Practice Policies

PRACTICE POLICIES

ACCESSIBILITY

I am often not immediately available by telephone. I do not answer calls when I am in session with a client. At these times, you may leave a message on my confidential voicemail and your call will be returned as soon as possible, Monday through Friday . I endeavor to return voicemails within 24 hours. Messages received after 12:00 noon Friday may not be returned until the following Monday. If you feel you cannot wait for my return call, in the event of an emergency, or if you feel you are unable to keep yourself safe Go to your nearest LOCAL HOSPITAL OR EMERGENCY ROOM Dial 911 and ask to speak health worker on call.
My contact number is 862-432-6880. Please note that Face- to-face sessions are highly preferable to telehealth or phone sessions. However, in the event that you are out of town, sick or need additional support, phone sessions are available. Again, if a true emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergency room.

APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

APPOINTMENTS

I hold office hours Monday through Thursday beginning at 11:00 am, ending at 7:00 pm, unless prior arrangements have been made. Clients sessions are held live, in the office or on a HIPAA-secure telehealth platform through Simple Practice. Appointments will ordinarily be 50-55 minutes in duration, once per week, at a time we agreed on. Sessions may be more or less frequent as needed, determined by your or the therapist. The time scheduled for your appointment is assigned to you and you alone. I treat clients 12 years and older. I work with individuals and couples.

CANCELLATIONS
If you need to cancel or reschedule a sesison, I ask that you provide 24 hours notice. A FULL SESSION FEE, $150.00, will be charged for apppointments missed or cancelled without 24 hour notice. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to you and is held exclusively for you. If you are late for a session your appointment will still end on time.

FEES FOR SERVICES

Individual Psychotherapy $175.00/session
Couple/Marriage Counseling $180.00/session

PAYMENT

You are responsible for paymernt of all services rendered. Payment is accepted by check or credit card at the time of service. All credit card information is securely stored without access to me following the initial input of information.

A $25.00 service charge will be charged for any checks returned for any reason.
Mailing address
230 Rt 206
Building 3 Box 202
Flanders, NJ 07836

INSURANCE

I am an out-of-network provider. Therefore I do not participate with commerical insurance companies. I do not submit claims to your insurance company and I am not directly reimbursed by the insurance company. I will provide appropriate documentation for you to use when submitting to the insurance company, using out-of-network benefits, for reimbursement directly to you. Information provided on the Superbill will include a coded clinical diagnosis as well as
treatment codes related to the type and length of session conducted.

PROFESSIONAL RECORDS

I am required to write and maintain appropriate records of the psychological services provided. Your records are confidential and maintained according to HIPAA compliant direction.

CONFIDENTIALITY

My policies about confidentiality, as well as other inormation about your privacy rights, are full described in a separate document entitled NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES. You have been provided with a copy of that document and we have discussed those issues. Please remember that you may re-open the conversation at any time during our work together.

PARENTS AND MINORS

While privacy in therapy is crucial to successful progress, parental involvement can also be essential. It is my policy to discuss this with children under 13 for agreement that I can share whatever information I consider necessary with a parent. For children 14 and older, I request an agreement between the client and the parents allowing me to share general information about treatment progress and attendance, as well as a treatment summary upon completion of therapy. All other communication will require the child’s agreement, unless I feel there is a safety concern. In this case I will make every effort to notify the child of my intention to disclose information ahead of time, and make every effort to handle any objections that are raised.

TELEPHONE SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION

ue to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, 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.

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, I will do so. For your security I request that you do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies. You may securely message me through the client portal of Simple Practice or using my HIPAA secure email: cindi@cynthiaodellmft.com
**In an emergency please call 911 or got to the nearest emergency room.**

TELEMEDICINE

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) All 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 in 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.

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. I will 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, I 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 and ethical reasons, I must consider the professional relationship discontinued.