Our Policies...

CONFIDENTIALITY
One of your most important rights involves confidentiality and St John has strick policies to safeguard your information. HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations require information revealed by you during therapy to be kept strictly confidential and not revealed to any other person or agency without your written permission.  (A copy of the HIPPA regulations can be obtained upon request).  Insurance companies occasionally require current progress information as a condition of payment of your therapy bill. You should know that there are certain situations in which We are required by law to reveal information about you WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.  These situations are as follows:

1.    If you threaten grave bodily harm or death to another person, I am required by law to inform the intended victim and law enforcement agencies.
2.    If a court of law issues a legitimate subpoena, I am required by law to provide the information specifically described in the subpoena if your attempts to quash the subpoena are unsuccessful.
3.    If you are in therapy by order of a court of law, the results of the treatment ordered must be revealed to the court.  In this instance, the court is the client, not you.
4.    I am required by law to report child abuse or neglect if it has occurred within the past eight years.  If you ask about this reporting process your therapist will explain the procedure to you PRIOR to your revealing the abuse to me.

CANCELLATIONS AND MISSED APPOINTMENTS
We charge for missed appointments (excluding group therapy).  For cancellations, please give us at least a 24-hour notice.  If you cancel this way, you will not be charged. (If you do not give me a 24-hour notice, YOU will be charged full fee).  If we miss double-schedule or cancel your appointment for any reason and do not give you a 24-hour notice, then your next appointment will be a free visit.

TELEPHONE CALLS
We receive many telephone calls per day which I attempt to answer within 24 hours.  If you are in the middle of a crisis and need an appointment right away, we will do everything in my power to schedule a crisis appointment time for you ASAP.  If your therapist is unavailable (such as on weekends, holidays) please call your nearest Emergency Room or call 911.

LENGTH OF THERAPY
The therapy “hour” is 50 minutes in length.  This allows the therapist to do paperwork, return phone calls, and prepare for the next client.  It also allows you a little more privacy as you leave.  Most people do not need or want extended therapy, but would rather keep it brief.  We are very supportive of brief therapy.  Others need more time.  Please talk to your therapist about this issue.  Of course, you as the consumer are free to terminate treatment whenever you want.  We reserve the right to also terminate treatment for any reason at any time.

Please contact us for more informantion.