Practice Policies

Appointments and Cancellations:
● Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. You will be
responsible for a 50.00 fee if cancellation is not received at least 24 hours in
advance. 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.
● The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is 50 minutes. Requests to
change the 50-minute session needs to be discussed with your therapist in
advance for scheduling and billing adjustments.
● A $20.00 service charge will be charged for any checks returned.
 

TELEPHONE ACCESSIBILITY
If you need to contact your therapist between sessions, please leave a
message on their voicemail. They will attempt to return your call within 24
hours. Please note that in person sessions are preferable. However, in the
event that you are out of town, sick or need additional support, telehealth
sessions are available. If an emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any
local emergency room.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION
Due to confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships,
therapists do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former
clients on any social networking site (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc). We
believe socializing on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and
our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of therapeutic
relationships. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when
meeting with your therapist.

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ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
● Therapists cannot ensure the confidentiality or timeliness of communication
through electronic media, including text messages and email. If you prefer to
communicate via email or text messaging for issues regarding scheduling or
cancellations, therapists will work to respond and accommodate you within
24 hours, however we request that you do not use these methods of
communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for
emergencies.
● Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone
communication, the Internet, fax machines, and email is considered
telemedicine by the State of Oregon. Under the State of Oregon law,
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: (1) You retain the option to
withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to
future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program
benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled. (2) All existing
confidentiality protections are equally applicable. (3) Your access to all
medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is
guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee.
(4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the
telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur
without your consent. (5) There are potential risks, consequences, and
benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to
improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to
up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved
quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy,
better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel costs.
Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers within a
session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and
experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical assessments, 

diagnosis, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory
communications, written reports, and third person consultations, but also
from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences.
When using information technology in therapy services, 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 such as: your physical condition including deformities, apparent height
and weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or
standards, gait and motor coordination, posture, work speed, any
noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including
bruises or injuries, basic grooming and hygiene including appropriateness of
dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex,
chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and
congruence of language and facial or bodily expression. Potential
consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he or she
would consider important information, that you may not recognize as
significant to present verbally to the therapist.

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MINORS
If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information
about your therapy. Therapists will discuss with you and your parents what
information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more
appropriately kept confidential.

TERMINATION
It is important to have a termination process in order to achieve closure. The
appropriate length of the termination depends on the length and intensity of
the treatment. Therapists may terminate treatment after discussing the
termination process with you, if they determine that the psychotherapy is
not effective or if your account is in default. Therapist 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, we will provide a list of qualified therapists.

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