Practice Policies

We look forward to our time together & the space we'll be honoring to help you meet your desired goals. Information about our professional services & business policies are listed below for you to review before we meet. Please read this information carefully & write down any questions you might have so that we can discuss them at our next session.

Session Frequency & Duration

We recommend session frequency/duration based on observed/reported clinical symptoms. It is up to you, however, to determine the length of time of your sessions. In some cases, clients find a that longer or more frequent sessions could help them achieve their goals sooner rather than later. With some modalities, such as EMDR and/or IFS intensives (i.e. 1.5-2 hour sessions), you can even progress treatment. Some clients feel after they've participated in consistent weekly therapy that it'd be best to titrate down to biweekly or monthly sessions as they've seen progress & feel most comfortable with that.

Your clinician may also suggest longer, more frequent, or even less frequent sessions. They will only suggest this if they feel it would be beneficial to you based on your specific clinical need & desired goals/outcomes. An additional session per week will be the same rate as your established weekly sessions. Longer session may be scheduled if needed & a higher rate will be established prior to meeting based on session duration. Requests to change the session duration or frequency needs to be discussed with the therapist in advance in order for time to be scheduled. As always, we will honor your self-determination as long as it's honoring ethical practices.

If at anytime you are unable to cover the full cost of therapy during our time together, please let us know as we can assist you with finding alternate referrals that may best suit your specific needs at that time. It's always best to advocate for yourself/your needs. At times, some of our therapists & clinical interns are able to offer negotiated rates depending on availability & circumstances.

Late Arrival Policy

Please arrive to your session on time. Doing so allows us to utilize the established session time wisely & effectively in order to assist with exploring your current needs & meeting your goals. Because your therapist may have another appointment right after you, we will not be unable to extend past our usual end time. Your full fee will be due even if you are late. A grace period of 15 minutes will be permitted for unforeseen delays you may encounter while getting to your appointment. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for your appointment, then this will result in a late cancelled session & you will be financially responsible for the entire session fee that you missed. If late arrivals are observed as taking place consistently, then we will brainstorm & problem-solve together to assist with this barrier. Please consider utilizing the telemental health option if it helps to avoid any late arrivals.**

Rescheduling

You will be responsible for the entire session fee if you reschedule your session in less than 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to you & is held exclusively for you when we established the session day/time. If you need to reschedule, it's best to provide notice as soon as possible in order for another session date/time to be established in advance. This allows for continuity of care, which in the end assists you with reaching your goals sooner rather than later. We will always attempt to meet your needs when rescheduling, but there is no guarantee a preferred day/time will be available.

**Although teletherapy may not be the most preferred format of therapy, it's a great option to utilize if you're in a bind as it could help prevent you from having to reschedule or cancel the established session. To transfer from face to face to tele, simply notify your therapist via phone (voice call, text, or voicemail) or email the day of session (within the first 15 mins of session) &they will email you a HIPAA compliant link via Simple Practice. You must be located in the state of Georgia at the time of session for teletherapy sessions as that is the state your therapist is licensed in unless discussed otherwise.

Cancelation Policy

It is expected that you will be prompt for your appointment given that appointment times need to be kept to the agreed upon time frame.

In the event that you are unable to keep an appointment, you must notify your HSTH clinician by phone (text/voicemail) or email at least 48 hours IN ADVANCE unless it is in the event of a serious emergency or serious, sudden illness. Please do not respond to the appointment reminder emails or texts (if applicable) as we do not receive those responses. If such advance notice is not received, you will be financially responsible for the entire session fee that you missed. The credit card number provided at intake will be charged with the amount of the missed session. It is recommended for consistency that you attempt to reschedule the appointment within the same week.

In the instance that you need to cancel an appointment your therapist will try to make it possible for you to reschedule it during the same week. If you are able to reschedule in the same week, the late cancellation fee will be waived & you will only be responsible for payment of the session for which you were present. If it is not possible to reschedule your appointment during the same week, then you will be responsible for the entire session fee.

We understand life happens & things come up. Because of this, your therapists are willing to provide one "emergency cancellation" per calendar year. You get to choose when you want to use this "emergency cancellation" This allows you to cancel for whatever reason within 48 hours of your appointment time without any late charges. Again, this will only be allowed once per calendar year. You will be responsible for all other late cancellations (i.e. sessions cancelled less than 48 hours in advance).

If your therapist needs to cancel or change an appointment time, they will do their absolute best to let you know more than 48 hours in advance. The only time this may not be possible is if there is sudden illness or unforeseen emergency, in which case the clinical director will alert you as soon as possible.

Again, please consider utilizing the telemental health option if it helps to avoid any late cancelations. Unfortunately, we have the right to terminate your therapeutic relationship if late cancellations are observed as taking place consistently.

Termination

Because of the nature of our professional relationship, the ultimate goal of our work together is to result in a positive termination of our time together. Ideally the hope is that you have experienced lasting & significant changes that correspond with the goals you have for therapy. Termination can be a difficult process to go through once we have worked together, but it should be viewed as the next positive step for you. We need to begin with the end in mind so as to prevent the development of dependence. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length & intensity of the treatment.

While the ideal termination would occur after achieving much progress, there can sometimes be unforeseen factors that can cause termination to occur earlier than planned. Your therapist may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you & a termination process if they determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used, there are multiple scheduling concerns (i.e. frequent rescheduling, late-cancelations, late arrivals, no shows, etc. are observed) or if you are in default on payment. We will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing & exploring the reasons & purpose of terminating. If therapy is terminated for any reason or you request another therapist, we will provide you with a list of qualified psychotherapists to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another referral source. Should you fail to schedule an appointment for three consecutive weeks, unless other arrangements have been made in advance, for legal & ethical reasons, we must consider the professional relationship discontinued.

If circumstances arise that lead to an early termination, we would strongly suggest that we have a termination session to discuss one on one what has occurred & wrap up any open issues as much as possible.