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Psychotherapy can be a powerful life changing
experience. Your commitment to your growth and progress will be the
greatest determinant of how much you will benefit from it. As with many
forms of treatment, there are no guarantees as to the outcome of your
therapy and it is important that you understand your rights and
obligations as they relate to your therapeutic experience with me.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
- You have come to therapy because you want to
feel better about something, you want to stop worrying or lessen
feelings of anxiety and/or sadness. Psychotherapy is a process of
exploration and deconstruction. You will know that therapy is
working when these symptoms begin to abate and you start to feel
better. However, as we begin to address these issues and explore
their origins together you may find that you feel worse before you
feel better. This is actually a sign that therapy is working and we
are making progress.
- I encourage you to ask questions about
therapy, including questions about procedures, methods and
progress. I will answer all your questions to the best of my
ability, treat you with respect, discuss your feelings and explain
things in ways that you can understand.
- You have the right to end therapy at any
time. I encourage you, however to discuss your desire to terminate
therapy at least two weeks in advance to allow time for working
through and closure. I will not keep you endlessly in therapy, and
will discuss your progress with you as an ongoing process. I will
help you decide upon the best time to end therapy.
- Psychotherapy can be a very healing experience
yet it must proceed according to a set structure for the benefit of
all parties – for you and me. An important part of that structure
is to make therapy a priority. The industry standard is to attend
therapy at least one time per week. Should your situation warrant
more frequent sessions I will discuss my reasons for increasing the
number of sessions with you. You have the right to keep sessions to
one time per week if you so choose.
- FEE: Currently my standard fee for a 50
minute sessions is $100.00. The payment is due at the time of
treatment unless otherwise arranged. Please have your check made
out to Sue Griffith, Psy.D. before the sessions begins,. I can
provide you with a “super bill” at the end of the month that
documents the charges, payments and diagnosis when necessary for
insurance re-imbursement.
- INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT: My services are
often covered by mental health insurance policies, but I do not
personally submit the paperwork to the company unless otherwise
arranged. I will provide you with a super bill at the end of the
month, which you can submit to your respective providers. The
insurance companies then issue a reimbursement check to the
policyholder. It is up to the insurance company as to whether they
pay for services provided by a licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist. Patients are responsible for payment at the time of
treatment.
- It is your responsibility to know the type of
coverage you carry and the limits of that coverage. Often companies
offer a higher percentage of fee coverage for those therapists
enrolled on their panel. They pay a lesser amount or percentage to
therapists not enrolled on their pane. I have intentionally chosen
not to become a part of insurance panels because I do not want these
companies to dictate the kind of therapy I provide or to set limits
on the amount of time I can work with a given patient.
- CANCELLATION POLICY: In order to be
effective, therapy needs to take place on a regular basis. The best
results occur when appointments are consistently scheduled and
attended regularly. Appointments cancelled with less that 24 hours
notice will be charged a cancellation fee at the price of the
therapy hour unless rescheduled for another time the same week.
Rescheduling appointments is preferred over cancellation due to the
need to maintain momentum.
- TERMINATION: Your therapeutic relationship
with me continues as long as I am providing professional services
and until you inform me, in person or in writing, that you wish to
terminate therapy, or I notify you that therapy is being
terminated. It is customary that the patient agrees to meet with
the therapist at least once before stopping therapy.
- CONFIDENTIALITY: All information disclosed
within your therapy sessions, including case notes and records, will
be treated as confidential and, under some circumstances, as
privileged. No information will be revealed to anyone not present
in therapy without the permission of the patient or a legally
authorized representative, unless an applicable legal or ethical
exception exists. However, I am required by law to report any
suspected child, spousal, elder or dependent adult abuse and any
situation where the patient threatens violence to another
identifiable victim. All actual or suspected acts of such abuse
will need to be reported to the appropriate agency. The law also
permits me to break confidentiality when you present a danger of
violence to others or are likely to harm yourself unless protective
measures are taken. In addition, disclosures may be required in
certain legal proceedings and actions.
Some courts have held that
if an individual intends to take harmful, dangerous, or criminal action
against another human being, or against him or herself, it is the
therapist’s duty to warn appropriate individuals of such intentions.
Those warned may include a variety of persons such as: the person or
family of the person who intends to harm him or herself or someone else,
associates or friends of those threatened or making threats, and Law
enforcement officials. Before informing anyone who should be warned, I
will take all possible steps to share that intention with you, the
patient. Every effort will be made to resolve the issue with you so as
to prevent such breach of confidentiality.
11. TREATMENT OF MINORS AS INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS:
When a patient who is a minor is in
individual therapy, the parent or guardian has the right to ask for information about the minor’s therapy, and the therapist, acting in the
best interest of the minor patient, has the right to limit the amount of
information disclosed if the minor patient is a participant in any legal
proceedings raising the protection of all patient/therapist
communications as “privilege”, then no disclosure will be made of any of
the content of the therapy except by written waive of privilege, given
in writing by the parent, guardian or other lawful representative acting
on behalf of the minor patient.
12. CONTACTING THE
THERAPIST:
Between therapy appointments, the patient can leave a message or
contact the therapist by calling (562) 438-7488. Days and hours of
availability for sessions are Monday through Thursday 9:00 am to 7:00
pm. These appointment times vary according to my patient load.
To Contact Sue Griffith:
sue@drsuegriffith.com
5855 E
Naples Plaza, Suite 210
Long
Beach, CA 90803
(562)
438-7488
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