TERMS & PRIVACY POLICIES
At Bay Area Community Counseling (BACC) we value and are legally committed to protecting your confidentiality and privacy. Below, you can read more about different elements of confidentiality and privacy and the circumstances that affect it.
As part of being seen through BACC, our administrative assistants and non-clinical interns who handle our accounting and record storage will have access to some information but are bound by a confidentiality agreement. They may also be scoring questionnaires that you have filled out for your therapist, in order to maximize efficiency and cost effectiveness for clients. Again, they are all bound to confidentiality.
The laws and standards of this profession require that your therapist keeps treatment records. At BACC, we use an electronic health record service called ntreatment.com or sessionshealth.com. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records, or your therapist can In general, the privacy of all communications between a patient and a therapist are protected by law, and the therapist can only release information about your work to others with your written permission. But there are a few exceptions.
1. Certain Legal Proceedings (e.g., Child Custody, Emotional Condition) - In most legal proceedings, you have the right to prevent your therapist from providing any information about your treatment. In some proceedings involving child custody and those in which your emotional condition is an important issue (e.g., lawsuit for PTSD from a car accident), a judge may order your therapist’s testimony or a copy of records if they determine that the issues demand it. Your therapist will first assert that patient information is privileged and protected by confidentiality, but may be compelled by a court order, and will usually try to negotiate a treatment summary, rather than all notes. There are some situations in which your therapist is legally obligated to take action to protect others from harm, even if they must reveal some information about a patient’s treatment. For example, if they believe that a child, elderly person, or disabled person is being abused, they must file a report with the appropriate state agency.
2. Child Abuse (Physical – anything leaving a mark, Sexual – including certain considerations between adolescents and young adults, sexting, personal photos with nudity) - Child abuse entails physical abuse (anything that leaves a mark or bruise), neglect (failure to provide food, clothing, supervision, shelter, or medical care) and sexual abuse (this includes sexual contact with an adult although there are some circumstances where the therapist has to report when two teenagers are having sexual contact). The therapist must report if the child is 13 years old or under and there is any sexual contact with another person over the age of 13. If the child is 14 or 15 years old, and is having sex with someone 21 or older, or any “lewd and lascivious” conduct with someone 10 years or older, the therapist is mandated to make a child abuse report. If there is sexual assault of anyone under the age of 18, this must be reported. State law mandates that therapists also make a report of child abuse related to any photos or videos with sexual content of a minor, even if that minor is the one who created it and shared it consensually. If the client is 18 or older, and the abuse happened as a child, the therapist is not mandated to report child abuse unless they have reasonable suspicion that the abuser may be abusing another child currently.
3. Elder Abuse (including self-neglect, financial abuse) – Elder abuse is reportable when the person is over 65 and they are being physically abused (anything leaving a mark), are being isolated, neglected (including self-neglect like not taking their medication, showing, keeping themselves safe), sexually abused, or have been abandoned.
4. Dependent Adult - Anyone over 18 whose care is dependent upon others (e.g., due to physical, psychological, or mental disability) – If your therapist is told about current child, elder, or dependent adult abuse that is occurring, even if it’s not related to their client, (for example you tell your therapist about your neighbor abusing their child), then they must report this. These precautions are laws of California in order to protect those who may not be able to protect themselves. If your therapist were to ever make a report of abuse, they would almost always discuss it with you first, unless they thought it might endanger someone or themselves. Your therapist may also collaborate with you on helping you to report the abuse yourself, or having you involved in the process if you’d like.
5. Serious Threat of Physical Violence to Another - If your therapist believes that a patient is threatening serious bodily harm to another, they have the duty to consult with a colleague, and determine whether they should take protective actions. These actions may include notifying the potential victim, contacting the police, or seeking hospitalization for the patient. Also, if someone else tells the therapist that their client may be preparing to seriously bodily harm another, they are also required to take protective actions.
6. Harm to Self/Suicide - Lastly, if the patient threatens to harm himself/herself, the therapist may be obligated to seek hospitalization for them or to contact family members or others who can help provide protection. Your therapist will discuss this with you, and they may look at the option of hospitalization if they are concerned that you are in danger of committing suicide. This should not prohibit you from discussing suicidal thoughts or feelings, as these thoughts and feelings are not uncommon. It is when there is an indication of a serious intent to harm oneself that the therapist may have to break confidentiality to protect the patient from taking their own life, for example a statement like: “I’m going to kill myself with _______ that I have at home.”
The above situations have rarely occurred in practice. If a similar situation occurs, your therapist will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action.
1. Certain Legal Proceedings (e.g., Child Custody, Emotional Condition) - In most legal proceedings, you have the right to prevent your therapist from providing any information about your treatment. In some proceedings involving child custody and those in which your emotional condition is an important issue (e.g., lawsuit for PTSD from a car accident), a judge may order your therapist’s testimony or a copy of records if they determine that the issues demand it. Your therapist will first assert that patient information is privileged and protected by confidentiality, but may be compelled by a court order, and will usually try to negotiate a treatment summary, rather than all notes. There are some situations in which your therapist is legally obligated to take action to protect others from harm, even if they must reveal some information about a patient’s treatment. For example, if they believe that a child, elderly person, or disabled person is being abused, they must file a report with the appropriate state agency.
2. Child Abuse (Physical – anything leaving a mark, Sexual – including certain considerations between adolescents and young adults, sexting, personal photos with nudity) - Child abuse entails physical abuse (anything that leaves a mark or bruise), neglect (failure to provide food, clothing, supervision, shelter, or medical care) and sexual abuse (this includes sexual contact with an adult although there are some circumstances where the therapist has to report when two teenagers are having sexual contact). The therapist must report if the child is 13 years old or under and there is any sexual contact with another person over the age of 13. If the child is 14 or 15 years old, and is having sex with someone 21 or older, or any “lewd and lascivious” conduct with someone 10 years or older, the therapist is mandated to make a child abuse report. If there is sexual assault of anyone under the age of 18, this must be reported. State law mandates that therapists also make a report of child abuse related to any photos or videos with sexual content of a minor, even if that minor is the one who created it and shared it consensually. If the client is 18 or older, and the abuse happened as a child, the therapist is not mandated to report child abuse unless they have reasonable suspicion that the abuser may be abusing another child currently.
3. Elder Abuse (including self-neglect, financial abuse) – Elder abuse is reportable when the person is over 65 and they are being physically abused (anything leaving a mark), are being isolated, neglected (including self-neglect like not taking their medication, showing, keeping themselves safe), sexually abused, or have been abandoned.
4. Dependent Adult - Anyone over 18 whose care is dependent upon others (e.g., due to physical, psychological, or mental disability) – If your therapist is told about current child, elder, or dependent adult abuse that is occurring, even if it’s not related to their client, (for example you tell your therapist about your neighbor abusing their child), then they must report this. These precautions are laws of California in order to protect those who may not be able to protect themselves. If your therapist were to ever make a report of abuse, they would almost always discuss it with you first, unless they thought it might endanger someone or themselves. Your therapist may also collaborate with you on helping you to report the abuse yourself, or having you involved in the process if you’d like.
5. Serious Threat of Physical Violence to Another - If your therapist believes that a patient is threatening serious bodily harm to another, they have the duty to consult with a colleague, and determine whether they should take protective actions. These actions may include notifying the potential victim, contacting the police, or seeking hospitalization for the patient. Also, if someone else tells the therapist that their client may be preparing to seriously bodily harm another, they are also required to take protective actions.
6. Harm to Self/Suicide - Lastly, if the patient threatens to harm himself/herself, the therapist may be obligated to seek hospitalization for them or to contact family members or others who can help provide protection. Your therapist will discuss this with you, and they may look at the option of hospitalization if they are concerned that you are in danger of committing suicide. This should not prohibit you from discussing suicidal thoughts or feelings, as these thoughts and feelings are not uncommon. It is when there is an indication of a serious intent to harm oneself that the therapist may have to break confidentiality to protect the patient from taking their own life, for example a statement like: “I’m going to kill myself with _______ that I have at home.”
The above situations have rarely occurred in practice. If a similar situation occurs, your therapist will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action.
As part of being seen at BACC, your therapist will obtain supervision from other professionals about their work with you. This may be an outside consultant or another licensed therapist who is part of BACC. During a consultation, your therapist will prepare a summary for you instead. Because these are professional records, they can be misinterpreted and/or upsetting to untrained readers. If you wish to see your records, we recommend that you review them in your therapist’s presence so that you can discuss the contents. Clients will be charged an appropriate fee for any professional time spent in responding to information requests.
If you are under eighteen years of age, please be aware that the law may provide your parents the right to examine your treatment records. It is our policy to request an agreement from parents that they agree to give up access to your records. If they agree, your therapist will provide them only with general information about your work together, unless they feel there is a high risk that you will seriously harm yourself or someone else. In this case, your therapist will talk with you and encourage you to discuss the issue with them, otherwise your therapist may have to notify them of their concern. In the paragraph below, we explain to your parents that your therapist may not tell them information, even if you are engaging in high-risk behavior such as drug use, risky sexual behavior, or other risky behavior, but your therapist will work with you and your family to encourage you to discuss these issues at some point. Before giving your parents any information, your therapist will discuss the matter with you, if possible, and do their best to handle any objections you may have with what they are prepared to discuss. In general, what you talk about with your therapists is private and your therapist will consult with you before any information is brought into family therapy, but please also let your therapist know if there is something that you don’t want them to tell your parents and they will do their best to hold that confidential (see limits of confidentiality in the confidentiality section of this document).
If you are a parent of a child under the age of 18 years old, you will be required to participate in treatment as family involvement greatly increases the likelihood of treatment success. When working with children and their families, we will be open with information that is exchanged, rather than the traditional confidentiality, but your therapist will talk with you and your children first about discussing anything you have told your therapist privately. Not everything is appropriate for everyone in the family to know and in some cases, information must be kept private to maintain a trusting relationship between the therapist and minor. Your therapist will tell you if your child is in danger (see limits confidentiality section), but your child may not discuss high-risk behavior unless your therapist makes it safe. This means that your therapist may not report substance use, risky sexual behavior, or other risky behaviors right away. Your therapist will work with your child in helping them to talk to you about these issues and will work with you to improve your communication with your child around these issues. Lastly, when having an individual session with a child or teen, we require that an adult accompany the child to the session, check in with the therapist at the beginning of the session and be available to come in at the end of the session if needed. Please do not drop your child off and leave or make other plans during the session time.
If you are a parent of a child under the age of 18 years old, you will be required to participate in treatment as family involvement greatly increases the likelihood of treatment success. When working with children and their families, we will be open with information that is exchanged, rather than the traditional confidentiality, but your therapist will talk with you and your children first about discussing anything you have told your therapist privately. Not everything is appropriate for everyone in the family to know and in some cases, information must be kept private to maintain a trusting relationship between the therapist and minor. Your therapist will tell you if your child is in danger (see limits confidentiality section), but your child may not discuss high-risk behavior unless your therapist makes it safe. This means that your therapist may not report substance use, risky sexual behavior, or other risky behaviors right away. Your therapist will work with your child in helping them to talk to you about these issues and will work with you to improve your communication with your child around these issues. Lastly, when having an individual session with a child or teen, we require that an adult accompany the child to the session, check in with the therapist at the beginning of the session and be available to come in at the end of the session if needed. Please do not drop your child off and leave or make other plans during the session time.
When working with a couple or family, information that is exchanged is seen as being within the context of the couple or family. This means that your therapist cannot hold secrets between members of the couple or family, although not all information shared needs to be known by all members involved in the therapy. Your therapist will make every attempt to talk to you before bringing information into the family or couple therapy and will always be working towards the goals of the couple and family rather than one person’s goals over another’s. When working in a couples or family therapy framework, your therapist will sometimes meet with people individually, in dyads, or in larger groups. Immediate family members, extended family members, friends, and/or other individuals involved in the therapy will also have the privileges described above. When one person in a couple is communicating with the therapist separately by phone, email or text, the therapist will bring this up in the session, and may respond to emails including both partners. In cases where safety is an issue, or there needs to be some therapeutic care in dealing with an issue, the therapist will use their best judgment to determine how to share that information and when, in collaboration with the client.
We ask that all our clients report to their therapist whether they are involved in legal proceedings at the beginning of therapy, and whether legal proceedings arise in the course of therapy. A client’s involvement in legal proceedings may affect the confidentiality of the treatment, the treatment may affect the legal proceedings, and/or the legal proceedings may be in conflict with the therapy.
Divorce & Child Custody - We ask that our clients who are seen in couples or family therapy agree that their therapist will not be involved in legal proceedings that involve divorce or child custody. This means, among other things, that you will treat anything that is said in session with your therapist as confidential. Neither of you will attempt to gain advantage in any legal proceeding between the two of you from your therapist’s involvement with you as a couple or with your child(ren). This is required because the therapist is not in the role of a child custody evaluator, or other specialist. In particular, we need your agreement that in any such proceedings, neither of you will ask your therapist to testify in court, whether in person, or by affidavit. You also agree to instruct your attorneys not to subpoena your therapist or to refer in any court filing to anything your therapist has said or done.
Note: Such an agreement may not prevent a judge from requiring your therapist’s testimony, even though your therapist will work to prevent such an event. If your therapist is required to testify, they are ethically bound not to give their opinion about either parent’s custody or visitation suitability. If the court appoints a custody evaluator, guardian ad litem, or parenting coordinator, your therapist will provide information as needed (if appropriate releases are signed or a court order is provided), but they will not make any recommendation about the final decision. Furthermore, if they are required to appear as a witness, the party responsible for the therapist’s participation agrees to reimburse them at 2 times the agreed upon hourly rate for time spent traveling, preparing reports, testifying, being in attendance, and any other case-related costs (see professional fees above).
Divorce & Child Custody - We ask that our clients who are seen in couples or family therapy agree that their therapist will not be involved in legal proceedings that involve divorce or child custody. This means, among other things, that you will treat anything that is said in session with your therapist as confidential. Neither of you will attempt to gain advantage in any legal proceeding between the two of you from your therapist’s involvement with you as a couple or with your child(ren). This is required because the therapist is not in the role of a child custody evaluator, or other specialist. In particular, we need your agreement that in any such proceedings, neither of you will ask your therapist to testify in court, whether in person, or by affidavit. You also agree to instruct your attorneys not to subpoena your therapist or to refer in any court filing to anything your therapist has said or done.
Note: Such an agreement may not prevent a judge from requiring your therapist’s testimony, even though your therapist will work to prevent such an event. If your therapist is required to testify, they are ethically bound not to give their opinion about either parent’s custody or visitation suitability. If the court appoints a custody evaluator, guardian ad litem, or parenting coordinator, your therapist will provide information as needed (if appropriate releases are signed or a court order is provided), but they will not make any recommendation about the final decision. Furthermore, if they are required to appear as a witness, the party responsible for the therapist’s participation agrees to reimburse them at 2 times the agreed upon hourly rate for time spent traveling, preparing reports, testifying, being in attendance, and any other case-related costs (see professional fees above).
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Mobile SMS Messaging Privacy Policy:
Information collected: We may collect information, such as name, phone number, and email address.
Use of information collected: We may use the information we collect to perform the services requested including billing, customer service, appointment reminders and other administrative requests.
Sharing of information collected: Mobile information will not be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. This includes text messaging opt-in data and consent.
As a current or prospective customer, you understand that you can text us STOP at any time to opt out of receiving SMS text messages from us. You can text us HELP at any time to receive help.
You understand that the messaging frequency may vary. Messaging & data rates may apply.
All policies are followed as per CTIA guidelines 5.2.1. At any time if you want your information to be removed, you can contact us via our email address or regular mail.
Mobile SMS Messaging Privacy Policy:
Information collected: We may collect information, such as name, phone number, and email address.
Use of information collected: We may use the information we collect to perform the services requested including billing, customer service, appointment reminders and other administrative requests.
Sharing of information collected: Mobile information will not be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. This includes text messaging opt-in data and consent.
As a current or prospective customer, you understand that you can text us STOP at any time to opt out of receiving SMS text messages from us. You can text us HELP at any time to receive help.
You understand that the messaging frequency may vary. Messaging & data rates may apply.
All policies are followed as per CTIA guidelines 5.2.1. At any time if you want your information to be removed, you can contact us via our email address or regular mail.