly they are powerful and thus can also be harmful.
Web-based
chat alternatives to the standard format of 50 minute in office
psychotherapy sessions or life coaching sessions allows my clients to benefit
from affordable and effective personalized care in the most
convenient and comfortable setting in the most confidential
manner possible.
Send me an
email
and your confidential appointment will be made promptly.
Most messaging applications of your choice can be
used. Telephone sessions are also available.
Existing clients are granted cell phone and texting privileges
for faster service.
I look
forward to our therapeutic chats.
Warmest
Regards,
Dr. Amber
DrAmber@wcare.org
