THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

I. Uses and Disclosures for Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations
We may use or disclose your protected health information (PHI), for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes with your consent. To help clarify these terms, here are some definitions:

"PHI" refers to information in your health record that could identify you.
"Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations"
- Treatment is when we provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and other services related to your health care. An example of treatment would be when we consult with another health care provider, such as your family physician or another psychologist/therapist/counselor.
- Payment is when we obtain reimbursement for your healthcare. Examples of payment are when we disclose your PHI to your health insurer to obtain reimbursement for your health care or to determine eligibility or coverage.
- Health Care Operations are activities that relate to the performance and operation of our practice. Examples of health care operations are quality assessment and improvement activities, business-related matters such as audits and administrative services, and case management and care coordination.
"Use" applies only to activities within our office, such as sharing, employing, applying, utilizing, examining, and analyzing information that identifies you.
"Disclosure" applies to activities outside of our office, such as releasing, transferring, or providing access to information about you to other parties.

II. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Authorization
We may use or disclose PHI for purposes outside of treatment, payment, or health care operations when your appropriate authorization is obtained. An "authorization" is written permission above and beyond the general consent that permits only specific disclosures. In those instances when we are asked for information for purposes outside of treatment, payment or health care operations, we will obtain an authorization from you before releasing this information. We will also need to obtain an authorization before releasing your Psychotherapy Notes. "Psychotherapy Notes" are notes we have made about our conversation during a private, group, joint, or family counseling session, which we have kept separate from the rest of your medical record. These notes are given a greater degree of protection than PHI.

You may revoke all such authorizations (of PHI or Psychotherapy Notes) at any time, provided each revocation is in writing. You may not revoke an authorization to the extent that (1) we have relied on that authorization; or (2) if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage, law provides the insurer the right to contest the claim under the policy.

III. Uses and Disclosures with Neither Consent nor Authorization

We may use or disclose PHI without your consent or authorization in the following circumstances:
Child Abuse - If we have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect, we must report this suspicion to the appropriate authorities as required by law.

Adult and Domestic Abuse - If we have reasonable cause to suspect you have been criminally abused, we must report this suspicion to the appropriate authorities as required by law.

Health Oversight Activities - If we receive a subpoena or other lawful request from the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners, we must disclose the relevant PHI pursuant to that subpoena or lawful request.

Judicial and Administrative Proceedings - If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information about your diagnosis and treatment or the records thereof, such information is
privileged under state law, and we will not release information without your written authorization or a
court order. The privilege does not apply when you are being evaluated or a third party or where the evaluation is court ordered. You will be informed in advance if this is the case.

Serious Threat to Health or Safety - If you communicate to me a threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable third person and/or property and you have the apparent intent and ability to carry out that threat in the foreseeable future, we may disclose relevant PHI and take the reasonable steps permitted by law to prevent the threatened harm from occurring. If we believe that there is an imminent risk that you will inflict serious physical harm on yourself, we may disclose information in order to protect you.

Worker's Compensation - we may disclose protected health information regarding you as authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with laws relating to worker's compensation or other similar programs, established by law, that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness without regard to fault.

IV. Patient's Rights and Licensed Professional Counselor Duties:

Patient's Rights:
Right to Request Restrictions - You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health information. However, we are not required to agree to a restriction you request.

Right to Receive Confidential Communications by Alternative Means and at Alternative Locations - You have the right to request and receive confidential communications of PHI by alternative means and at alternative locations. (For example, you may not want a family member to know that you are seeing us. On your request, we will send your bills to another address.)

Right to Inspect and Copy - You have the right to inspect or obtain a copy (or both) of PHI in our mental health and billing records used to make decisions about you for as long as the PHI is maintained in the record. we may deny your access to PHI under certain circumstances, but in some cases you may have this decision reviewed. On your request, we will discuss with you the details of the request and denial process.

Right to Amend - You have the right to request an amendment of PHI for as long as the PHI is maintained in the record. We may deny your request. On your request, we will discuss with you the details of the amendment process.

Right to an Accounting - You generally have the right to receive an accounting of disclosures of PHI. On your request, we will discuss with you the details of the accounting process.

Right to a Paper Copy - You have the right to obtain a paper copy of the notice from us upon request, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically.

Licensed Professional Counselor Duties:
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of PHI and to provide you with a notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI. We reserve the right to change the privacy policies and practices described in this notice. Unless we notify you of such changes, however, we are required to abide by the terms currently in effect. If we revise our policies and procedures, we will notify you either in person or by mail.

V. Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our office or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located at 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, Telephone: 202-619-0257 or Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

VI. Effective Date, Restrictions, and Changes to Privacy Policy
This notice will go into effect on April 14, 2003. We reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all clients that we maintain.

Acknowledgment of Receipt of Notice of Licensed Professional Counselor Polices and Practices
to Protect the Privacy of Your Health

Kara Daugherty, LCSW is required by law to give you this Notice of Licensed Professional Counselor Polices and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health, and to prove that you have received it. By signing this document you acknowledge that you have received and reviewed a copy of Kara Daugherty, LCSW Notice of Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health, (HIPAA Notice Form).

Welcome to Kara Daugherty Counseling. This document (the Agreement) contains important information about my professional services and business policies. It also contains summary information about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a new federal law that provides new privacy protections and new patient rights with regard to the use and disclosure of your Protected Health Information (PHI) used for the purpose of treatment, payment, and health care operations. HIPAA requires that I provide you with a Notice of Privacy Practices (the Notice) for use and disclosure of PHI for treatment, payment and health care operations. The Notice, which is attached to this Agreement, explains HIPAA and its application to your personal health information in greater detail. The law requires that I obtain your signature acknowledging that I have provided you with this information at the end of this session. Although these documents are long and sometimes complex, it is very important that you read them carefully before our next session. We can discuss any questions you have about the procedures at that time. When you sign this document, it will also represent an agreement between us. You may revoke this Agreement in writing at any time. That revocation will be binding on me unless I have taken action in reliance on it; if there are obligations imposed on me by your health insurer in order to process or substantiate claims made under your policy; or if you have not satisfied any financial obligations you have incurred.

PSYCHOLOGICAL / COUNSELING SERVICES
Psychotherapy is not easily described in general statements. It varies depending on the personalities of the psychologist and patient, and the particular problems you are experiencing. There are many different methods I may use to deal with the problems that you hope to address. Psychotherapy is not like a medical doctor visit. Instead, it calls for a very active effort on your part. In order for the therapy to be most successful, you will have to work on things we talk about both during our sessions and at home.

Psychotherapy can have benefits and risks. Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, psychotherapy has also been shown to have many benefits. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress. But there are no guarantees of what you will experience.

Our first few sessions will involve an evaluation of your needs. By the end of the evaluation, I will be able to offer you some first impressions of what our work will include and a treatment plan to follow, if you decide to continue with therapy. You should evaluate this information along with your own opinions of whether you feel comfortable working with me. Therapy involves a large commitment of time, money, and energy, so you should be very careful about the therapist you select. If you have questions about my procedures, we should discuss them whenever they arise. If your doubts persist, I will be happy to help you set up a meeting with another mental health professional for a second opinion.

MEETINGS
I normally conduct an evaluation during the initial session. During this time, we can both decide if I am the best person to provide the services you need in order to meet your treatment goals. If psychotherapy is begun, I will usually schedule one session weekly or biweekly at a time we agree on, although some sessions may be more frequent. Length of sessions are typically 52 minutes, depending upon the presenting issues and availability in my schedule. We are able to do extended session based on therapeutic need.
Once an appointment hour is scheduled, you will be expected to pay for it unless you provide 48 hours advance notice of cancellation (or unless we both agree that you were unable to attend due to circumstances beyond your control). It is important to note that insurance companies do not provide reimbursement for cancelled sessions. The rate for a missed appointment is $130 . If it is possible, I will try to find another time to reschedule the appointment.

PROFESSIONAL FEES
My fee for intake evaluations is $185.00; the fee follow-up appointments (52 -minutes) is $130. In addition to follow-up appointments, phone calls, letter composition, extensive email contact with client, family or other professionals will be billed at $25 / 15 minutes. Kara Daugherty Counseling charges the full fee for each missed appointment which is not cancelled at least 24 hours in advance. In some instances further appointments will not be scheduled until the no-show fee is paid in full. Please be aware than your insurance will not pay for missed appointment fees.

CONTACTING ME
Due to my work schedule, I am often not immediately available by telephone. I will not answer the phone when I am with a patient. When I am unavailable, my telephone is answered by voice mail. I will make every effort to return your call on the same day, with the exception of weekends and holidays. If you are difficult to reach, please inform me of some times when you will be available. If you are unable to reach me and feel that you can't wait for me to return your call, contact your family physician or the nearest emergency room and ask for the counselor or psychiatrist on call. If I will be unavailable for an extended time, I will provide you with the name of a colleague to contact, if necessary. Email is an option to address simple issues such as scheduling. Please see our "Social Media Policy" for additional information regarding online contacts.

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES: If you are experiencing a crisis and you are unable to reach me directly please go to the nearest emergency room or call 911. Please do not use e-mail or faxes for emergencies.  I do not always check e-mail daily.

LIMITS ON CONFIDENTIALITY
The law protects the privacy of all communications between a patient and a counselor. In most situations, I can only release information about your treatment to others if you sign a written Authorization form that meets certain legal requirements imposed by HIPAA and/or Indiana law. However, in the following situations, no authorization is required:

I may occasionally find it helpful to consult other health and mental health professionals about a case. During a consultation, I make every effort to avoid revealing the identity of my patient. The other professionals are also legally bound to keep the information confidential. If you don't object, I will not tell you about these consultations unless I feel that it is important to our work together. I will note all consultations in your Clinical Record (which is called "PHI" in my Notice of Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health Information).

You should be aware that I may employ administrative staff. In most cases, I need to share protected information with these individuals for both clinical and administrative purposes, such as scheduling, billing and quality assurance. All staff members have been given training about protecting your privacy and have agreed not to release any information outside of the practice without the permission of a professional staff member.

Disclosures required by health insurers or to collect overdue fees are discussed elsewhere in this Agreement.

If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information concerning the professional services I provided to you, such information is protected by the counselor-patient privilege law. I cannot provide any information without your (or your legal representative's) written authorization, or a court order. If you are involved in or contemplating litigation, you should consult with your attorney to determine whether a court would be likely to order me to disclose information.

Other reasons for disclosure of information may include: (1) If a government agency is requesting the information for health oversight activities, I may be required to provide it for them (2) To a coroner or medical examiner, in the performance of that individual's duties (3) If a patient files a complaint or lawsuit against me, I may disclose relevant information regarding that patient in order to defend myself.

There are some situations in which I am legally obligated to take actions, which I believe are necessary to attempt to protect others from harm. In these cases I may have to reveal some information about a patient's treatment. These situations are unusual in my practice, and would include:

If I have reason to believe that a child is a victim of child abuse or neglect, the law requires that I file a report with the appropriate government agency, usually the local child protection service. Once such a report is filed, I may be required to provide additional information.

If I have reason to believe that someone is an endangered adult, the law requires that I file a report with the appropriate government agency, usually the adult protective services unit. Once such a report is filed, I may be required to provide additional information.

If a patient communicates an actual threat of physical violence against an identifiable victim, or evidences conduct or makes statements indicating imminent danger that the patient will use physical violence or other means to cause serious personal injury to others, I may be required to disclose information in order to take protective actions. These actions may include notifying the potential victim, contacting the police, or seeking hospitalization for the patient.

If a patient communicates an imminent threat of serious physical harm to him/herself, I may be required to disclose information in order to take protective actions. These actions may include initiating hospitalization or contacting family members or others who can assist in providing protection.

If such a situation arises, I will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action and I will limit my disclosure to what is necessary.

While this written summary of exceptions to confidentiality should prove helpful in informing you about potential problems, it is important that we discuss any questions or concerns that you may have now or in the future. The laws governing confidentiality can be quite complex, and I am not an attorney. In situations where specific advice is required, formal legal advice may be needed.

PROFESSIONAL RECORDS
You should be aware that, pursuant to HIPAA, I keep Protected Health Information about you in two sets of professional records. One set constitutes your Clinical Record. It includes information about your reasons for seeking therapy, a description of the ways in which your problem impacts on your life, your diagnosis, the goals that we set for treatment, your progress towards those goals, your medical and social history, your treatment history, any past treatment records that I receive from other providers, reports of any professional consultations, your billing records, and any reports that have been sent to anyone, including reports to your insurance carrier. Except in unusual circumstances that involve danger to yourself and others, you may examine and/or receive a copy of your Clinical Record, if you request it in writing. Because these are professional records, they can be misinterpreted and/or upsetting to untrained readers. For this reason, I recommend that you initially review them in my presence, or have them forwarded to another mental health professional so you can discuss the contents. I am sometimes willing to conduct this review meeting without charge. In most circumstances, I am allowed to charge a copying fee of $1.00 per page (and for certain other expenses). If I refuse your request for access to your Clinical Records, you have a right of review, which I will discuss with you upon request.

In addition, I also keep a set of Psychotherapy Notes. These Notes are for my own use and are designed to assist me in providing you with the best treatment. While the contents of Psychotherapy Notes vary from client to client, they can include the contents of our conversations, my analysis of those conversations, and how they impact on your therapy. They also contain particularly sensitive information that you may reveal to me that is not required to be included in your Clinical Record. (They also include information from others provided to me confidentially.) These Psychotherapy Notes are kept separate from your Clinical Record. Your Psychotherapy Notes are not available to you and cannot be sent to anyone else, including insurance companies without your written, signed Authorization. Insurance companies cannot require your authorization as a condition of coverage nor penalize you in any way for your refusal to provide it.

PATIENT RIGHTS
HIPAA provides you with several new or expanded rights with regard to your Clinical Records and disclosures of protected health information. These rights include requesting that I amend your record; requesting restrictions on what information from your Clinical Records is disclosed to others; requesting an accounting of most disclosures of protected health information that you have neither consented to nor authorized; determining the location to which protected information disclosures are sent; having any complaints you make about my policies and procedures recorded in your records; and the right to a paper copy of this Agreement, the attached Notice form, and my privacy policies and procedures. I am happy to discuss any of these rights with you.

MINORS & PARENTS
Patients under 18 years of age who are not emancipated and their parents should be aware that the law may allow parents to examine their child's treatment records. Because privacy in psychotherapy is often crucial to successful progress, particularly with teenagers, it is sometimes my policy to request an agreement from parents that they consent to give up their access to their child's records. If they agree, during treatment, I will provide them only with general information about the progress of the child's treatment, and his/her attendance at scheduled sessions. I will also provide parents with a summary of their child's treatment when it is complete. Any other communication will require the child's Authorization, unless I feel that the child is in danger or is a danger to someone else, in which case, I will notify the parents of my concern. Before giving parents any information, I will discuss the matter with the child, if possible, and do my best to handle any objections he/she may have.

LITIGATION LIMITATION
Due to the nature of the therapeutic process and the fact that it often involves making a full disclosure with regard to many matters which may be of a confidential nature, it is agreed that, should there be legal proceedings (such as, but not limited to divorce and custody disputes, injuries, lawsuits, etc.), neither you nor your attorney(s), nor anyone else acting on your behalf will call on Kara Daugherty to testify in court or at any other proceeding, nor will a disclosure of the psychotherapy records be requested unless otherwise agreed upon.

BILLING AND PAYMENTS
You will be expected to pay for each session at the time it is held, unless we agree otherwise or unless you have insurance coverage that requires another arrangement. Payment schedules for other professional services will be agreed to when they are requested. In circumstances of unusual financial hardship, I may be willing to negotiate a fee adjustment or payment installment plan.

If your account has not been paid for more than 60 days and arrangements for payment have not been agreed upon, I have the option of using legal means to secure the payment. This may involve hiring a collection agency or going through small claims court which will require me to disclose otherwise confidential information. In most collection situations, the only information I release regarding a patient's treatment is his/her name, the nature of services provided, contact information on file and the amount due. If such legal action is necessary, its costs will be included in the claim.

INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT
In order for us to set realistic treatment goals and priorities, it is important to evaluate what resources you have available to pay for your treatment. If you have a health insurance policy, it will usually provide some coverage for mental health treatment. I will provide you with whatever assistance I can in helping you receive the benefits to which you are entitled; however, you (not your insurance company) are responsible for full payment of my fees. It is very important that you find out exactly what mental health services your insurance policy covers and obtain any necessary authorizations prior to your session.

You should carefully read the section in your insurance coverage booklet that describes mental health services. If you have questions about the coverage, call your plan administrator. Of course, I will provide you with whatever information I can based on my experience and will be happy to help you in understanding the information you receive from your insurance company. If it is necessary to clear confusion, I will be willing to call the company on your behalf.

Due to the rising costs of health care, insurance benefits have increasingly become more complex. It is sometimes difficult to determine exactly how much mental health coverage is available. "Managed Health Care" plans such as HMOs and PPOs often require authorization before they provide reimbursement for mental health services. These plans are often limited to short-term treatment approaches designed to work out specific problems that interfere with a person's usual level of functioning. It may be necessary to seek approval for more therapy after a certain number of sessions. While much can be accomplished in short-term therapy, some patients feel that they need more services after insurance benefits end. Some managed-care plans will not allow me to provide services to you once your benefits end. If this is the case, I will do my best to find another provider who will help you continue your psychotherapy.

You should also be aware that your contract with your health insurance company requires that I provide it with information relevant to the services that I provide to you. I am required to provide a clinical diagnosis. Sometimes I am required to provide additional clinical information such as treatment plans or summaries, or copies of your entire Clinical Record. In such situations, I will make every effort to release only the minimum information about you that is necessary for the purpose requested. This information will become part of the insurance company files and will probably be stored in a computer. Though all insurance companies claim to keep such information confidential, I have no control over what they do with it once it is in their hands. In some cases, they may share the information with a national medical information databank. I will provide you with a copy of any report I submit, if you request it.

You should understand that the information used or disclosed to your insurance may be subject to re-disclosure and no longer protected under law. It is not required that you sign authorization for this. Refusal will not negatively affect your ability to receive mental health treatment from Kara Daugherty Counseling. If you do not sign it, your health insurance will not be billed and you will be required to pay with Cash, Check, or Credit / Debit Card at the regular rate. You may revoke such authorization at any time in writing. At that point, the information may no longer be disclosed to your insurance carrier. Any use or disclosure already made cannot be undone. To revoke this authorization, please request the form to do so and return it to Kara Daugherty Counseling. This written authorization is subject to revocation by the undersigned at any time, except to the extent that action has been taken. This authorization will expire 12 months from the signed date or a date determined by you to be put in writing and giving to this office.

You understand that you authorize the release of any medical or other information necessary to process this claim. You also request payment of government benefits either to yourself or to the party who accepts assignment below. I authorize payment of medical benefits to the undersigned Physician / Provider or supplier for services described within this agreement.

Once we have all of the information about your insurance coverage, we will discuss what we can expect to accomplish with the benefits that are available and what will happen if they run out before you feel ready to end your sessions. It is important to remember that you always have the right to pay for my services yourself to avoid the problems described above, unless prohibited by contract.

My signature below indicates I have the read and agree to psychotherapist-client services agreement form and have no questions.

This document outlines Kara Daugherty Counseling's policies related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how we conduct ourselves on the Internet as a mental health professional and how you can expect us to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet. If you have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage you to bring them up when we meet. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when we need to update this policy. Such updates will be made available to you on my website.

FRIENDING
I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). I believe 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.

FANNING
I may keep a Facebook Page for my professional practice to allow people to share my blog posts and practice updates with other Facebook users. You are welcome to view my Facebook Page and read or share articles posted there, but I do not accept clients as Fans of this Page. I believe having clients as Facebook Fans creates a greater likelihood of compromised client confidentiality and I feel it is best to be explicit to all who may view my list of Fans to know that they will not find client names on that list. Note that you should be able to subscribe to the page via RSS without becoming a Fan and without creating a visible, public link to my Page. You are more than welcome to do this.

FOLLOWING
I may publish a blog on my website or elsewhere online. I may use other social media sites to share information related to my professional field and practice. I have no expectation that you as a client will want to follow my blog or postings. However, if you use an easily recognizable name on such an account and I happen to notice that you've followed me there, we may briefly discuss it and its potential impact on our working relationship. My primary concern is your privacy. If you share this concern, there are more private ways to follow me online(such as using an RSS feed or a locked Twitter list), which would eliminate your having a public link to my content. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow me. Note that I will not follow you back. My reasoning is that I believe casual viewing of clients' online content outside of the therapy hour can create confusion in regard to whether it's being done as a part of your treatment or to satisfy my personal curiosity. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without our explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could potentially have a negative influence on our working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy appointment.

TEXTING and ONLINE MESSAGING
Please do not use texting or messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to contact me. These sites are not secure and I may not read these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with me in public online if we have an already established client/therapist relationship. Engaging with me this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal medical record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart. If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone or email. Direct email is also a great option for quick, administrative issues such as changing appointment times. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions.

USE OF SEARCH ENGINES
It is NOT a regular part of my practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If I have a reason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with me via our usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email) there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates / check-ins) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if I ever resort to such means, I will fully document it and discuss it with you when we next meet. Such searches would be used only as a last resort after exhausting other known options, including your emergency contact person.

GOOGLE READER
I do not follow current or former clients on Google Reader and I do not use Google Reader to share articles. If there are things you want to share with me that you feel are relevant to your treatment whether they are news items or things you have created, I encourage you to bring these items of interest into our sessions.

BUSINESS REVIEW SITES
You may find my practice on sites such as Yelp, Healthgrades, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client. Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. I urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as I take my commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with me about your feelings about our work, there is a good possibility that I may never see it. If we are working together, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that I cannot tell people that you are my client and my Ethics Code prohibits me from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I'm your therapist or how you feel about the treatment I provided to you, in any forum of your choosing. If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection. If you feel I have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, you can always contact the US Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201.

LOCATION-BASED SERVICES
If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. I do not place my practice as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at my office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally "checking in," from my office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.

EMAIL
I prefer using email to arrange or modify appointments : Kara@karadaugherty.com. Please be aware that if you email me content related to your therapy sessions, email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and my Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any emails I receive from you and any responses that I send to you become a part of your legal record. You can email me securely by logging into your account on the patient log in link to the electronic medical record system on my webpage.

CONCLUSION
Thank you for taking the time to review my Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them.

These services ARE NOT covered by insurance. Fees related to phone or email contact must be paid in full at the next appointment unless otherwise noted. All Court related services and appearances will require a subpoena or Court Order.

Provider requests any needs for these services to be communicated with a minimum 36 hour notice. A request for contact or letters may not be fulfilled with less than a 36 hour notice depending on providers schedule and availability.
Requests with less than 36 hours notice will have an additional $50 charge.


Phone Calls to Collateral Contacts $50 / 15minutes
(parents, teachers, doctors, attorneys, etc)


Letter Composition / Extensive Email Contact $50 / 15 minutes
(writing letters to schools, attorneys, or others
and time necessary to deliver information to the
receiver)


Court Appearances of Any Nature $350 / hour
($2000 advanced deposit required) 4 hour minimum

Court Appearances require a $2000 deposit due no less than 10 business days prior to the Court hearing. Failure to provide this required deposit will result in my attorney filing a motion to quash the subpoena. All legal fees incurred related to Court will be the responsibility of the party issuing the subpoena (this will typically mean that I will bill your attorney, who will then bill you for my services) unless otherwise agreed upon. Related fees may include, but are not limited to, preparation time, transportation time and expense, phone / email / fax / letter contact with parties involved, deposition, professional and legal consultation by the provider. Should the deposit not be exhausted, the balance will be refunded within 30 days.

Late Fees
Fees Payed 31-45 days after service 10% of balance on day 31
Fees Payed 46-60 days after service 20% of balance on day 46
Fees Payed 61-75 days after service 30% of balance on day 61
Fees Payed 76-90 days after service 40% of balance on day 76

I acknowledge the above rates for ancillary services related to psychotherapy services through Kara Daugherty Counseling. I agree to provide payment for all services prior to the next appointment unless otherwise approved by my provider. Failure to pay fees in full as described above may result in additional late fees and disruption of other services, including therapy.