Practice Policies
All Eround Counseling &Srvcs., LLC
10208 S Indianapolis ave STE358 Chicago, IL 60617
872-267-2550
PRACTICE POLICIES
APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. You will be responsible for the entire fee if cancellation is less than 24 hours.
The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is 60 minutes. It is up to you, however, to determine the length of time of your sessions. Requests to change the 60-minute session needs to be discussed with the therapist in
order for time to be scheduled in advance.
A$10.00 service charge wil be charged for any checks returned for any reason for special handling.
Cancellations and re-scheduled session wil be subject to a full charge if NOT RECEIVED AT LEAST 24 HOURS NI ADVANCE. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to you and is held exclusively for you. If you
are late for a session, you may lose some of that session time.
TELEPHONE ACCESSIBILITY
If you need to contact me between sessions, please leave a message on my voice mail. Iam often not immediately available; however, Iwill attempt to return your call within 24 hours. Please note that Face- to-face
sessions are highly preferable to phone sessions. However, in the event that you are out of town, sick or need
additional support, phone sessions are available. fI a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergencyroom.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION
Due to the importance of your
confidentiality and the importance of
minimizing dual relationships, Ido not accept friend or contact requests from
current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, Linkedin, etc). Ibelieve that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our
respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
I cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media, including text messages. If you prefer to communicate via email or text messaging for issues regarding scheduling or
cancellations, Iwil do so. While Imay try to return messages in a timely manner, Icannot guarantee immediate response and request that you do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content
and/or request assistance for emergencies.
Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail is considered telemedicine by the State of California. Under the California Telemedicine Act
of 1996, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another. If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some
or all of your treatment, you need to understand that:
(1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any time without affecting the right to future care or
treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled.
(2) Al existing confidentiality protections are equally applicable.
(3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a reasonable fee.
(4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent.
(5) There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include, but are not limited to improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost work time and travel
costs. Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers
within a session or a series of sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Therapists may make clinical
assessments, diagnosis, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or auditory communications, written reports, and third person consultations, but also from direct visual and olfactory observations, information, and
experiences. When using information technology in therapy services, potential
risks include, but are not limited to the therapist's inability to make visual
and olfactory observations of clinically
or therapeutically potentially relevant issues such as: your physical
condition including deformities, apparent height and
weight, body
type, attractiveness relative to social and
cultural norms or standards, gait and
motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic
grooming and hygiene including appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes ni the previously
listed issues), sex, chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of
language and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being aware of what he
or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as
significant to present verbally the
therapist.
MINORS
fI you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your therapy. Iwil discuss with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more
appropriately kept confidential.
TERMINATION
Ending relationships can be difficult. 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 and intensity of the treatment. I
may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you and a termination process if I determine that the
psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. Iwill not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If therapy
is terminated for any reason or you
request another therapist, Iwil 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 and ethical reasons, Imust consider the professional relationship discontinued.