Concierge Palliative Care Counseling & Advocacy Support Services

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative Care is a specialized service for people going through serious or life limiting illness. It is an added layer of support at any time from the initial diagnosis throughout the course of an illness. It affirms life and views death as a normal process. The goal of Palliative Care is for people live their lives as long as possible with hope, satisfaction, dignity and best quality of life possible. So often, medical care is fragmented and patients feel shuffled around, or aren't given space to process their experience of living with a serious illness. They may be living with burdensome symptoms, have questions about their treatment, and are just plain tired as they try to navigate all aspects of life, illness and planning for the future. Palliative Care is a holistic approach to treating pain and symptoms related to the disease process. It integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of care. Its foundation lies in communication and understanding of the person and family.

Quality of life means something different to each person. Being able to define what this means to you and your loved one, make goals and decisions based on what is important to you is the essence of Palliative Care. Palliative Care is about your providers understanding who you are and what’s important to you.

Palliative Care Counseling can be an essential part of your medical team. Palliative Care counseling provides partnership, emotional support, values clarification, patient advocacy, education and resource referrals for clients and families navigating the course of treatment.

Anne provides Palliative Care Counseling through traditional psychotherapy visits as you navigate and process your health care journey. She also provides short term consultation to assist patients and families in Advance Health Care Planning and Goals of Care Conversations. When patients face a fork in the road, it can often be overwhelming and confusing. Different physicians and health care providers may provide various opinions that can seem contradictory. Add in the Web MD and advice from family and friends, it can feel like even more of a jumble. Anne assists with thoughtful, patient-centered conversations that allow for you to process news, weigh priorities and maintain the core sense of who you are. You are a person first and a patient is just one of the many labels you carry. Palliative Care brings you and your family back to the whole-person that you are, and this can help bring clarity to how you will proceed. Sessions are via Zoom or in Anne's Studio City office. In special circumstances, Palliative Care Advocacy services can include home visits in some of the San Fernando and Los Angeles area and hospital visitations (additional fee may apply).

COVID-19 has rocked us personally, as a nation and as a world. Our lives have changed and we are challenged to re-prioritize what truly matters in our daily lives, our future and our relationships. The pandemic has brought an unexpected awareness that we must live differently, by planning for our future health and financial needs. We are learning that preparation is essential to help prepare us when the unexpected occurs. Advance health care planning is an essential component of this - realizing that a birthright of life is death. Everyone of us have a limited time on earth. We may not like to think about this, but the alternative is placing a burden on our loved ones during a crisis. We have an opportunity to plan for illnesses and our death so our loved ones don't have to make difficult decisions in highly emotional times.

Having the education and tools necessary to have difficult conversations with ourselves and our loved ones can make the conversation easier.

For healthcare professionals, having guidance in how to approach and facilitate these conversations is essential. Anne is an experienced teacher and coach for professionals as they hone professional communication and therapeutic presence with palliative care patients. She is an expert on conducting family meetings for advanced illness and end-of-life discussions.

Please contact Anne for more information on palliative care counseling, advocacy, educational programs and opportunities.

Payment & Location

I ask for payment at each session and do not accept insurance reimbursement. If requested, I will provide a super bill so that you may submit to your PPO insurance company for reimbursement. With third-party oversight, care is often limited and confidential information is required for authorization of treatment. When you pay privately, you can feel secure in knowing that your information will be treated confidentially within the parameters of the therapist-client relationship. This allows me to customize your treatment to your unique concerns & needs. I accept cash, check, Venmo, Paypal and Zelle to be paid prior to the start of each session.

I provide Zoom consultations. I occasionally provide home or hospital visits depending on location and timing. There is a travel differential to my standard fee.