Practice Policies

Welcome to Wellness Lab & Clinics. Our practice policies outline how we deliver care, protect client rights, and maintain a safe, ethical, and accessible virtual mental health service. These policies reflect our trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and inclusive approach and apply to all clients, caregivers, referral partners, and consultants. If you have questions or need accommodations, please contact our administrative team.

Scope of Services

We provide virtual psychotherapy, sex therapy, education, and consultation to individuals, couples, and groups across Oregon.

Services are delivered by licensed and certified clinicians with training in trauma-informed and culturally responsive care.

We do not provide emergency crisis services. If you are in imminent danger or experiencing a mental health emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

Eligibility and Access

Clients must be physically located in Oregon at the time of each session to receive services.

We strive to remove barriers to care. Reasonable accommodations for disabilities, language access, and accessibility needs are available upon request.

We maintain a non-discrimination policy: services are provided regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, immigration status, age, or disability.

Counseling sessions are typically scheduled for 30-50 minutes on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. It is up to you, however, to determine the length of time of your sessions. Requests to change the 30- to 50-minute session need to be discussed with the therapist in order for time to be scheduled in advance.

Therapy should be a collaborative process. I will check in with you periodically about how our work is going, but I also encourage you to let me know if something is not working for you. I welcome any and all feedback about the counseling process.

Informed Consent and Intake

Prior to beginning treatment, clients complete an intake process including demographic, medical, mental health, and consent forms.

Informed consent covers the nature and limits of therapy, telehealth technology, confidentiality, risks and benefits, fee and cancellation policies, and mandatory reporting obligations.

Clients have the right to ask questions and withdraw consent at any time; ending therapy is managed collaboratively whenever possible.

Telehealth Standards

Sessions are conducted in person or online using secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platforms.

Clients are responsible for using a private, quiet, and safe space for sessions and for stable internet connectivity.

Clinicians will verify client location and emergency contact at the start of each session and provide local crisis resources as needed.

Telehealth limits (e.g., when in-person referral is recommended) are explained during intake and revisited as clinically indicated.

Confidentiality and Privacy

Client information is kept confidential and stored securely in encrypted systems.

We will not disclose protected health information without written consent, except where required by law: imminent harm to self or others, abuse or neglect of a minor, elder, or dependent adult, or court order.

Communications by phone, email, or text may carry privacy risks; we will discuss preferred contact methods and obtain consent for electronic communications.

Supervisors, trainees, and administrative staff with clinical need-to-know access client information; clients are informed when students or trainees participate in care.

Record Keeping and Record Requests

We maintain clinical records in accordance with state regulations.

Clients may request copies of their records or request amendments; requests will be processed within legally required timeframes and may incur copying fees.

Billing and administrative records are retained separately as required by law.

Fees, Insurance, and Billing

Fees for services and payment policies are provided during intake and updated as needed.

We accept private pay only. Any communication with insurance carriers is the responsibility of the client.

Payment is due according to the billing agreement. Unpaid balances may result in suspension of services and, if necessary, referral to collections after reasonable notice.

Cancellations and Missed Appointments

-Therapy is comprehensive, and missing one or more sessions will interrupt the effectiveness, and the benefits may be less evident. If you miss 2 consecutive sessions, any future recurring sessions may be placed on hold until we can connect and make a new plan. After three or more months without any scheduled sessions, clients are then considered inactive.

-Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance.

Cancellations and rescheduled sessions will be subject to a full charge if NOT RECEIVED AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN 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. Please note that insurance companies do not provide reimbursement for canceled sessions. *This clinic follows the Medford School District school closings schedule related to severe weather conditions or public health concerns.

Professional Boundaries and Dual Relationships

Clinicians maintain professional boundaries to protect client welfare.

Dual relationships (e.g., social, business, familial) that may impair objectivity or create conflicts of interest are avoided or managed transparently.

Clients and clinicians should discuss any potential boundary concerns promptly.

Medication, Coordination of Care, and Referrals

We do not prescribe medication; medication management referrals will be made when appropriate.

With client consent, we collaborate with other health care providers, legal representatives, or support persons to coordinate care.

When clinically necessary or requested, we provide referrals to in-person services, specialty providers, or community resources.

Safety Planning and Risk Management

When risk of harm is identified, clinicians will develop safety plans collaboratively and may contact crisis services, emergency contacts, or authorities as needed.

Clients are expected to disclose concerns that may impact safety and to follow mutually agreed-upon crisis plans.

TELEPHONE ACCESSIBILITY If you need to contact me between sessions, please leave a message on my voicemail. I am often not immediately available; however, I will attempt to return your call within 24 hours. If an emergency situation arises, please call 911 or any local emergency room.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION Due 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, 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. While I may try to return messages in a timely manner, I cannot guarantee an immediate response, and I 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, are considered telemedicine by the State of Oregon. Under the Revised Oregon Telemedicine Rules (March 2020), 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 choose 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, diagnoses, 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, observations 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), gender, 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. Should you desire to return to therapy 12 months from your most recent session, a re-establishing intake appointment will be completed.