Privacy & Policies

When we schedule your first session, your email address will be used to pre-register you in our client portal. You will receive an email to set up your portal and complete all intake paperwork electronically. We require these documents to be completed prior to scheduling your first therapy session, diagnostic evaluations and assessments. New patient paperwork includes:

• Welcome Letter

• Services Agreement & Disclosure

• Information about our secure payment system, STAX

• Patient Health Questionnaire (Child/ Family or Adult/ Couple)

• (Optional) Release of Information

• (For Assessments) PDF and Online Rating Scales received in separate emails

• (For Assessments, Medication Management, Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and Animal Assisted Therapy) Additional Consent Forms

Client Rights

You are entitled to receive information from me about our methods of therapy, the techniques we use, the duration of your therapy (if we can determine it), and our fee structure (see below). Please ask if you would like to receive this information. You can seek a second opinion from another therapist or terminate therapy at any time. In a professional relationship (such as ours), sexual intimacy between a therapist and a client is never appropriate. If sexual intimacy occurs, it should be reported to the Department of Regulatory Agencies, Mental Health Section. 

Confidentiality & Privacy Policy

The law protects the relationship between a client and a psychotherapist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission. Should you request our communication with another entity for care coordination, you will be required to complete a Release of Information Document.

Exceptions to confidentiality:

• Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse, for which we are required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.

• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, we must notify the police and inform the intended victim.

• If a client intends to harm himself or herself, your therapist will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, we will take further measures without their permission that are provided to therapists by law in order to ensure their safety.

Miscellaneous Policies 

email, texting, & phone calls

Our policy is only to communicate through email with clients through the secure email system that is accessible through the “secure client portal” on our practice website. This email will be set up for you when you become a client. Email and text outside of this system should be considered non-secure method of communication and we cannot protect your confidentiality.  Any communication through an external email or text should contain information restricted to scheduling.

Our practice does not offer texting.

You may call us on the number listed on the website or the direct phone numbers given to you by your individual provider. Our voicemail is confidential but please remember that we do not necessarily check the voicemail frequently during the day and that the limits of confidentiality described by the practice apply to any message you leave. Phone calls should generally be used for matters that can be handled in a brief amount of time. Phone calls longer than 15 minutes will be treated like a clinical issue and the hourly rate applies. Phone calls to coordinate care with other people (physicians, teachers, etc) will require your consent through a Release of Information Document and will be subject to the rate of a typical therapy session.  Calls placed to me will be returned by the end of the next business day.

Social media

This practice maintains a professional presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. This presence exists solely to provide education, inspiration and information to the public pertaining to the practice and related topics. It also assists in directing interested individuals to the official practice website for this practice. It shall be the policy of this practice to not knowingly communicate about personal information with clients via instant messaging, “chatting” or similar technologies through these sites.

telepsychology

The laws that protect the confidentiality of medical information also apply to telemedicine, performed via Zoom or Doxy in this practice. Please be aware that the providers of this practice are licensed to practice in the state of Colorado. If you or your provider are not physically within the state of Colorado during a telepsychology session, therapy is subject to the licensing laws of that state. We encourage you to only communicate through a computer that you know is safe, i.e. wherein confidentiality can be ensured. Be sure to fully exit all online counseling sessions and emails. If we are unable to connect or are disconnected during a session due to a technological breakdown, please try to reconnect within 10 minutes. If reconnection is not possible, email to schedule a new session time.

session recording

This is a training facility and we occasionally wish to record a session for internal training and supervision. Recordings are deleted within one month and are not shared or utilized for any external purposes.

cancellations

We ask that you provide us with 24 hour notice to cancel your appointment at no cost to you.  This allows us an opportunity to fill your appointment time with another client. If sufficient notice of a cancellation is not provided, or no notice is given at all, the standard fee will be charged for that session. If patients are not present within the first 15 minutes of their scheduled time, they will be considered a no show. There is currently a high need for services in our community. If regularly scheduled sessions are frequently canceled, we will need to consider offering high demand appointment times (such as after school) to other clients waiting for services.

Medication management

We currently offer a hybrid model that includes in-person and telehealth appointments. It is expected that you follow-up at least once every 3 months for ongoing medication management. You may need to be seen more often if we are making medication changes. There are also times you may be required to be seen in-person.   We do not write letters to authorize emotional support animals. Refill requests should be made at least 3-5 days in advance of running out of medication. Appointments are scheduled to coincide with medication refill needs, so if you are running out of medication, you are probably due for an appointment. ·Refills will not be provided when the office is closed/outside office hours or weekends and holidays. During these hours, you may contact your PCP, contact your pharmacy for an emergency supply of maintenance medication, or go to the emergency room to avoid medication discontinuation and withdrawal effects. While it is not the intent to have any lapse in medication, we will no longer refill medication if you have failed to make an appointment or have missed your appointment. Please review the entire policy here to ensure you do not have a lapse in medication.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)

AAT is a therapy in which an animal with special training is a part of treatment. The animal is certified as being healthy, having a good nature, and having an interest in connecting with humans. This process will also include a person who is trained in working with people and animals together. Although AAT has many benefits, it also has risks. When working with therapy animals we cannot be 100% sure of their behavior. If you decide to have AAT be a part of our treatment, you will be made aware of the rules and risks associated with AAT.

Emergency services

This practice does not provide 24 hour emergency service. In the case of a life-threatening emergency, please choose choose the best option from below:

1. Call Colorado Crisis Services at (844) 493-8255 or text TALK to 38255 (available 24/7). For more information click here.

2. Go to nearest Crisis Walk-In Center or emergency room. (available 24/7)

CRISIS WALK-IN CENTERS (ColoradoCrisisServices.org; 844-493-8255)

Aurora: 2206 Victor Street, Aurora, CO 80045

Denver: 4353 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80220

Littleton: 6509 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO 80120 

3. Call 911, specify it is a mental health emergency, and request a Mobile Crisis Unit.

Divorce and custody litigation

If you are involved in a divorce or custody litigation, we are unable to provide guidance, conduct investigations, or engage in evaluations regarding custody or parental fitness. As mental health providers, it is not within the scope of our role to make recommendations to the court regarding custody or parental decision making. The court can appoint a third party professional without a prior relationship with clients and family members to conduct in investigation or evaluation to make recommendations to the court. We require your acknowledgement of this policy in order to receive services with our practice.