Terms of Service

SERVICES PROVIDED:

We provide group, family, couple and/or individual therapy.  The type chosen will depend on your presenting issues and treatment needs. Please see our website for a detailed description of services we provide, and speak with your therapist about the modality that will be best for you. We also conduct teletherapy (video or phone therapy) for clients who are residents of Illinois and desire this service. The terms and modality of the treatment, may change based on your treatment needs and recommendation of your therapist. These changes will be discussed and agreed upon between you and your therapist. We may also terminate treatment and recommend a different provider based on our clinical judgment..

CONTACTING US:

If you need to contact us between sessions, please send an email or leave a message on our voice mail. We can generally return your call or email within 48 hours, but cannot  guarantee that time frame. In the case of a serious, life-threatening emergency, you should call 911 for assistance or go to the nearest emergency room. You should call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255) or text the Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) if you are at risk of self harm. Communication through unencrypted email and text messages may not be secure. We may use text or email to send appointment reminders, billing, and treatment tools, and your Protected Health Information may be transmitted in this way. 

FEES AND INSURANCE:

Please note that we do not work directly with insurance and are considered an out-of-network provider. We can give you a receipt to submit for potential out of network reimbursement with your insurance company. Please make any request for a receipt by email. Payments can be made by credit or debit card only. Payments will be collected at the time of service. The client’s session fee is $175 per 60 minute session.

PAYMENT OF SERVICES:

Payment to Hohm Psychotherapy is required.  Hohm Psychotherapy reserves the right to cancel all future appointments, and/or revoke the ability to book future appointments if a payment is disputed, outstanding, or returned. Disputing charges from us could be considered fraud. Hohm Psychotherapy reserves the right to provide proof of legitimate charge. Clients are required to have a credit card on file, regardless of the type of service received. Any outstanding fees will be charged to the credit card on file.

APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS

Cancellations and re-scheduled 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. Emergencies will be allowed when appropriate. If you schedule set weekly or biweekly appointment times with your therapist, and reschedule or cancel 2 sessions in a row or within a one month period, your therapist reserves the right to remove you from their schedule. At that point you may schedule on an as-needed basis, or receive referrals for other therapy centers.

CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES:

Social Media Policy: To maintain a professional relationship with you, we ask that you refrain from adding your therapist on social media. 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, Instagram, 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.

Substance Use Policy:

Substance Use Policy: In order to make sure that therapy can be most effective for you, we ask that you come to therapy sober. If you are prescribed any medication that may affect your state of mind, you should take it as prescribed; if it negatively affects your therapy experience we may ask that you choose a different time to meet when you can be fully present.

No Secrets Policy: In the context of family and couple therapy, in order to maintain an equal and fair relationship with all parties, we ask that you not share anything privately with your therapist that you would not feel comfortable being brought up with everyone involved in the therapy. There may be exceptions to this, such as if something you need to tell your therapist may cause harm to you if it was told to your family or partner.

Zero Tolerance Policy:

Hohm Psychotherapy has zero tolerance for verbal or physical abuse, the use of racial slurs, or exhibiting, carrying out, or displaying discriminatory behavior in any form while receiving treatment or interacting with employees of our practice. What constitutes abuse or discrimination is in the sole discretion of Hohm Psychotherapy, LLC. By signing this agreement, you acknowledge this policy and agree not to use racial slurs, partake in discriminatory actions, or display abusive behavior. If we determine, upon an investigation, that this Zero Tolerance Policy was violated, we will terminate the client relationship in a way that is compatible with our internal client termination policies and ethical requirements, and will ultimately refer the client in violation out of the practice.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS:

We will not testify on your behalf in any court proceedings, including custody disputes, either orally (including deposition) or in writing. If we are required to testify, the client agrees to pay for all the time spent on such testimony ($500 per hour) including travel time, attendance, preparation, attorney fees, and related costs. If there is a legal dispute between you and us, the parties agree to go to mediation first, not court.

CONSULTATION FOR THERAPISTS:

Here at Hohm Psychotherapy, we find it essential to continuously seek to improve and maintain our skills as therapists so as to best serve you. We have consultation groups run by a fully licensed therapist. Your therapist needs supervision and consultation in order to discuss questions they have about how they can help you. In these settings, only your first initial will be used along with some demographic information, and every care will be taken to maintain your confidentiality.

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. We may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you and a termination process if we determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if you are in default on payment. We 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, we 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, we must consider the professional relationship discontinued.

CONSENT FOR TREATMENT:

You have taken a positive step by deciding to seek therapy, and the outcome of your treatment depends largely on your willingness to engage in this process, which may, at times, result in considerable discomfort. Remembering unpleasant events and becoming aware of feelings attached to those events can bring on strong feelings of anger, depression, anxiety, etc. However, psychotherapy often results in significant benefits including decreased feelings of distress, improved relationships, and improved emotional regulation. Simply put, it’s possible that you might feel worse before you feel better.

We cannot promise that your behavior or circumstance will change. We can promise to support you and do our very best to understand you and repeating patterns, as well as to help you clarify what it is that you want for yourself. Psychotherapy is both an art and a science, and the outcome largely depends upon your participation as a client. If therapy does not seem to be helpful, there are alternatives we will explore with you such as referrals to different therapists, changing the modality, referrals for psychiatry or medical intervention, etc.