Please read this consent form carefully, as it describes the policies and procedures followed by your psychologist/therapist.
Types of Service Provided by Your Psychologist/Therapist: You will be interviewed and might be asked to fill out some questionnaires to assist in determining how best to help you. Sometimes, additional psychological testing is conducted, and the reasons for this will be discussed with you if it is relevant. Treatment usually involves individual meetings, but may also include family members or significant others in some individual sessions. The clinicians in this practice conduct psychotherapy and are not licensed to prescribe medications. Any medication must be prescribed elsewhere, and clinicians at ABHS are happy to coordinate care with prescribers as needed. All treatment will be conducted only with your consent.
What You Can Expect from Treatment: A specific, individualized treatment plan will be developed, tailored to your needs. You will often be expected to work on specific tasks outside the therapy sessions. This “homework” will be decided by you and your therapist together, and might include thinking about a particular issue, reading some relevant material, writing down a log of feelings or behaviors, or practicing a particular skill, for example. The duration of treatment is different for each person and can be difficult to estimate; your therapist will address any concerns that you have about this. If you are not feeling satisfied with your treatment for any reason, you are asked to discuss this directly with your therapist, who will work with you to uncover what might be preventing progress, will modify goals with you if appropriate, and will make a referral for you to (an)other professional(s) if necessary, and/or at your request. Sometimes people find that they have a temporary increase in their level of distress when beginning psychotherapy, because the process of working on personal issues can be difficult.
Confidentiality: What you discuss with your therapist is kept confidential, or private, with some exceptions. The therapist can, and must, break confidentiality to protect clients (such as yourself) or others in the event of emergencies such as threats of imminent harm that a client expresses towards himself/herself or others, and upon learning of any abuse or neglect of a child, a disabled person, or an elderly person. Certain information about you may also be shared with your insurance company if you choose to have insurance billed for your care. The Notice of Privacy Practices provides detailed information about how private information about your healthcare is protected and under what circumstances it may be shared.
The business name “Anxiety and Behavioral Health Services” is shared by Drs. McCreary and DeCola, each of whom maintain legally separate practices (through “limited liability companies,” or LLCs), but share certain costs to more efficiently provide services to clients. Ms. Piacquadio, Ms. Esworthy, and Ms. Silone are Independent Contractors in Dr. McCreary’s practice. In general, you will meet with only one of these therapists, and the notes about your sessions are private (seen only by your therapist). However, the therapists may share information about you with each other for purposes of vacation & leave time coverage, should you request assistance from one of the other therapists when your treating therapist is not available for an extended period. You will be billed by whichever therapist you see in the absence of your typical therapist.
Technology policy: Clinicians at ABHS do not connect with clientele on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. If you send an invitation to connect with your psychologist/therapist on one of these media, the invitation will not be accepted. In addition, clinicians do not conduct therapy by email or text messaging. Email and text messaging are acceptable only for scheduling purposes, and only with the permission of your individual therapist. Please talk with your therapist about his/her preferences for contact, and whether or not that contact (with texts and emails, even for scheduling) is private and secure, as most email and texting platforms are not. ABHS typically provides in-person therapeutic services. A separate consent form must be signed when services are to be delivered via online video or telephone platforms.