Privacy Policies
You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate of what your services may cost.
The purpose of this form is to share important principles that guide the counseling process so that your decision to proceed in working with your therapist at Sweet Relief Counseling Services can be based on accurate and informed expectations. Please read this carefully and feel free to ask any questions you may have or request clarification. Informed consent is the clients’ full and active participation in decisions that affect them and freedom of choice based on the information shared. It is a continuous process throughout the counseling relationship. You, the client, have the right to refuse and/or withdraw from counseling at any time.
Qualifications: All therapists have a Master’s Degree in Counseling, Social Work, or a related field and are licensed in Washington for independent practice by the Department of Health. For specific information regarding your therapist’s degree and licensure, please see our website at www.sweetreliefcounselingservices.com or ask them directly at intake.
Our therapists approach therapy from a person-centered perspective. Success in counseling is providing you with the possibility of living an increasingly free and authentically responsible life. In therapy, we are eclectic and will draw from various modalities to meet your needs in the way you and your therapist collaboratively think might work best. Good therapy is informed by research, and your therapist may draw from evidence-based modalities such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Behavioral Analysis, and/or other evidence-based practices. Techniques can include acceptance and affirmation, active listening, empathy, homework assignments, bibliotherapy (reading assignments), psychoeducational discussions, cognitive and behavioral interventions, and emotional awareness.
We hold an unconditional positive regard and acceptance for clients and take a non-judgmental position as a co-author on your journey for as long as the therapeutic relationship may last. We hope to communicate this through empathetic understanding, and we consider the client’s perspective and needs as the foundation for all of our work together. We believe that clients have the capacity and resilience to solve their own problems and make their own decisions, however, from time to time, we all need assistance, support, and direction, and as such your therapist will work with you to establish goals for your therapy and begin to take the steps needed to move in that direction.
Counseling cannot be easily described, as it varies on the personalities of the therapist and the client, and the problems/situations brought to each session. Therapy calls for a very active effort on your part. In order for therapy to be successful, you will have to work on things we talk about during our sessions, both in session and at home. Therapy can have benefits and risks. Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of our lives, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, therapy has been shown by research to have benefits for people who have engaged in it. Therapy can lead to better relationships, the development of new skills, learning ways to cope with or solve problems, reducing feelings of distress, changing unwanted behaviors, and/or improving the sense of self and overall purpose in life. There are no guarantees of what you will experience in therapy. Therapy is a process of personal exploration and may lead to changes in your life. Together, we will work to achieve the best possible results for you.
Individual sessions cost from $125 to $250 per session. Clients pay $125 for a 53-minute telehealth session without the necessity to bill insurance. Payment is expected at the time of service via Simple Practice through Stripe. You are required to have a valid card, which can be billed at the time of your session on file. Insurance appointments will be billed at $175 per session, and insurance billing will be done through the secure client billing service Headway. Your insurance company will pay the contracted amount, which may be less than the billed amount. You will likely be responsible for some of the cost of your appointment as determined by your insurance company. Your benefits will be verified prior to your first appointment, and all billing will be completed through Headway. Headway will be responsible for collecting any patient portion of the cost of services.
Therapy is offered to Washington State residents in an online telehealth format via a secure HIPPA-compliant platform called Simple Practice. Documentation is provided and signed electronically within the client portal through Simple Practice and stored consistently with HIPAA and State rules and regulations. Should there be an interruption in telehealth service, your therapist will contact you by phone at the provided phone number to either arrange to reconnect on the platform to complete the session or to complete the session via telephone. Insurance billing, client billing, payment collection, and collection services are performed by a secure HIPPA-compliant platform called Headway.
One of the most important rights of the person seeking counseling is confidentiality. Information revealed by you during counseling sessions will be kept strictly confidential and will not be revealed to any other person or agency without your written permission with the following exceptions:
a. Ethical Duty to Warn. If an individual intends to take harmful, dangerous, or criminal action against another person or against themselves, the therapist can warn appropriate individuals or agencies of such intentions.
b. Abuse or Neglect. The actual or suspected acts of child, elder, or vulnerable person abuse (including but not limited to physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) WILL be reported to the appropriate agency by the therapist under mandatory reporting laws.
c. Court Subpoenas. When lawyers believe that a client's therapist may have valuable information for their case, they may subpoena notes, records, and in some instances, the therapist. IF legally required, we must comply with such requests for information.
d. Consultation and Supervision. Information about your case may be discussed in confidence with other counseling professionals for the purpose of consultation and/or supervision in an effort to provide you with the best possible service. Every effort will be made to maintain the confidentiality of your identity in consultation so that only the nature of the case is discussed.
You and your therapist will decide if your therapist is the best person to provide the services you need in order to meet your treatment goals during a 15-minute consultation call. Should you and your therapist decide to continue working together, we recommend meeting once a week at the time of your choosing. You are able to schedule therapy session with your therapist at the end of each session or by calling our office and scheduling with office staff. Should you not contact our office or schedule an appointment for four weeks, we will assume you want to terminate your episode of care. You will be terminated as a client per our policy, and the episode of care will end.
The laws and standards of our profession require that we keep client treatment records. We keep records noting the date, time, and the topic(s) we discussed. We may include information such as diagnosis, treatment plan, and goals, and progress toward goals as required by the ethical standards, your insurance company, and/or the law. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records, or we can prepare a summary for you. You have the right to request that we correct any perceived errors in your records. We maintain your records for 7 years after termination, and they are stored in a secure location that cannot be readily accessed by anyone else.
If your clinician has an emergency, they will notify you via the Simple Practice or Headway platforms. If they are unable to do so, you will be notified by an office staff member or their predetermined designee through the Simple Practice platform or by phone. If you have questions or concerns and are unable to contact your clinician, please send a message through the Simple Practice platform or call the office phone number. In the event of a clinician’s disappearance or death, the designee will contact you through the Simple Practice platform and will provide you with referrals for support and continuity of care. Sweet Relief Counseling Services will maintain your records according to ethical standards, applicable laws, and insurance requirements. Records requests should be sent to Sweet Relief Counseling Services office email address at office@sweetreliefcounselingservices.com
You have the right to ask questions about anything that happens in therapy. Your therapist is willing to discuss how and why they have decided to do what they are doing and to look at alternatives that might work better. You can feel free to ask your therapist to try something that you think will be helpful, as well as to refuse any counseling techniques offered. You can request to be referred to a different therapist if you decide your therapist is not the right therapist for you. You are free to leave therapy at any time, however, we would recommend that you participate in a termination session.
We can be reached at our office phone number 509-721-0290 and office email address office@sweetreliefcounselingservices.com. Our office will make every effort to return your message within 24 hours, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, with the exceptions of holidays and when we are engaged with other clients. If we will be unavailable for an extended time, we will notify you.
If you have an emergency between sessions, please visit your local hospital emergency room, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-8255, call 988, or call 911. Sweet Relief Counseling Services is NOT an emergency service for urgent or immediate care needs. If you are having an emergency, you are encouraged to call 911.
If you are under the age of 13 in Washington State, you will need to have a parent or guardian consent to your care. They will sign this form on your behalf and will have access to your client records. Both you and your parent/guardian will have the opportunity to read this document as able, discuss with your counselor, and ask any questions you may have about therapy.
If you are between 13 and 18 years of age, you are able to consent to care. The information you provide will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone without your consent with the same exceptions and limitations that are set above; in addition, we will act in your best interests in deciding whether to disclose confidential information to the legal guardians without your consent as set forth in the Washington Administrative Code. You can choose to release information to your parent(s) and/or guardian(s) by signing a release form. We encourage the involvement of parents and guardians in your treatment as appropriate as we believe it improves outcomes, however, please discuss your specific circumstances with your therapist.
Please be advised that under Washington State Law, minor children under the age of 13 will need your consent in order to access care. Minors between 13 and 18 years of age are able to consent to care without your consent. By law, they are afforded the same confidentiality rights and privileges as adult clients. They are able to sign a release that gives you access to their records; however, they are not required to do so.
Please note that we consider parental involvement important to positive treatment outcomes. We will act in the minor's best interests in deciding whether to disclose confidential information to the legal guardians without the minor's consent.
Practice Policies
Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. If you cancel or reschedule less than 24 hours in advance, you will be responsible for the entire $75 fee. 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. Billing will be adjusted according to applicable billing codes. If you are more than 10 minutes late, the session will be canceled, and you will be charged the $75 late cancelation fee.
The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is approximately 53 minutes, with 7 minutes allowed for documentation. The cost for a typical psychotherapy session is $175. Initial intake sessions with assessment cost $250. All appointment fees will be charged at the time of service. Client payment is always expected at time of service regardless of the method of payment or type of billing service. A $40.00 service charge will be charged for any checks returned for any reason for special handling and to cover incurred costs.
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Insurance: All insurance billing will be handled through Headway, and they will be responsible for any required insurance billing.
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Self-pay billing will be handled through Simple Practice by Stripe. A card number will be required prior to your first appointment.
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If you need to contact our office between sessions, please leave a message on our voice mail. We are often not immediately available; however, we will make every effort to return your call within 24 hours, Monday through Friday.
Sessions are primarily completed via telehealth in a face-to-face video and audio format. However, in some circumstances, face-to-face or limited phone sessions may be
available.
If an urgent need or an emergency situation arises, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800) 273-8255, local emergency responders at 9-1-1, Suicide Resource Line at 988, or go to any local emergency room. Emergency and urgent services are not available through Sweet Relief Counseling Services, and if you are having an emergency, you are encouraged to call 911.
Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual relationships, we do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). We know 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 the therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when you meet with your therapist, and they will be happy to talk with you about it.
Sweet Relief Counseling Services cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media, including text messages. Please use the secure client portal to send written messages or leave a message on our confidential voicemail.
While we aim to return messages in a timely manner, we cannot guarantee immediate response and 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 email are considered telehealth by the State of Washington. 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 on 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 to the therapist.
If you are a minor, your parents/guardians may be legally entitled to some information about your therapy. The therapist will discuss with you and your parents/guardians what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.
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.
Your therapist may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you and a termination process if they determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. They may also terminate treatment if they think that you are in need of a higher level of care or if they feel that you are in need of in-person therapy rather than telehealth services. They 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, they 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 or contact our office for four consecutive weeks, unless other arrangements have been made in advance, for legal and ethical reasons we must consider the professional relationship discontinued and end your episode of care.