Question 1

How long does therapy last?

Accepted Answer

The length of therapy is highly variable and depends on factors like the severity of the problem, the desired level of relief, and session frequency.

* The average client attends 12-15 sessions.
* Research suggests about 50% of clients experience symptom relief after 10-16 sessions, and 75% achieve relief within 26 sessions (approximately six months of weekly sessions).
* While some stop once symptoms improve, others seek more profound, long-term changes in self-image or relationship patterns.
* Long-term psychotherapy is generally considered two years or longer.

Question 2

What are common approaches and long long do they last?

Accepted Answer

Common Approaches

Brief, Solution Focused Therapy is designed to address behavior change in 8-12 sessions. It tends to focus on present goals and behavior and future outcomes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is a relatively brief therapeutic approach, typically lasting from 5-20 sessions.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), is a specific CBT approach designed to treat OCD. Treatment typically last 12-20 session.

Family Systems Theory, including strategic, structural, narrative, and social constructivist approaches fall between short- and long-term therapy. Treatment using this approach usually last 12-24 sessions.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), is a treatment approach that uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories so they are not so overwhelming. Single trauma symptoms are typically resolved in 6 sessions while complex trauma typically takes 12 sessions or more and chronic trauma takes 20-40 sessions.

Relational Psychotherapy, including contemporary psychoanalysis are typically considered long term therapies and last one to two years or longer.

Question 3

What is the total cost of counseling?

Accepted Answer

The total cost of counseling is highly variable and depends on factors like the severity of your challenges, the depth of change sought, your time commitment, and other life circumstances.
A rough estimate is to multiply the cost of one session by the average number of sessions needed for symptom relief. Note that half of clients experience symptom relief within 12 sessions, but half may require more.

Question 4

Where are you located?

Accepted Answer

We are available online and in person. Our office is located at: 
1425 W. Elliot Rd., Ste 207, Gilbert, AZ 85296 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/1425+W+Elliot+Rd,+Gilbert,+AZ+85233/@33.3486285,-111.8232064,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x872ba9a4d0362367:0x7e314c11e6360f3a!8m2!3d33.3486285!4d-111.8206315!16s%2Fg%2F11bw3xhbs2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTEyMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)

Question 5

What can the family room offer you?

Accepted Answer

The Family Room offers personalized counseling for individuals, couples, and families as well as psychological and educational testing, educational consulting, spiritual direction, and member care.

Question 6

What are counseling intensives?

Accepted Answer

Intensives are for clients with busy schedules or a desire to jump start the change process. The intensives involve longer sessions (e.g., several hours per day over multiple days) to speed up therapeutic progress. Intensives may be scheduled on weekdays or on select weekends. The Family Room specializes in intensives focused on couples counseling, trauma, family-of-origin work, and member care, including debriefing. Intensives are individualized and may include a male/female therapy team, a spiritual director on the treatment team, family therapy, creative arts therapy, EMDR, tools like Prepare/Enrich or the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis, or other modalities specific to your needs.

Question 7

How can spiritual direction and formation help?

Accepted Answer

Spiritual direction and formation are relational processes designed to help individuals grow in their spiritual journey, to deepen their connection with the divine, to discern God's voice through prompting from the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, and navigating life transitions from a spiritual perspective. Our spiritual directors hold doctorate degrees from evangelical protestant seminaries with additional training in spiritual direction and are members of the Spiritual Formation Society of Arizona.

Question 8

What is member care?

Accepted Answer

Member care is the wholistic support of global workers. While this term often includes coaching and pastoral care, The Family Room focuses on meeting the mental health and educational needs of global workers. Services include pre-field assessment and preparation, psychological and educational testing and consultation, on-field support, debriefing including critical incident stress debriefing, retreats, and retooling. We offer a comprehensive "member care" model to support mental health for people working and living cross-culturally.

Question 9

Do you offer sessions in person, online, or both?

Accepted Answer

You have options. The Family Room offers both in-person services and telehealth services via remote access. Through PSYPACT Dr. Justin Smith is able to offer telehealth in 43 states. The Counseling Compact is moving through the legislative process and hopefully will be fully active soon. The Family Room is unable to offer counseling through the Counseling Compact in 2026.

Question 10

What kinds of issues or client needs do you address?

Accepted Answer

Therapy can help with a variety of issues, including but not limited to:
 • Couple and marriage issues (infidelity, sexuality, communication, grown apart, attachment)  
 • Relational issues (family, parenting, intergenerational and behavioral problems)
 • Anxiety, depression, addictions, mental health, 
 • Trauma and vicarious trauma (natural disasters, war, physical and sexual violence, sexual molestation, childhood abuse and neglect)
 • Spiritual struggles, life transitions, grief, losses, stress, burnout
 • Acculturation, assimilation, identity, cultural and cross-cultural issues
 • Global-worker related stress, cross-cultural adjustment, re-entry challenges
 • Third Culture Kids (TCK) and adult TCKs, 
 • Educational issues (home, micro, national, international, and boarding schools) 
 • Psychological testing, fitness for ministry/to deploy overseas, educational testing and consultation

Question 11

How do I get started with therapy at The Family Room?

Accepted Answer

To begin:
1. Reach out by phone or email using the contact information on this website.
2. You can also schedule an appointment (intake or first session) directly from the website. We will work with you to decide whether you need individual, couples, family, or perhaps an intensive session--depending on your needs.

Question 12

Is there a holistic or spiritual component to therapy?

Accepted Answer

Yes! We are all spiritual beings and The Family Room will seek to understand your values and the beliefs that guide your decision making and behavior. For some people spirituality is a more latent aspect of their lives, while for others it is a significant organizing factor of life choices. Many people seek services from The Family Room because they want intentionality placed on understanding their faith and spirituality as part of how problems and solutions are seen. Clients do not have to adhere to a specific religion or belief to receive services from The Family Room. Professional counseling and psychological services are based primarily on behavioral health approaches and are not a substitute for your own faith community and practices.  
Spiritual direction is offered for those seeking orthodox contemplative Christian practices.

Question 13

Who works there? What kind of background do the therapists have?

Accepted Answer

The Family Room is made up of a team of licensed counselors, therapists, and spiritual directors, with varied experiences and specializations. All clinicians and spiritual directors are seminary graduates and hold to an orthodox Christian faith. 
Our educational consultants have graduate degrees in education and many years of experience working in Christian schools, public schools, charter schools, and supporting global workers and their children.

Ready To Start Your Journey?

Pricing
Justin Smith, PsyD, LMFT, $195
Irene Vega-Morales, LAC, $120
Tim Mace, LAC, $120

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Ready To Start Your Journey?

Pricing​ Justin Smith, PsyD, LMFT, $195 Irene Vega-Morales, LAC, $120 Tim Mace, LAC, $120

Pricing
Justin Smith, PsyD, LMFT, $195
Irene Vega-Morales, LAC, $120
Tim Mace, LAC, $120