Policies & Forms

What You Can Expect from Treatment

Psychotherapy is not a substitute for medication under the care of a psychiatrist, nurse-practitioner or medical doctor. While our psychotherapy sessions will address social, emotional and personal issues, it may be required for you to consult with a specialist for pharmacotherapy in addition to our work. You understand that I follow the laws and professional regulations of the States of Texas and New Hampshire; I have current and active licenses in both of these states.

New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practices: The Licensing Board requires that I inform you of the following:

• You and your child have the right to mental health assessment and diagnosis with an explanation that makes sense to you.
• During my vacations a licensed colleague will cover my practice for therapy clients. This professional may be given relevant information about your case, if necessary and with your permission.
• In the event of my death or disability, my records will be entrusted to a licensed colleague who will proceed in accordance with proper confidential archiving of your record.
• Any sexual contact between a psychotherapist and a current or former client, or parent of a client, is prohibited.
• Should you be dissatisfied with my work, please bring this to my attention so that we may discuss your concerns and your options.
• You have the right to obtain a copy of the American Psychological Association’s code of ethics that governs my work.

Confidentiality

What you and I discuss during our sessions will be kept confidential and private, with some exceptions. Information will not be released orally or in writing except in one of the situations listed below:

• With your written consent, in order to provide record to third parties.
• With your written consent, in order to coordinate care with other health care providers or educational teams.
• If there is reason to believe that your child’s physical or psychological health is in jeopardy.
• If there is reason to believe that your child is at risk for harming other people or property.
• If I and/or my records concerning our work are subpoenaed by a court order.

Also, in order to maintain my license to practice psychology in NH and to improve my clinical skills, I am required to consult with licensed colleagues about a sample of my clients. Identifying information is not revealed during these consultations, and my colleagues are bound by the same laws of confidentially that I am.

Confidentiality for Children in Individual Therapy: As with adults, it is very important for children and teenagers in individual therapy to believe that they can trust their therapist and that the therapy session will remain confidential. Therefore, depending on the age of the child my policy is to share with caregivers general themes of a child’s therapy session and recommendations for how caregivers can help the child. Exceptions to this general rule include when the child is very young or if I believe that the child has been harmed or is at risk for harming him/herself or someone else.

If you choose to email me from your personal email account, please limit the contents to basic issues such as cancellation or change in contact information. I will respond with an acknowledgement of receipt of such emails, but will not engage in communication requesting guidance and/or clinical recommendations.

If you call me, please be aware that unless we are both on land line phones, the conversation is not confidential. Likewise, text messages are not confidential.

Social Media

It is important that you and I keep the integrity of our therapeutic working relationship. For this reason, I will not accept any invitations via social networking.

Telephone and Emergency Procedures:

In a life-threatening emergency please take yourself or your child directly to your local emergency room or call 911. Leave me a voicemail afterwards, letting me know what has happened. If you have an urgent situation, leave me a voicemail stating the situation and the best way I can reach you. I will make every effort to return your call that day.

Cancellation policy

If you do not show up for your scheduled appointment, and you have not notified me at least 24 "business" hours in advance, you will be charged a no-show fee of $80.00.

Please, note that the reason behind this policy is to protect the provider's time, not to penalize you financially. If you are wondering why you should pay for the services you have not received, please, consider the fact that when you make an appointment with me, you are booking time with me that is no longer available for scheduling. Your session time is reserved / booked for you. I am rarely able to fill a cancelled session unless I know in advance. If you late-cancel a session or no-show, I will have to charge you for the lost time unless I am able to fill it.

Risks and Benefits

Research has shown psychotherapy to be helpful for many issues. However, there is no guarantee that treatment will resolve all problems. For treatment to be effective, it may be necessary to confront or experience certain uncomfortable feelings such as sadness, guilt, anxiety, or anger, as well as to discuss unpleasant aspects of your family’s or your child’s life.

One risk of child therapy involves disagreement among parents or between parents and the therapist about the best interests of the child. If this should occur, I will work hard to listen carefully so that I can understand your perspectives and fully explain my thoughts. We can resolve such disagreements or we can agree to disagree, so long as the situation continues to support your child’s progress.

Termination of services

You have the right to terminate psychotherapy services at any time. Out of respect for the work and the therapy relationship, my hope is that termination would be discussed so that proper closure could take place.