Pacific Professional Associates

Orientation and General Policy Statement 
 

Welcome to treatment at Pacific Professional Associates.  We are here to help and support your efforts to understand and improve your functioning as well as to provide a venue to comply with any applicable legal requirements.  

We are committed to providing you with the best possible care, and we are pleased to discuss our professional fees and policies with you at any time.  Compliance with the structure we have developed to facilitate your treatment is integral to treatment process and your clear understanding of our Policy is important to our professional relationship.  Please ask if you have any questions about this.  FULL PAYMENT IS DUE AT THE TIME OF SERVICE 

REGARDING INSURANCE & FEES

On your first visit, and there is a $35 intake fee.  We subsequently charge a usual and customary fee of $60.00 per group session and between $140.00 and $75.00 per hour for individual sessions.  A sliding scale is available for those with special circumstances.  Documentation will be required if fee adjustment is requested. On subsequent visits, while we will not bill your insurance directly, we will assist you in any way we can (diagnosis, treatment protocol, etc.) to obtain reimbursement from your insurance company if applicable.  

We may bill for Medical/Medi Care and VOC cases. Ask us about these in advance.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Communications between client and therapist are confidential, in accord with professional ethics and in compliance with the law.  However, California law also specifies certain limitations to this confidentiality.  While these limits may not be at all relevant to your particular situation, we are legally obligated to inform you about them.  The following are conditions in which disclosure can be made without your consent.  We must disclose information: 

1.  In order to protect you or others if

1. you present a danger to yourself and refuse to accept appropriate treatment;
2. you tell us of an actual threat to harm another person
3. you have a history of violence and there is cause to believe you pose a danger of physical danger to another.

2. In case of child or elder abuse, which must be reported to the proper state agencies.

3. In order to collect debts or to protect ourselves in a court action.
4. In certain legal proceedings should a court of law issue an order requiring the release of confidential information.
5. With colleagues about our work with you (never revealing your identity) to provide the best services possible.  In any case, only appropriate and necessary information will be provided.

 

Of course, whenever you wish to give expression, written consent, we can share information about you.  When we are working with you and your family (or spouse), it is important that nothing that anyone says during a session be used against him or her outside of the session.  Likewise, we will never discuss one member of the family with another during any individual sessions that might occur adjunctively with couples or family work unless one of the above conditions is present. 
 
 

ATTENDANCE AND VACATION

It is the policy of PPA for clients who miss 50% of the sessions or two consecutive sessions for two months without making them up to be dropped as an active client.  Each client is allowed only two vacation absences per year without a need to make these sessions up.  Please request a form from the office.  Any other missed sessions must be made up subsequently.

PUNCTUALITY

Late arrivals to group therapy sessions disrupt sometimes sensitive exchanges, and are counterproductive to the progress of the group.  No one will be admitted after the first 20 minutes of a group session.  In the event of an arrival after this time, the session will be considered “missed” and must be made-up as described below.   

MISSED APPOINTMENTS

Our Policy is to charge for all missed appointments except the sessions that are canceled by this office or by you with at least 24 hours’ notice.  We do require that you “make-up” these missed sessions.  Special make-up sessions are offered periodically.  Alternatively you may attend a Cognitive Lab session or schedule an individual session at the appropriate rate. 

PROGRESS REPORT REQUESTS

It is very important for you to understand that if you need a progress report to be sent to a probation officer, an attorney, yourself, etc., you must fill out a form with all the pertinent information.  This form is available upon your request. You may also opt to have a monthly report sent to your probation officer automatically, and we encourage you to do so. 

In the case of specially written reports, for timely completion, you need to request the report THREE WEEKS prior to the date needed.  PROGRESS REPORTS will NOT be given, if ACCOUNT is NOT CURRENT.  We ask that you limit your requests for special written reports to two per year, or one every six months.  Additional requests (2^nd within a six month period, or 3^rd within one year) will be processed upon payment of an additional regular session charge. 

We recommend that any report which will be presented to a third party be addressed to that party.  We may write the report with a somewhat different focus depending on the recipient.  Our reports are customarily based on your attendance, participation (quantity and quality) and goal-directedness, as determined on a per-session basis with the use of numerical ratings.