Privacy & confidentiality: Your privacy will be respected at all times. No information about you or your counseling sessions will be discussed with anyone without your permission. There are a few exceptions. In some situations, I am required by law or by the guidelines of my profession to disclose information. These include:
(1) Cases of child abuse (children under 18 years of age), or abuse of vulnerable adults;
(2) Times when a person intends to harm her/himself or others and has the plan and means to carry out this threat;
(3) When a client is under 18 years of age, the privilege of confidentiality is held by the parents/legal guardians, and information shared during a therapy session with the minor child may be shared with the parent/legal guardian;
(4) If you are involved in a court proceeding, a therapist may be required by court order to release information concerning your treatment if the court deems it to be relevant. If you are involved in or are contemplating litigation, you should consult with your attorney to determine whether a court would be likely to order a disclosure of information.
(5) If a third party such as an insurance company is paying for part of your bill, I am normally required to provide dates of services and give a diagnosis to that third party in order to be reimbursed. Diagnoses are technical terms that describe the nature of your problems and something about whether they are short-term or long-term problems. All of the diagnoses are approved and defined in the professional reference book entitled the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM-IV). For more information about DSM-IV diagnoses, please see the section "Common Issues in Therapy," where some diagnoses are provided.
Record-keeping: I keep very brief records, noting only what general topics and themes we have discussed and what interventions happened in session. Additionally, in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), I maintain your records in a secure location that cannot be accessed by anyone else.
Complaints: If you are unhappy with what is happening in therapy, I hope you will talk about it with me so that I can respond to your concerns. I will take such criticism seriously, and with care and respect. If you believe that I have been unwilling to listen and respond, or that I have behaved unethically, you can report to the supervisor at Integral Psychotherapy, David Thompson, PsyD., LP. You are also free to discuss your concerns about me with anyone you wish, and you do not have any responsibility to maintain confidentiality about what I do that you do not like, since you are the person who has the right to decide what you want kept confidential.