Practice Policies

Appointments, Cancellations & No-Shows

Your appointment time is reserved for you. Consistent attendance supports your treatment and helps me maintain availability for all clients.

• Please cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours before your appointment.
• A no-show occurs when you miss an appointment without notifying me. If you have not arrived or joined your telehealth session within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time and have not contacted me, the appointment may be considered missed and may need to be rescheduled.
• If you arrive late, the session will ordinarily still end at the scheduled time.
• Private-pay and other non–Medi-Cal clients may be responsible for the full scheduled fee for a cancellation made with less than 24 hours’ notice or for a no-show, as described in the signed financial agreement and as permitted by applicable law and health-plan requirements.
• Medi-Cal clients will not be charged cancellation or no-show fees.

After a missed appointment, I will attempt to contact you to discuss rescheduling. If you have two no-shows within a 60-day period, we will review barriers to attendance and develop a plan to support consistent participation. Emergencies, technical problems, disability-related needs, and other relevant circumstances will be considered.

When clinically appropriate and consistent with your health plan’s requirements, scheduling changes may include booking one appointment at a time rather than reserving a recurring appointment. Repeated missed appointments do not automatically end treatment. If ongoing attendance difficulties prevent effective treatment, I will make reasonable efforts to discuss your needs and available options with you.

Session Length & Payment

Standard individual, child, and play-therapy sessions are 50 minutes. Couples and family sessions are generally 90 minutes. A different session length must be discussed and scheduled in advance.

If payment by check is accepted, a $25 service charge may apply to a returned check, as stated in your signed financial agreement.

Contact Between Sessions

If you need to contact me between sessions, please leave a voicemail. I am not always immediately available, but I will generally attempt to respond within 24 hours on business days.

Voicemail, email, and text messaging are best used for scheduling and other brief administrative matters. They are not monitored continuously and should not be used for emergencies or for detailed therapeutic communication.

Telephone sessions are not a routine substitute for scheduled video sessions. They may be used when clinically appropriate, legally permitted, and arranged in advance, including as a backup if video technology fails.

Electronic Communication

No electronic communication method can be guaranteed completely secure. Please avoid including sensitive clinical information in ordinary email or text messages. Secure documents and clinical information should be exchanged through the SimplePractice Client Portal whenever possible.

Response times cannot be guaranteed outside scheduled appointments. If you need immediate help, use the emergency and crisis resources listed above.

Telehealth Services

Telehealth uses secure electronic communication to provide psychotherapy when you and I are in different locations. Before telehealth services begin, I will explain the use of telehealth, obtain your consent, and document that consent.

Telehealth can improve convenience, access, and continuity of care. It also has limitations, including possible technology failures, privacy risks, reduced access to some nonverbal or environmental information, and challenges responding to emergencies from a distance.

For telehealth appointments:

• You must be physically located in a state or jurisdiction where I am legally authorized to provide services at the time of the session.
• You may be asked to confirm your identity, current physical location, emergency contact, and a local emergency resource.
• Please participate from a private location and use a secure internet connection when possible.
• If video service is interrupted, we will use the backup plan discussed during intake, which may include reconnecting, briefly using the telephone, or rescheduling.

You may ask questions about telehealth or withdraw consent for telehealth at any time. Withdrawing telehealth consent does not remove your right to future care, although I may not be able to offer an in-person alternative.

Social Media & Professional Boundaries

To protect your confidentiality and maintain clear professional boundaries, I do not accept friend, follow, or contact requests from current or former clients on personal social-media accounts. I also do not use social media for clinical communication. If you have questions about this policy, please bring them to a session so we can discuss them.

Minors

If you are a minor, a parent or legal guardian may be legally entitled to some information about your treatment. I will discuss with you and your parent or guardian what information may be shared, what can remain private, and the legal limits of confidentiality. Custody or consent documentation may be requested when needed to confirm who can authorize treatment and receive information.

Pauses, Inactivity & Ending Therapy

Ending a therapeutic relationship can be difficult, and a thoughtful termination process can provide useful closure. The length of that process depends on the duration and intensity of treatment, your clinical needs, and the circumstances.

You may request to end therapy or ask for referrals at any time. I may recommend ending or transferring treatment if psychotherapy is not being used effectively, falls outside my competence or scope, cannot be provided safely, or if payment obligations are not met when termination for nonpayment is legally permitted. I will first make reasonable efforts to discuss the concerns, consider alternatives, provide appropriate notice, and assist with continued-care options when needed.

If you do not schedule an appointment for three consecutive weeks and no other arrangement has been made, I will attempt to contact you. After reasonable outreach and notice, your case may be considered inactive or closed. A later return to therapy may require a new consultation and will depend on availability.