PRACTICE POLICIES

APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

Please remember to cancel or reschedule a minimum of 1 business day (24 hours) prior to your scheduled appointment time. Monday’s appointment time needs to be cancelled by Friday 5:00pm. You will be responsible for the entire fee of $150 for a 53 minute session, if cancellation is less than 24 hours. 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.

If you have to cancel, you will make every effort to reschedule if you wish not to miss an appointment. This policy applies to an appointment you did not attend because you have decided not to continue counseling, you forgot an appointment, an appointment conflicts with another one you have made, if you become ill, if the weather becomes a problem, or any other reason. Charges for late cancellations or missed appointments are not billable to your insurance company. Fees for sessions, including copays, deductibles, co-insurance, and self-pay fees, are due at the time of the session.

The credit card you are providing will automatically be charged the full fee for late cancellations, missed appointments or unpaid fees unless we have made other arrangements ($150 for individuals).

The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is 53 minutes for $150. All payments are automatically at the time of services.

TELEPHONE ACCESSIBILITY

If you need to contact me between sessions, please leave a message on my voice mail. I am often not immediately available I will attempt to return your call within 24 hours. If a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergency room. Please note that I am strictly a virtual practice and do not offer face- to-face sessions at this time.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). I 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. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.

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 do so. 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.

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. I may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you and a termination process if I determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. I will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If therapy is terminated for any reason or you request another therapist, I will provide you with a list of qualified psychotherapists to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source.

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