Practice Policies

Appointments and Cancellations

Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. You will be responsible for the entire fee if cancellation is less than 24 hours. The standard meeting time for consultation is 30 minutes. It is up to you, however, to determine the length of time of your sessions.

Requests to change the 30 minute session needs to be discussed with the health care provider in order for time to be scheduled in advance. Cancellations and re-scheduled sessions 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.

Telephone Accessibility

If you need to contact us between sessions, please leave a message on our voicemail. We are often not immediately available; however, we will attempt to return your call within 24 hours.

Please note that face-to-face sessions are highly preferable to phone sessions. However, in the event that you are out of town, sick or need additional support, phone sessions are available.

If a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergency room.

Social Media and Telecommunication

Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, we do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc).

We believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship.

Electronic Communication

We cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media, including text messages. If you prefer to communicate via email or text messaging for issues regarding scheduling or cancellations, we will do so.

While we may try to return messages in a timely manner, we cannot guarantee immediate response and request that you do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies.

Telemedicine

Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine. When using telemedicine services, you should understand:

• You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or treatment.
• All existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable.
• Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed.
• There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine including improved access to care and potential limitations in clinical observations.

Minors

If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your treatment. We will discuss with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.

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.

We may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you if we determine that the treatment is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. We will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating.

Should you fail to schedule an appointment for three consecutive weeks, unless other arrangements have been made in advance, for legal and ethical reasons, we must consider the professional relationship discontinued.