EPH Mental Health Policy

A therapeutic alliance functions effectively due to the clear delineation of rights and responsibilities held by each individual. As a client, it's crucial to understand your specific rights and responsibilities as well as the legal constraints on those rights. Your mental health clinician also has corresponding duties towards you. These rights and obligations are detailed in the following sections.

Psychotherapy has both benefits and risks. Risks may include experiencing uncomfortable feelings, such as sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness because psychotherapy often requires discussing the unpleasant aspects of your life. However, psychotherapy has been shown to benefit individuals undertaking it.  

Therapy often leads to a significant reduction in distress, increased satisfaction in interpersonal relationships, greater personal awareness and insight, and increased skills for managing stress and resolutions to specific problems. But there are no guarantees about what will happen. Psychotherapy requires a very active effort on your part. You will have to work on things discussed outside of sessions to be most successful.

The first 2-4 sessions will involve a comprehensive evaluation of your needs. By the end of the review, we will be able to offer you some initial impressions of what our work may include. At that point, we will discuss your treatment goals and create an initial treatment plan. You should evaluate this information and assess whether you feel comfortable working with EPH Services. If you have questions about procedures, discuss them with your therapist whenever they arise. If your doubts persist,  EPH Services will be happy to help you set up a meeting with another mental health professional for a second opinion.

Appointments will ordinarily be 45-50 minutes, once a week, as agreed on, although some sessions may be more or less frequent as needed. The time scheduled for your appointment is assigned to you and you alone. If you need to cancel or reschedule a session, We ask that you provide 24 hours notice. If you miss a session without canceling or with less than 24-hour notice, the policy is to collect the amount of your co-payment unless both agree that you cannot attend due to circumstances beyond your control.

 It is important to note that insurance companies do not provide reimbursement for canceled sessions; thus, you will be responsible for the portion of the fee described above. We will try to find another time to reschedule the appointment. In addition, you are responsible for coming to your session on time; if you are late, your appointment will still need to end on time. 

We are in-network with most insurances. However, call the office at 804-616-4378  ext. 3 for the standard fee for the initial intake and each subsequent session. You are responsible for paying at the time of your session unless prior arrangements have been made. Payment must be made by cash or credit card.

In addition to weekly appointments, prorated charges for other professional services such as report writing, telephone conversations that last longer than 15 minutes, attendance at meetings or consultations, and time needed to perform any other service requested. 

We are in-network with most insurances. However, call the office at 804-616-4378  ext. 3 for the standard fee for the initial intake and each subsequent session. You are responsible for paying at the time of your session unless prior arrangements have been made. Payment must be made by cash or credit card.

In addition to weekly appointments, prorated charges for other professional services such as report writing, telephone conversations that last longer than 15 minutes, attendance at meetings or consultations, and time needed to perform any other service requested. 

We are in-network with most insurances. However, to set realistic treatment goals and priorities, it is important to evaluate the 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. We obtain information about your coverage and bill, but you are responsible for knowing your coverage and letting the office know. 

Once we have all the information about your insurance coverage, we will discuss what we can reasonably expect to accomplish with available benefits and what will happen if coverage ends 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 the provider contract.

Suppose we are not a participating provider for your insurance plan. In that case, we will supply you with a receipt of payment for services, which you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Please note that not all insurance companies reimburse out-of-network providers. We will refer you to a colleague if you prefer to use a participating provider.

Practice policies about confidentiality and other information about your privacy rights are fully described in a separate document entitled Notice of Privacy Practices. Please remember that you may reopen the conversation anytime during your sessions

While privacy in therapy is crucial to successful progress, parental involvement can also be essential. Therefore, for children 14 and older, an agreement between the client and the parents allowing the provider to share general information about treatment progress and attendance and a treatment summary upon completion of services is requested.

Immediate availability may not be possible. Therefore, when the behavioral health provider is unavailable, all patients have been instructed to leave a message on the 24-hour  voice message system. The practice voicemail is monitored frequently throughout the day, on weekends, and holidays. Every effort is made to return all calls within 24 hours.

 In the event of a psychiatric emergency and an inability to reach a provider immediately, all patients are instructed to contact the local Mental Health Hotline at 804-819-4100 or CALL 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Room of your nearest hospital and ask to be evaluated by the psychologist or psychiatrist on call. Mental Health Hotline numbers are also provided to each patient.

The goal is to provide quality services. However, you have the right to withdraw from treatment for any reason.