If you have been in therapy previously, you may already have an idea of what the process is like and what information you will want to learn from me about my professional background and about the way I conduct therapy. This document will give you information I consider important for you to have; if, however, it does not answer all of your questions, please feel free to ask me yourself.
Our first session will involve an evaluation of your needs. By the end of this first meeting, I will be able to offer you some initial impressions of the issues you have described and a broad outline of how we might proceed if you decide to pursue therapy with me. Therapy involves a significant commitment of time, money, and energy, so it will be important that you participate as actively as you can and know that you are welcome to ask me questions or give me feedback about and during the therapy process.
CONTACTING ME
I am in my office Tuesday through Friday. My office cell number is 214.522.6334 and messages left there are heard only by me. You may call 214.522.6334 any time of the day or night and leave me a message. You may also text me messages, often a more efficient means of communicating. I review my messages at least hourly during my regular office hours and will return your call as quickly as I can; after I have left my office for the day, I do not review my messages until the following morning. Messages left over the weekend will be returned on Tuesday.
If you have an emergency situation DURING office hours, text me at 214.522.6334, state that it is an emergency and I will interrupt the therapy session I may be conducting to respond. Since leaving me an emergency text may interrupt another client’s therapy, I ask that you do so only with situations that cannot be dealt with by a return call or text.
If you have an emergency situation AFTER office hours, text me at 214.522.6334. I do not monitor my phone messages as frequently after I have completed work for the day, so there may be a delay in my response to you. For those times, you will need to have a backup emergency plan such as a list of friends or family members you can call. If you are unable to reach anyone in an extreme emergency, call 911or go to the nearest hospital emergency room for assessment and treatment.
MEETINGS
The initial evaluation follows completion and return of the packet of forms sent to you. We’ll meet for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours which will give us time to discuss relevant background information as well as the particular difficulties for which you are seeking therapy. During this time, we can both decide if I seem to be the best person to provide the services you seek. If either of us does not feel a ‘good fit’ between us, I will provide you names of other qualified therapists for your consideration.
If we do decide to begin the therapy process, appointments are typically scheduled on a weekly basis for 45 minutes each. If additional benefit may be gained by scheduling more than one session per week or by scheduling longer sessions, we will change our meetings accordingly. Since the pandemic I have been offering encrypted video sessions via the Telehealth platform SimplePractice. I plan to continue offering Telehealth sessions and anticipate that clients may choose in-person only, virtual only or a hybrid of in-person and virtual sessions.
I require 24 hours notice for cancellation of appointments; otherwise you will be charged for your reserved time. If you have scheduled an in-person session, we can easily switch to Telehealth to accommodate weather related need-to-cancel.
PROFESSIONAL FEES
My fee for the initial evaluation session is $350.00. If we decide to begin individual therapy, my fee for each 45-minute session is $225.00. Other professional services including brief telephone conversations, consulting with other professionals on your behalf, preparing documents for insurance companies, or other services relevant to your treatment are provided without charge as long as the demand on my time is not excessive.
Payment is expected at each session, either by personal check, cash, Venmo or Zelle (banking app); my office does not accept credit card payments. A statement showing all sessions and payments will be provided whenever it is requested.
If you become involved in legal proceedings that require my participation, you will be expected to pay for all of my professional time, even if I am called to testify by another party. I charge $700.00 per hour for preparation and attendance at any legal proceeding.
INSURANCE COVERAGE AND REIMBURSEMENT
If you have insurance coverage and plan to file for reimbursement, you may request a statement that contains my signature, license number, federal tax identification number, and your relevant diagnostic code(s). The statement can then be mailed or emailed to facilitate your being reimbursed.
If you are relying on your insurance company to reimburse you for part or all of the charges for therapy, it is important that you have thoroughly reviewed and understand your insurance company’s reimbursement policies, the amount of your deductible, the percentage the company will reimburse you for outpatient services, and any limitations to treatment that may be a dimension of your policy. The contract for reimbursement is between you and the company, rather than between me and the insurance company.
If you use Medicare as your primary insurance, you need to know that I am not a Medicare Provider. What that means for you is that I cannot file for payment from Medicare and instead will expect that you pay in full each time you come for a therapy session. Medicare guidelines also state that you are not allowed to file for reimbursement which also means you will not be able to file on any supplemental policy you may have either. You alone are responsible for the full cost of the treatment you pursue with me.
CONFIDENTIALITY
In general, the information you disclose to me will not be disclosed to anyone else. The privacy and confidentiality of our conversations and my
records are a privilege of yours and is legally protected by state law and by my profession’s ethical principles, in all but a few rare circumstances. Please thoroughly review the Notice of Privacy Practices listed under FORMS on my website to understand the limits of confidentiality in more detail. If you have any questions, I will be glad to answer them.
PROFESSIONAL RECORDS
Pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), I keep Protected Health Information (PHI) about you in two sets of professional records. One set constitutes your Clinical Record. It includes information about your reasons for seeking therapy, a description of the ways in which your problem impacts your life, your diagnosis, the goals we set for treatment, your progress toward those goals, your medical and social history, your treatment history, any past treatment records that I receive from other providers, reports of any professional consultations, your billing records, and any reports that have been sent to anyone, including reports to your insurance carrier.
Except in unusual circumstances that involve danger to yourself and others, you may examine and/or receive a copy of your Clinical Record if you request it in writing. If I refuse your request for access to your Clinical Record, you have a right of review, which I will discuss upon your request.
In addition, I also keep a set of Therapy Notes. These Notes are for my own use and are designed to guide me in the process of helping you meet your goals. My Notes include aspects of our conversations that I consider clinically relevant. They are kept separate from your Clinical Record and contain particularly sensitive information that you may reveal to me that is not required to be included in your Clinical Record.
COMPLAINT PROCEDURES
If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our work, please discuss this with me as quickly as you can. The resolution of your complaint may in and of itself be an important part of the therapy; avoiding a discussion may not allow the treatment to proceed as efficiently as possible. Your feedback to me can be extremely valuable for the therapy process.
If you feel you may have been treated unfairly or unethically by me or any other therapist and have not been able to resolve the problem through direct discussion with me, you can contact the Chairperson of the Ethics Committee for the Dallas Psychological Association, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists in Austin, Texas, or the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
THERAPY RELATIONSHIP
As your therapist, I will always hold to professional boundaries in our relationship. I will be friendly, but not a friend. I do not see my clients socially nor enter into any business or other relationship besides the therapeutic one. If we happen to see one another outside the office setting, I will minimize the interaction. These boundaries exist to protect you at a time when you are likely to be emotionally vulnerable and they will remain in place even after your therapy has ended. It is possible these limits inherent to the therapy relationship may be a source of some frustration for you; if so, it might then be helpful for us to review and discuss.
TERMINATION
Ending a therapy relationship is inevitable and should not be done casually, as it can be a very valuable part of the therapy process. Either of us may initiate a discussion of terminating our work together if we believe it is in your best interest. I ask that we meet for at least one additional session after you have stated a wish to terminate so that we might review your therapy, your goals and accomplishments, and any future work to be considered.