Office Philosophy and Policies

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Office Philosophy: Client Rights

• To be treated with complete respect, dignity, and integrity;
• To have all information that is discussed during appointments treated with utmost confidence;
• To have questions about treatment answered directly, honestly and clearly;
• To have access to the information that is stored in the clinical record and to have this information stored securely;
• To see or receive copies of reports that are provided to other professionals or referral sources;
• To not have treatment discussed with other family members, employers, or referral sources without your prior consent and approval;
• To receive the best and most appropriate treatment available; and
• To have cultural, racial, sexual and gender issues treated sensitively and appropriately.

Administrative Policies

Listed below are the administrative policies that this office follows in regard to our clients' treatment. Should you have questions or concerns about these policies, you may discuss them with Gladys Hunter, our office manager, or with one of our staff.

1. Each appointment has designated time limits. Individual or family sessions last 45-50 minutes, and group sessions are 75-90 minutes in length. If you are late for a session, the time is lost from your session. If your therapist is late for a session, the session either will be extended or other arrangements will be made by mutual agreement. Payment is due at each session. Since a regular time is reserved for your appointment, and this time cannot be offered to anyone else, you will be charged for all missed appointments not canceled 48 hours in advance. This policy holds for individual, family, or group sessions.

2. Telephone calls to your therapist, other than calls to change or cancel an appointment time, should be limited to emergencies. If you must speak to your therapist on the phone, these calls will be billed at the hourly rate. An emergency telephone number is provided and may be used after normal business hours. The on-call therapist will share the information from your emergency call with your primary therapist. Emergency calls are also billed at the hourly rate and payment is due at the next appointment. Please note that all of the Institute Staff make use of the same office answering service.

3. In order to keep costs to a minimum, we prefer to have payment made at the time that service is rendered. If this presents a significant hardship, you may request to pay only the co-payment part of your bill if an insurance company is directly paying the remaining portion of your fee to the Institute. If you do not belong to a health or managed care plan that the Institute participates with, the filing of insurance forms remains the client's responsibility; however, the Institute can also file these claims for you. Written reports concerning your treatment, prepared on your behalf, will be billed to you at the usual hourly fee. Final payment for a written report must be made prior to delivery of the report.

5. During the course of treatment it may become necessary to increase fees to compensate for increased costs and inflation. Fees are reviewed in January and June of each year. You will receive at least one month's prior notice regarding an increase in fees.

6. The information that you share with your therapist is privileged and confidential. Any information concerning your treatment will be released only with your specific consent. The following exceptions to your confidentiality should be noted: (1) if you are court-ordered into treatment; (2) if you pose, in your therapist's opinion, a clear and imminent danger to yourself or to another person; or (3) if, in your therapists opinion, a child is being, or in danger of being, abused or neglected. These exceptions are required by Maryland law and by our professional ethics. You should also note that the Maryland Institute is a group practice with clinicians who have different areas of professional expertise; to provide you with the best care possible, your therapist may find it appropriate to consult with another Institute clinician.

7. Terminating therapy usually involves a mutual discussion and decision between client and therapist. As a client you have the right to end therapy at any time without moral, legal, or financial obligation beyond payment due for completed and/or scheduled and uncanceled sessions. Should you decide between sessions, or at the end of a session, to withdraw from therapy, you are asked to attend at least one additional session to discuss this decision. Therapy termination can sometimes be the result of misinterpretation, miscommunication, or simply the difficulty of therapy, and a final appointment will help to ensure that the termination is completed constructively and appropriately.

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