Welcome to my practice. This agreement contains important information about my professional services and business policies. When you sign this Psychotherapist-Client Services Agreement, it will represent an agreement between you and me. You may revoke this agreement in writing at any time. The revocation will be binding on me unless I have taken action in reliance on it; if there are obligations imposed on me by your health insurer in order to process or substantiate claims made under your policy; or if you have not satisfied any financial obligations you have incurred.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES: Psychological services vary depending on the personalities of the psychologist and client, and the particular problems you are experiencing. There are many different methods I may use to deal with the problems that you hope to address. Psychotherapy is not like a medical doctor visit. Instead, it calls for a very active effort on your part. In order for the therapy to be most successful, you will have to work on things we talk about both during our sessions and at home. Psychotherapy can have benefits and risks. You may experience uncomfortable feelings when addressing personal problems, but psychotherapy has been shown to have many benefits. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress. There are no guarantees, however, of what you will experience. Assessment and treatment are joint responsibilities, and we will be working together for your best interests. I will work with you as you undertake reaching the goals that you determine. Early on you will need to decide how you will know when you have reached your goals, and we should remain focused on them and ways to achieve them. We will monitor your progress and can talk about bringing treatment to an end when you think you have reached your goals. If I think treatment should continue, I will explain my concerns to you. If you decide that you want to stop before then, please do not just stop coming. Let me know that you want to stop so I can help you do so in a healthy way. You may want to resume treatment at a later date. Once you have begun assessment or treatment services, the ethical guidelines for psychologists do not allow social contacts or any relationship with you that might interfere with your care. Since New Bern is a small town, we may run into each other in public places. You may choose to acknowledge me or ignore me if you see me in a different setting. I will not intrude into your life and your relationship with me will remain confidential.

MEETINGS: During your initial assessment, we can decide if I am the best person to provide the services you need to meet your assessment or treatment goals. If psychotherapy is begun, I usually begin by scheduling one 45-50-minute session every or every other week at a time we agree on, but the frequency of sessions varies. If your assessment requires psychological testing, I will schedule an appointment for testing. Testing sessions usually last a few hours and multiple sessions are sometimes necessary. Once an appointment is scheduled, you will be expected to pay for it unless you provide 24 hours advance notice of cancellation unless we both agree that you were unable to attend due to circumstances beyond your control. My office phone is answered, either in person or by voice mail, 24 hours a day and a message is sufficient notice during times when the office is closed. It is important to remember that insurance companies do not provide reimbursement for cancelled sessions.

PROFESSIONAL FEES: My fee for the initial interview is $175.00, which includes a brief report. My current fee for individual treatment sessions (45-50 minutes) is $135.00. The fee for couples or family treatment sessions (45-50 minutes) is $145.00. The fee for psychological testing is based on an hourly fee rate of $165.00. It is important to note that your insurance carrier may not cover all types of testing necessary to address your concerns. My fee for court-related services is $165.00 per hour for all time spent on your case. If you become involved in legal proceedings that require my participation, you will be expected to pay for all of my professional time, including preparation and transportation costs, even if I am called to testify by another party. Fees for any other specialized services will be discussed with you before such services are provided. In addition to scheduled assessment or treatment sessions, I charge $165.00 per hour for other professional services you may need, but I will break down the hourly cost into quarter-hour intervals if I work for periods less than one hour. Other services may include report writing, telephone conversations lasting longer than five minutes, consulting with other professionals with your permission, preparation of records or treatment summaries, and the time spent performing any other service you may request of me.

CONTACTING ME: My office phone is answered either in person or by voice mail 24 hours a day. Due to my work schedule, I am usually not immediately available by telephone. When I am unavailable, an administrative assistant or voice mail service will answer the telephone, and If I am not available for an emergency, you may be directed elsewhere for assistance. If there is no emergency, an administrative assistant or voice mail will take a message and I will make every effort to return your call within 24 hours, with the exception of weekends and holidays. If you are difficult to reach, please inform me of some times when you will be available. If you are unable to reach me and feel that you cannot wait for me to return your call, contact your family physician or the nearest emergency room and ask for the mental health professional on call. If there is immediate threat to life or safety, you should call 911. If I will be unavailable for an extended time, the name of a colleague to contact if necessary will be provided.

LIMITS ON CONFIDENTIALITY: There are some situations where I am permitted or required to disclose information without either your consent or authorization. These The law protects the privacy of all communications between a client and a psychologist. In most situations, I can only release information about your treatment to others if you sign a written Authorization form that meets certain legal requirements imposed by HIPAA. There are other situations that require only that you provide written, advance consent. Your signature on this Agreement provides consent for those activities, as follows: I may occasionally find it helpful to consult other health and mental health professionals about a case. During a consultation, I make every effort to avoid revealing the identity of my patient. The other professionals are also legally bound to keep the information confidential. If you do not object, I will not tell you about these consultations unless I feel that it is important to our work together. I will note all consultations in your clinical record (which is called “PHI” in my Notice of Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health Information). You should be aware that I utilize administrative services. I also have contracts with a billing service and other mental health professionals who provide coverage when I am unavailable for extended periods of time. As required by HIPAA, I have formal business associate contracts with these persons and businesses, in which they promise to maintain the confidentiality of this data except as specifically allowed in the contract or otherwise required by law. If you wish, I can provide you with the names of these organizations and/or a blank copy of this contract. Disclosures required by health insurers or to collect overdue fees are discussed elsewhere in this Agreement.If I believe that a patient presents an imminent danger to his/her health or safety, I may be obligated to seek hospitalization for him/her, or to contact family members or others who can help provide protection.There are some situations where I am permitted or required to disclose information without either your consent or authorization. These are described in the Notice of Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health Information. While this written summary of exceptions to confidentiality should prove helpful in informing you about potential problems, it is important that we discuss any questions or concerns that you may have now or in the future. The laws governing confidentiality can be quite complex, and I am not an attorney. In situations where specific advice is required, formal legal advice may be needed.

PROFESSIONAL RECORDS: You should be aware that, pursuant to HIPAA, I keep Protected Health Information 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 on your life, your diagnosis, the goals that we set for treatment, your progress towards 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/or others or the record makes reference to another person (unless such other person is a health care provider) and I believe that access is reasonably likely to cause substantial harm to such other person, you may examine and/or receive a copy of your Clinical Record, if you request it in writing. Because these are professional records, they can be misinterpreted and/or upsetting to untrained readers. For this reason, I recommend that you initially review them in my presence, or have them forwarded to another mental health professional so you can discuss the contents. In most circumstances, I am allowed to charge a copying fee of $1.00 per page and fees for related expenses. The exceptions to this policy are contained in the attached Notice Form. If I refuse your request for access to your records, you have a right of review, which I will discuss with you upon request. I may also keep a set of Psychotherapy Notes. A Psychotherapy Note is not necessary for every assessment or treatment session. These Notes are for my own use and are designed to assist me in providing you with the best treatment. While the contents of Psychotherapy Notes vary from client to client, they can include the contents of our conversations, my analysis of those conversations, and their impact on your therapy. They also contain particularly sensitive information that you may reveal to me that is not required to be included in your Clinical Record and information revealed to me confidentially by others. These Psychotherapy Notes are kept separate from your Clinical Record. Your Psychotherapy Notes are not available to you and cannot be sent to anyone else, including insurance companies without your written, signed Authorization. Insurance companies cannot require your Authorization as a condition of coverage nor penalize you in any way for your refusal to provide it.

PATIENT RIGHTS HIPAA: Provides you with several new or expanded rights with regard to your Clinical Records and disclosures of protected health information. These rights include requesting that I amend your record; requesting restrictions on what information from your Clinical Records is disclosed to others; requesting an accounting of most disclosures of protected health information that you have neither consented to nor authorized; determining the location to which protected information disclosures are sent; having any complaints you make about my policies and procedures recorded in your records; and the right to a paper copy of this Agreement, the attached Notice form, and my privacy policies and procedures. I am happy to discuss any of these rights with you.

MINORS & PARENTS: North Carolina law does not allow a psychologist to provide assessment or treatment services to a minor without parental consent. In general, I do not provide treatment to a child younger than 18 years of age, although there might be exceptions. In the event of such exceptions, it is my policy not to provide treatment to a child younger than 18 years of age unless he/she agrees that I can share whatever information I consider necessary with his/her parents. For children 18 years old and younger, I request an agreement between my patient and his/her parents allowing me to share general information about the progress of the child’s treatment and his/her attendance at scheduled sessions. I will also provide parents with a summary of their child’s treatment when it is complete. Any other communication will require the child’s Authorization, unless I feel that the child is in danger or is a danger to someone else, in which case, I will notify the parents of my concern. Before giving parents any information, I will discuss the matter with the child, if possible, and do my best to handle any objections he/she may have.

BILLING AND PAYMENTS: You will be expected to pay for each session at the time it is held, unless we agree otherwise or unless you have insurance coverage that requires another arrangement. Payment schedules for other professional services will be agreed to when they are requested. My billing and insurance claims are managed by a billing service. When necessary and appropriate, insurance claims will be filed on your behalf; however, you are expected to pay any co-payment or portion of fees not covered by your health insurance at the time services are provided. Full fees for services must be paid until insurance deductibles are met. There will be a $25 charge for any returned checks. Information about the status of your account may be obtained by calling my office. Financial hardships may occur to any of us. You need to discuss these situations with me so that necessary changes in payment arrangements can be made. Non-payment of fees may result in collection or legal action if your account has not been paid for more than 60 days and other efforts to obtain payment have failed. This may involve hiring a collection agency or going through small claims court, which will require me to disclose otherwise confidential information. In most collection situations, the only information I release regarding a patient’s treatment is his/her name, the nature of services provided, and the amount due. If such legal action is necessary, its costs will be included in the claim.

INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT: If you have a health insurance policy, it will usually provide some coverage for mental health treatment. I will fill out forms and provide you with whatever assistance I can in helping you receive the benefits to which you are entitled; however, you (not your insurance company) are responsible for full payment of my fees. It is very important that you find out exactly what mental health services your insurance policy covers. You should carefully read the section in your insurance coverage booklet that describes mental health services. If you have questions about the coverage, call your plan administrator. Of course, I will provide you with whatever information I can based on my experience and will be happy to help you in understanding the information you receive from your insurance company. If it is necessary to clear confusion, an administrative assistant or I will be willing to call the insurance company on your behalf. It is sometimes difficult to determine exactly how much mental health coverage is available. “Managed Health Care” plans such as HMO’s and PPO’s often require authorization before they provide reimbursement for mental health services. These plans are often limited to short-term treatment approaches designed to work out specific problems that interfere with a person’s usual level of functioning. It may be necessary to seek approval for more therapy after a certain number of sessions. While much can be accomplished in short-term therapy, some patients feel that they need more services after insurance benefits end. Some managed-care plans will not allow me to provide services to you once your benefits end. If this is the case, I will do my best to help find ways to continue your psychotherapy if you still need it. You should also be aware that your contract with your health insurance company requires that I provide it with information relevant to the services that I provide to you. I am required to provide a clinical diagnosis. Sometimes I am required to provide additional clinical information such as treatment plans or summaries, or copies of your entire Clinical Record. In such situations, I will make every effort to release only the minimum information about you that is necessary for the purpose requested. This information will become part of the insurance company files and will probably be stored in a computer. Although all insurance companies claim to keep such information confidential, I have no control over what they do with it once it is in their hands. In some cases, they may share the information with a national medical information databank. I will provide you with a copy of any report I submit, if you request it. By signing this Agreement, you agree that I can provide requested information to your health insurance carrier, and you authorize payment of insurance benefits directly to me. Once we have all of the information about your insurance coverage, we will discuss what benefits are available, how well they fit with your assessment or treatment goals, and what we can expect to accomplish with the benefits that are available to you. We will also discuss what will happen if your benefits run out before you feel ready to end your treatment. It is important to remember that you always have the right to pay for my services yourself to avoid the problems described above, unless direct payment is not allowed by your contract with your insurance carrier.

YOUR SIGNATURE BELOW INDICATES THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ITS TERMS AND ALSO SERVES AS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE HIPAA NOTICE FORM DESCRIBED ABOVE.