PROCESS OF THERAPY:

     Therapy provides a wonderful opportunity to work on a myriad of issues with a trained professional.  Therapy is hard work, though.  It requires your willingness to be open and honest about your deepest thougths and feelings, in order to receive the therapeutic recommendations, and to exercise the suggested interventions.  During therapy, as we delve into very painful memories and/or deep psychological trauma, you may very well experience an increase in depressive thoughts and feelings, anxiety, insomnia, anger, worry or other unpleasant feelings.  Please, know that these symptoms are transient and will usually subside as you work through your issues and come to a better place psychologically.  Therapy may result in changes within your family or other relationships, and these changes are often met with resistance from others.  As you make changes in the way you view yourself, in the way that you interact with others, and encourage new ways for others to engage with you, every system that you are a part of (family, friends, co-workers), will change.  That is a given.  Change is hard for some people, and it will be easier for you to deal with this resistance if you anticipate it being there.

    During the course of therapy, I will utilize various psychological approaches according in part, to the problem that is being treated and our assessment of what will best benefit you.  These approaches include, but are not limited to, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, existential, system/family, and psychoeducational.

ASSESSMENT & TREATMENT PLANNING:

     Together, we will identify areas of concern, develop a plan to meet your therapuetic goals, and outline possible outcomes of treatment.  In our intial consultation I will ascertain the information needed to determine whether or not my services would be appropriate and beneficial for you.  For example, online therapy is not appropriate for psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, or persons who are in an active crisis, such as persons struggling with active suicidal thoughts.  In the instance that I believe my services are inappropriate for you, I will refer you to another provider.

DUAL RELATIONSHIPS:

     It is important for you to understand what a dual relationship is, and the importance of having a healthy boundary regarding it.  A dual relationship occurs when a therapist has a treatment relationship with a client, and then develops a personal relationship with that client outside of therapy.  This dynamic is discouraged and is considered to be unethical, though sometimes it is unavoidable, such as for example, my client's child is on my child's soccer team, and we happen to see each other and enjoy conversations at their games.  Of course, at no time and under no condition is a sexual relationship between a therapist and a client appropriate.  I will not acknowledge working therapeutically with anyone without his/her written permission.  For this reason, I will not accept any invitations via social networking sites nor will I respond to blogs written by clients or accept comments on my blog from clients.

TERMINATION OF THERAPY:

     I will make every effort in the beginning of our therapeutic relationship to ensure that your issues are within my scope of expertise, and that I believe I can help you.  If I do not believe that I can be helpful in your case, I will refer you to another therapist.  If during the course of therapy, you are not satisfied with the results you are getting, you do have the right to change therapists, or end your therapy any time that you would like.  I will, with your written permission and consent, be glad to work in a collaborative way to help you transition from being my client to the care of a different therapist of your choice.  Therapy requires a great deal of trust between therapist and client, in order for it to work.  There really needs to be a bond, and if that connection is not being found for you with me, then please, do not feel badly about wanting a change.  The desired outcome in all of my cases is for my clients to feel better, to experience healthier and more peaceful lives, and reach all of their goals---whether that is with me, or someone else.

PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY:

     All information that you disclose to me in sessions, and the written records pertaining to those sessions are confidential and may not be revealed to anyone without your written permission, except where disclosure is required by law.  Likewise, you are expected to keep our communications confidential and you understand that all records of communication between client and therapist remain the property of Kimberly Ollis.  Most of the provisions explaining when the law requires disclosure are described to you in the Notice of Privacy Practices that you agreed that you read and accepted prior to your first appointment.

When Disclosure is Required By Law:  If there is a reasonable suspicion of child, dependent or elder abuse or neglect; and where a client presents a danger to self, to others, to property, or is gravely disabled.

When Disclosure May be Required:  Pursuant to a legal proceeding.  If you are involved in a custody dispute or if you place your mental status at issue in litigation initiated by you, the defendant may have the right to obtain the psychotherapy records and/or testimony by me.  In couple and family therapy, or when different family members are seen individually, confidentiality and privilege do not apply between the couple or among family members.  I will use my clinical judgment when revealing such information.

Harm to Self or Others:  If there is an emergency during our work together, or in the future after termination, in which I become concerned about your personal safety, the possibility of you injuring someone else, or about you receiving proper psychiatric care, I will do whatever I can within the limits of the law, to prevent you from injuring yourself or others, and to ensure that you receive the proper medical care.  For this purpose, I may also contact the police, hospital or an emergency contact whose name you have provided. 

Confidentiality of E-mail and Chat, and Cell Phone:  Therapuetic email and chat exchanges are delivered via HushMail.  You agree to work with me online using HushMail.  If you choose to email me from your personal email account, please limit the contents to housekeeping issues such as cancellation, or change in contact information.  If you call me, please be aware that unless we are both on land line phones, the conversation is not confidential.  Likewise, text messages are not confidential.  Any computer files referencing our communication are maintained using secure and encrypted measures.  If you wish to use email as a way to "journal" information between sessions, you will need to send those via encrypted email using HushMail.

I make every effort to keep all information confidential.  Likewise, if we are working together online, I ask that you determine who has access to your computer and electronic information from your location.  This would include family members, co-workers, supervisors and friends.  I encourage you to only communicate through a computer that you know is safe, i.e. wherein confidentiality can be ensured.  Be sure to fully exit all online counseling sessions and emails.  If we are unable to connect or are disconnected during a session due to a technological breakdown, please try to reconnect within 10 minutes.  If reconnection is not possible, email me to schedule a new session time.

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 (client) nor your attorney, nor anyone else acting on your behalf will call on me to testify in court or at any other proceeding, nor will a disclosure of the psychotherapy records be requested.

Consultation:  I may need to consult with another professional from time to time about some of my cases, please know that when I do consult with my collegues, all of my client's names and other identifying information is never disclosed.  The client's identity remains completely anonymous, and confidentiality is fully maintained.

Considering all of the above exclusions, if it is still appropriate, upon your request, I will release information to any agency/person you specify unless I conclude that releasing such information might be harmful in any way.

TELEPHONE & EMERGENCY PROCEDURES:
     If you are one of my clients, and you have an emergency between sessions and outside office hours, you may call my emergency number that was given to you in our first session.  If you are not a client and have an emergency that requires immediate attention, you may call the emergency National Suicide Hotline at 1.800.784.2433 or dial 911.  If a life-threatening crisis should occur, you agree to contact a crisis hotline, call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room.

PAYMENTS:
     Session payments via credit or debit card can be processed through PayPal directly from my website.  Sessions are generally purchased in 60 minute increments.  Therapeutic email exchanges may be purchased one at a time or as a package.  Specific rates for services are posted on my website.

CANCELLATION:
     Since scheduling an appointment involves the reservation of time specifically for you, a minimum of 24 hours notice is required for re-scheduling or canceling an appointment.  Unless we reach a different agreement, the full fee with be charged for sessions missed without such notification.

     You as the client understand that phone and email sessions have limitations compared to in-person sessions, among those being the lack of "personal" face-to-face interactions, and the lack of visual and audio cues in the therapy process.  You fully understand that therapy with me is not a substitue for medication under the care of a psychiatrist or doctor.  You understand that online and telephone therapy is not appropriate if you are experiencing a crisis or having suicidal or homicidal thoughts.  As stated previously, if a life threatening crisis should occur, you agree to contact a crisis hotline, call 911, or go to a hospital emergency room.  You also understand that I follow the laws and professional regulations of the State of North Carolina (USA) and the psychotherapy treatment will be considered to take place in the State of North Carolina (USA).

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