Note this page includes the Office Policy and Client Service agreements for both individual clients and those who participate in any of my online programs, groups, and circles.
Welcome to my practice. This page contains information about my professional services and business policies. It also contains summary information about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which I am required by law to inform you of. Please read it carefully and discuss any questions you may have about it with me. Once you sign this as an individual client, or register for one of my online programs, groups, or circles, it will constitute a binding agreement between us.
Therapeutic Services: Trauma processing work is not easily described in general statements. It’s nature and success varies depending upon both the personality of the client and the practitioner. There are a number of approaches to address the problems you bring. Effective treatment requires openness, an attitude of collaboration and your willingness to invest both time and effort between sessions. The success of this work cannot be guaranteed because the outcome is in part your responsibility. I will utilize my experience, education, and training to work with you productively, and will perform my services in a professionally competent manner.
Trauma processing has both benefits and risks. Risks sometimes include experiencing uncomfortable levels of feelings like sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. This work often requires recalling unpleasant aspects of your history. Trauma processing work has also been shown to have benefits for people who undertake it. If often leads to a significant reduction of feelings of distress, better relationships, and resolution of specific problems.
My usual practice is to conduct an evaluation approximately 90 minutes in length. This time is spent during the initial 30-minute consultation and during the initial 60-minute Intake session. By the end of the evaluation, I will be able to offer you some initial impressions of what our work could include and together we will create an initial progress plan. You should evaluate this information along with your own assessment about whether you feel comfortable working with me. Trauma processing work often involves a large commitment of time, money and energy so you should be very mindful and intentional about the practitioner you select. If you have questions about my procedures, we should discuss them whenever they arise. If your doubts persist, I will be happy to help you secure an appropriate consultation with another professional.
Ethics and Professional Standards: I have a master’s degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy from Saybrook University, have had supervised pre- and post-degree clinical experience, and am currently receiving clinical supervision. I am accountable for my work with you. If you have any concerns about the course of treatment or my behavior, please discuss them with me. You have the right to terminate your treatment with me at any time, to seek another opinion, and to be provided with the names of other therapists if you wish.
The competent and ethical practice of trauma processing work, dictate that I participate in regular case consultation with other licensed professionals. Should I obtain consultation regarding your situation, I will not disclose your name or other identifying information, in order to preserve your confidentiality to the best of my ability. Your signature on this policy statement serves as consent that I may obtain consultation regarding your treatment (on an anonymous basis) without a specific release to do so.
Confidentiality: All information you disclose is confidential and will generally not be released without your specific written permission. However, the law requires exceptions to this in three situations: suspected child abuse or abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult, threatened harm to self or others, or if individuals are gravely disabled and not able to care for themselves. Furthermore, the Uniform Health Care Information Act permits professionals treating the same patient to communicate with each other in order to facilitate continuity of care. In some instances, the court can subpoena confidential information, however you would have the right to seek a protective order blocking me from releasing information. These situations rarely arise in my practice. Should such a situation occur, I would make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action. Please discuss any questions you may have about these situations with me so you may understand how they might potentially affect you.
You may communicate with me via email or via WhatsApp. Please be aware that I cannot guarantee that email communication will be private, though I will endeavor to keep those communications secure. WhatsApp is an encrypted texting platform, is more secure than email, however still not 100% guaranteed that all messages will remain private. Therefore, it is suggested that very personal information be communicated in our Zoom sessions.
If you are under 18, the law permits your parents to examine your treatment records. This work is generally most successful if parents agree to allow you to keep your treatment with me confidential, apart from general information I might discuss with them about how your treatment is progressing, and unless I have serious concerns about your safety and well-being in which case I will inform them of my concern. Before doing so, I will discuss the matter with you.
Social Media: You are welcome to “friend” or “follow” me on any of the various social media platforms I am on. Please note that I will not “follow” or “friend” you back. For Facebook, I will “unfollow” you but remain “friends” so you can see my posts that relate to trauma, grief, embodiment, and their intersections. I encourage clients to not contact me directly via social media as none of them are HIPAA compliant and I am unable to control what happens with the text logs of any private messages. You are welcome to comment on or “like” any of my posts that you are able to see.
Messaging Platforms: I use a variety of messaging platforms to stay connected with family and friends, and if you also use these platforms you may “see” me there. I request that you only use WhatsApp and or email to connect with me outside of our sessions and to NOT connect with me on any other platforms you may see me on (like Marco Polo, House Party, Skype, etc). Thank you for respecting my privacy in this way, as I will also respect yours.
Commitment: All new individual clients are asked to commit to an initial period of three months. This commitment is both financial and time. Should you decide to terminate our working relationship prior to the initial three-month agreement and after our second full sixty-minute meeting, payment for any of the remaining sessions within this time period will be expected.
Appointments: During our initial consultation session we will schedule our sessions for the duration of our working relationship. I require 48-hour notice to cancel an appointment. Appointments canceled with less than 48-hour notice will be considered “used.” If a missed appointment is rescheduled (with less than 48-hours notice) this “reschedule” is considered an additional appointment and additional payment will be expected.
I am typically in the office Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and alternating Saturdays. If you need to reach me emergently outside these hours, you may email me or connect with me via WhatsApp and I will respond as quickly as possible.
Fees and Payments: I offer a sliding scale fee schedule as follows:
Live (Zoom) Sessions: Minimum of bi-weekly and an initial three-month commitment:
OPTION 1 :: $140/session (suggested fee for those with annual household incomes of $90K or more)
OPTION 2 :: $125/session (suggested fee for those with annual household incomes of $75K-$89,999)
OPTION 3 :: $110/session (suggested fee for those with annual household incomes of $55K-$74,999)
OPTION 4 :: $95/session (suggested fee for those with annual household incomes of less than $54,999 USD)
Session Recordings: $60 per month (includes downloadable audio files of all Zoom sessions each month plus secure storage of recordings on my server for six months.)
I charge my prorated full hourly fee ($140) for any other time spent rendering professional services on your behalf, such as time spent on extended phone calls, report writing or conferring with other professionals. In unusual circumstances, you may become involved in a legal proceeding, which might require my participation. Because of the complexity and difficulty of legal work, I charge $250 per hour for my time preparing for or attending any legal proceedings.
My fee will increase annually, with the next increase occurring in January 2021. You will receive 30- days written notice of fee increases prior to adjustment to monthly payments. Fee increases will not exceed 10% annually.
You are responsible for your account. I will also provide you links to set up your automatic payments. Should any payment be “skipped” by PayPal more than once due to insufficient funds I will require payment in full of the remainder of our committed time working together (a minimum of 30 days and maximum of three months).
If your account is more than 30 days in arrears and suitable arrangements for payment have not been made, I have the right to use legal means to secure payment, including turning your account over to a collections agency or hiring an attorney (which would require disclosing some limited confidential information). You will also be charged 12% annual fee until payment is made in full. Should financial difficulties arise in the course of your treatment, these would best be dealt with by discussing them with me as soon as possible, so that we may discuss your options.
Initial Commitment & Termination of Services: By signing this document, you agree to the initial commitment of three months as defined above. I believe it takes approximately that much time for our relationship to begin to get into its own rhythm and for you to begin to see results.
If at any time after our first two sixty-minute meetings and during the initial three-month commitment you would like to terminate our working relationship, payment for the remainder of this initial three month commitment will be due.
If you wish to terminate our working relationship after the initial three-month commitment, I require 30-days advanced notice for biweekly clients and 15 days for weekly clients. This allows us time to close our working relationship and to review and process our work together. This also requires that payments continue to be made during this 30- or 15-day notice period. If you choose not to have any further sessions after you have given your thirty or fifteen day notice, sessions that would have been scheduled during that time are expected to be paid for.
Participants in online or in-person Groups, Programs, and Circles: By registering and making the initial payment for any of my groups, programs or circles you agree to pay the full amount for the entire program, and to continue payments even if you choose to stop participation in the group, program, or circle. Should you cancel payments prior to the full amount being paid, your account will be sent into collections for the remaining amount due.
Suspension of Working Relationship: From time to time clients may need to suspend our working relationship for one to three months. Examples of this could be an extended vacation, school exams, attending to an ill or dying relative, etc. In these instances I request as much advance notice as possible. Additionally, payments for services are to continue during this time of suspension. As notice for “canceled” sessions will exceed the 48-hour requirement, we will reschedule the “canceled” appointments once we return to our regular sessions. Continued payment allows me to keep your current time and day slot available and insures there will be space for you to return to my practice at the fee we have agreed to. Should you decide not to continue payment during the “suspension” it will be assumed you wish to terminate services and therefore the 30-day advance notice requirement stated above will be in effect.
Records: Both the law and the standards of my profession require that I keep a record of services I provide to you. Except in the unusual circumstance that I might conclude that disclosure could reasonably cause danger to the life or safety of you or another person, or violate another’s confidentiality, you have a right to see that record, if you request to do so in writing. Because these are professional records, they can be misinterpreted and/or be upsetting. If you should wish to see your records, it is best for us to review them together so that we can discuss what they contain. You will be charged for any preparation time or copying fees, which are required to comply with an information request, and I may withhold your record until the fees are paid. HIPAA provides you with specific rights regarding your clinical records. You should review the accompanying Policies and Practices document in which these are described in detail.
Assignment, Release and Financial Agreement: Your signature for individual client and your initial payment for any of my online group programs indicates that you have read, understand, and agree to these policies, and that you accept responsibility for payment of fees in accordance with the terms and conditions described. You also agree to grant Gwynn Raimondi, MA, LMFTA permission to perform an evaluation of you or your child, if he/she is the client, and to employ such established trauma processing treatments as may be deemed professionally necessary to address your specific concerns. Your signature also acknowledges receipt of the HIPAA rules: Notice of Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Health Care Information. This authorization constitutes informed consent without exception.