Welcome
Introduction
The decision to begin psychological treatment is very courageous. It is essential to research your provider options and select a psychologist who feels “right’ to you. Dr. Schwarz has over 25 years of experience working with individuals, couples, families, and groups. She specializes in helping people who want to increase their understanding of self; address areas of thinking, feeling, or behaving that cause pain or confusion; change behavioral patterns that interfere with emotional well-being, interpersonal relationships, and professional performance; and build relationships which are responsible, respectful, effective, and mutually satisfying.
Dr. Schwarz utilizes a psychodynamic frame that understands psychotherapy as the healing of unresolved past hurts and destructive patterns of behavior that often begin in your family of origin. She is eclectic in technique and uses tools from psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, CBT, Jungian, experiential, systems, and humanistic therapies.
She can help you:
- Increase your understanding of yourself.
- Address areas of thinking, feeling, or behaving that can cause you pain or confusion.
- Change behavior patterns that interfere with your emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships.
- Build relationships that are responsible, effective, and mutually satisfying.
- Address change in couples or families.
Achieving goals always takes hard work, and the psychotherapy process can be both difficult and painful. Dr. Schwarz will support you when it hurts yet challenge you to become your best self. She is here to work with you and for you. Thank you for considering Dr. Schwarz as your treating psychologist.
Appointments
Dr. Schwarz is committed to maintaining the highest standards of competency and professional ethics. She offers day and evening appointments. She also provides a medical answering service that is available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
Office
Her office is located at 1111 Triton Drive in Foster City, just off Foster City Blvd and behind McDonald’s Restaurant. The building is ADA accessible and has ample parking on three sides of the building.
Office of Dr. Schwarz
Conference Room
Waiting Room
Confidentiality
All verbal and written communications are kept in the strictest confidence, in accordance with the laws of the state of California and the ethical principles of the American Psychological Association.
Fees
All services at are provided on a fee-for-service basis. Fees are discussed prior to your initial appointment and full payment is due at the time services are rendered. Cash, personal check, and credit card (Visa and Mastercard) are accepted. Individuals are responsible for their own insurance billing, if applicable, and will be provided with a superbill for submitting claims for reimbursement directly to the patient.
Telehealth
During the Covid Pandemic and per the CDC shelter-in-place guidelines, Dr. Schwarz conducted all psychotherapy sessions via telehealth exclusively. With the end of the shelter-in-place guidelines, she is able to offer patients the option of choosing either in-person or on-line treatment. However, as San Mateo County continues to institute new shelter-in-place guidelines in an attempt to reduce additional Covid/RSV/flu outbreaks, she may have to temporarily withdraw the in-person option to comply with county mandates. In this case, she would temporarily return to offering on-line only psychological treatment.
To safeguard patient confidentiality during the use of telehealth appointments, the CDC requires that all telehealth platforms be HIPPA certified. To comply with this requirement, Dr. Schwarz uses Zoom for Healthcare Professionals as her telehealth platform.
Federal No Surprises Act (NSA)
For all medical and psychological services rendered on or after January 1, 2022, the federal No Surprises Act (NSA) applies. The NSA protects consumers/patients from surprise billing in certain situations. If you, for instance, get emergency care or get treated by out-of-network providers in an in-network hospital, the NSA protects you from surprise billings. If you are uninsured or self-pay, you have the right to a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) of professional fees under the NSA. Dr. Schwarz is in full compliance with the NSA . She discusses treatment costs and provides treatment cost estimates before treatment is started.