Healing Mind and Soul Therapy Practice Policies
Appointment Scheduling and Cancellation Policies
Sessions are typically scheduled to occur weekly on the same day at the same time, if possible. I may suggest a different amount or frequency of therapy depending on the nature and severity of your concerns.
The standard waiting time on sessions is 15 Minutes, after the 15 minutes if you do not show up then session will be marked as a no show, and which will be charged the full-service fee. If you are being covered by your insurance provider, please note no-shows or late cancellations are not covered by them, and you will be responsible for the full-service fee.
If you have a balance due for services or co-payment via your insurance, sessions will be paused until the balance is paid.
The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is 45-60 minutes. It is up to you, however, to determine the length of time of your sessions. Requests to change the length of session needs to be discussed with the therapist in order to be scheduled in advance.
A $35 service charge will be charged for any returned checks.
To cancel or reschedule an appointment, please notify me at least 24 hours in advance of your appointment. If you do not provide me with at least 24 hours’ notice of a cancellation, I will charge you the full-service fee for the missed session.
If you miss 3 consecutive sessions, you will be removed from therapist caseload.
If you are gone for an extended period of time such as up to one or more months for services, your appointment time will not be held and upon when you are ready to return to treatment, we can discuss appointment times that are open.
Telephone Communication
If you need to contact me between sessions, please leave me a voicemail, or text message. I am often not immediately available; however, I will attempt to return your call or message within 24 hours. Face-to-face sessions are highly preferable to phone sessions. If you are out of town, sick, or need additional support, phone sessions are available. If an emergency situation arises, please call 911 or go to your local emergency room.
From time to time, I may need to communicate with you outside of our sessions together to discuss scheduling, payment, or other issues related to your treatment. To respect your privacy, it is important for me to understand your communication preferences.
Additional Information About Unencrypted Text Messaging: I value your privacy and take appropriate steps to preserve the confidentiality of information shared between us. However, it is important to be aware that certain risks may still be present when communicating via unencrypted text, such as technological failures or unintended access by third parties.
Social Media and Telecommunication
It is important as your therapist to maintain your confidentiality and minimizing of dual relationships, I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former client(s) on any social networking sites. Adding client(s) as friends or contacts on social media can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy as well as blurring boundaries of our therapeutic relationship.
Electronic communication
I 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 I will adhere to communication preference. While I may try to return messages in a timely manner, I 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.
Additional Information About Unencrypted Email: I value your privacy and take appropriate steps to preserve the confidentiality of information shared between us. However, it is important to be aware that certain risks may still be present when communicating via unencrypted email, such as technological failures or unintended access by third parties.
Additional Communication Information and Preferences
Please feel free to inform me if there are additional communication preferences you would like for me to be aware of, or if you do not wish to be contacted at a particular time, place, or by a particular means.
I will do my best to honor your communication preferences, but please be aware that in certain instances, such as emergency circumstances, I may need to reach you through other methods.
Telemedicine
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:
- All existing confidentiality protections are taken into effect.
- Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed and copies of this information are available for $75.00.
- Dissemination to your identifiable images, or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers, or other entities shall not occur without your consent.
- There are potential risks, consequences and benefits of telemedicine. Benefits of telemedicine but not limited to access to services by enabling client(s) to remain in his/her remote site, more efficient behavioral health evaluation and management, obtaining expertise of a distant specialist, improve communication capabilities, reduction to travel costs. 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, delays in behavioral health evaluation and treatment could occur due to deficiencies or failures of equipment, and breach of privacy of personal behavioral health information or hacking of client(s) or therapist(s) computer
Minors
If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your therapy. I will discuss with you and your parents’ what information is appropriate for them to receive, and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.
Termination of Therapy
The length of your treatment and the timing of the eventual termination of your treatment depend on your clinical needs, the specifics of your treatment plan, and the progress you make towards achieving your treatment goals. While I hope you will find our time together beneficial and meaningful, I cannot guarantee the specific outcome(s) or result(s) your treatment will yield.
You may discontinue therapy at any time. If one of us determines you are not benefiting from treatment, we can discuss treatment alternatives. These alternatives may include, among other possibilities, changes to your treatment plan, referrals to other therapists, and/or termination of treatment.
Should you fail to schedule an appointment for three consecutive weeks, unless other arrangements have been made in advance, for legal and ethical reasons, I must consider the professional relationship discontinued.