Welcome! Please read about my policies and client care. At the bottom of this page there will be a PDF form of these office policies for you to download and sign in order to begin treatment. If you have any questions about how things are done or what to expect, please ask.
APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Client visits are by appointment only. Appointments can be made during session or by phone or email.
To cancel an appointment, a 24-hour notice must be given prior to the appointment, by phone to avoid being charged for the appointment. This courtesy on your part makes it possible to offer an appointment to another person. Cancellations sent by text, email or FAX are not accepted. Cancellation must be done by phone.
FEES
The session fee is $120 for a 50-minute hour. Payment is due at the time of service. Phone consultations are charged at the same rate, except for brief conversations to handle routine matters. If fees change, you will receive advanced notification.
PHONE CALLS AND EMERGENCIES
Calls received before 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday are returned on the same day whenever possible. Calls after 3:00 p.m. Friday are returned the following Monday. All urgent calls are returned as promptly as possible. However, as a sole provider, it is not always possible to provide immediate emergency services on an on-call basis. Emergency plans are developed individually with each client as appropriate.
If you have a mental health emergency which requires IMMEDIATE response, you should first go to your local hospital emergency room, or call Peachford Hospital (770.454.5589), or Ridgeview Institute (770.434.4567) or call 911 for assistance. Then, please call and advise me of the situation.
If I am unavailable due to holidays, planned vacations, training, or emergency, another mental health provider will be on call for me. That person may be accessed by calling my office for contact information.
If at any time this level of support feels inadequate, please tell your therapist so a plan for additional resources can be made.
INSURANCE
Financial responsibility for services rests with the client, regardless of insurance coverage. Reimbursement is arranged by the client and is between the client and the insurance company. The “superbill” receipt for services contains the necessary information for reimbursement under most policies. Check with your insurer to determine if services are covered under your policy.
If you are considering using insurance to pay for treatment, there are several things you should know:
1) As with many medical conditions, a history of treatment might make purchasing a new policy difficult in the future.
2) Confidentiality of treatment records is not possible to guarantee, and you lose control over what happens to that information once the insurance company has it. Insurance companies require a diagnosed mental health disorder from the DSM-IV. Such a label becomes part of your health records. Or, you may not have such a disorder, in which case insurance is unlikely to pay for treatment.
3) Your insurance company can decide not to pay for treatment at any point in the process. Financial responsibility rests with you.
CONFIDENTIALITY
All treatment records and information are maintained in strict confidentiality except when disclosure is required by law. Generally, information about your status as a client or your therapy will not be given to anyone without your written permission. Child abuse, molestation and neglect are required to be reported to the appropriate authorities, as is the threat of imminent harm to self or another.
For more information, please refer to my NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES form. This tells you about HIPPA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a legal act that governs how Protected Health Information can and cannot be used. A copy can be downloaded from the website, and there is a public copy in the office waiting room.
In regard to online communications, please know that I will do my best to protect all of our communications and transactions. The only way to be assured, however that no information is compromised is to limit what you tell me to non-technology channels.
At this point in time my profession’s stance is that it is not ethical to be friends with clients on Facebook due to client confidentiality concerns.
RISKS AND BENEFITS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
Potential risks include experiencing uncomfortable feelings like sadness, shame, anger or fear. It is possible to experience uncomfortable memories, or to begin to question relationships or to experience a lifestyle adjustment as a result of therapy. You may find yourself questioning and reevaluating beliefs or values. These experiences are a normal aspect of change in therapy. I am available to talk and to help you with any of these issues if they arise. Please keep me informed.
Depending on the focus of treatment, completed therapy often leads to increased hope confidence and balance, resolution of specific goals or problems, healthier relationships and greater overall well-being and quality of life. Benefits are greater and more likely to be permanent when therapy is continued to completion. Questions about treatment completion can be discussed with me.
TREATMENT ALTERNATIVES
Alternatives or adjuncts to psychotherapy are available, through Anna, such as hypnotherapy or Energy Medicine, or by referral, such as prescription medication, family, sexual, career or financial counseling and other services offered by qualified professionals. If this is of interest to you, discuss it with me. Also, in the course of our work together, if we discover problems outside the scope of my practice, I will assist you in locating appropriate, professional services to meet your needs.
Print this Office Policies form, sign it and bring it with you to your first appointment.