PRACTICE POLICIES

 

APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS: Please cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. Cancellations and re-scheduled session will be subject to a full charge if NOT RECEIVED AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to you and is held exclusively for you. If you are late for a session, you may lose some of that session time. The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is 50 minutes. It is up to you, however, to determine the length of time of your sessions. Requests to change the 50-minute session needs to be discussed with the therapist in order for time to be scheduled in advance.

 

REQUIREMENT FOR TREATMENT: Therapy is most beneficial when consistent appointments occur. If you have not scheduled at least one appointment within a 30 day period you will be considered terminated from treatment unless this has been discussed prior to the 30 day hiatus in treatment. Should you fail to schedule an appointment for 30 consecutive days, unless other arrangements have been made in advance, for legal and ethical reasons, I must consider the professional relationship discontinued Cash, Credit Card, and Checks are the accepted forms of payment. The information for an active credit card will be kept on file for late payment purposes. If you require a different mode of payment, please let me know. A $10.00 service charge will be charged for any checks returned for any reason for special handling.

 

COMMUNICATION: Please refrain from attempting to communicate about session material outside of session. All e-mails sent to your therapist will be read by the therapist, but may not be responded too. If you need to contact your therapist between sessions, please leave a message on their voicemail or email them. Therapists are rarely immediately available due to be in session; however, we will attempt to call within 24 hours. Please refrain from texting on the weekends and after 5:00pm on the weekdays unless it is a mental health emergency. If a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergency room.

 

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION: The confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media cannot be ensured, including text messages. Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine by the State of California. Under the California Telemedicine Act of 1996, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment, you need to understand that: (1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled. (2) All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable. (3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee. (4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent. (5) There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs. Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical assessments, diagnosis, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third person consultations, but also from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information technology in therapy services, potential risks include, but are not limited to the therapist's inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as: your physical condition including deformities, apparent height and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as significant to present verbally the therapist.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION: Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, therapists do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). Adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them in session.

 

MINORS: If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your therapy. It will be discussed with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential. If your therapist feels that you are of risk to yourself or others your parents/guardians will be notified.

 

TERMINATION: Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of the treatment. Any therapist may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you and a termination process, if it is determined that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used, or if you are in default on payment. The therapeutic relationship will not be terminated without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. Referrals for qualified psychotherapists to treat you will be offered. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source. THERAPY WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED IF YOU BECOME ABUSIVE OR MAKE THREATS TOWARDS THE THERAPIST, THE PROPERTY, OR THE THERAPIST’S LOVED ONES.