Counseling Catholics.com Privacy Policy

Counseling Catholics.com is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust, and accordingly maintains the following privacy policy to protect personal information you provide online.

Basic Confidentiality Policy
It is Counseling Catholic.com policy that personal information, such as your name, postal and e-mail address or telephone number, counseling-related individual, couples and/or family communication is private and confidential. Accordingly, the personal information you provide is stored in a secure location, is accessible only by Maria E. Camejo, MS, LMHC, and is used only for the purposes for which you provide the information (to screen for and provide counseling).

No Release of Information to Third Parties
Personal information will not be released to third parties except if release is required by law. This includes an allegation, admission or suspicion of abuse or neglect. There are no other circumstances under which we will provide or sell personal information to third parties.

In addition, there are times when I am required to breach confidentiality.

*If I believe that you intend to hurt somebody I am required, by the Tarasoff Decision, to notify the intended victim.

*If I believe that you are involved in possible child abuse or neglect, or spouse abuse, or elder abuse, I am required by Florida law to notify the appropriate officials to make sure everybody is safe.

Confidentiality
As a National Board Certified Counselor I am required by a professional code of ethics to protect your confidentiality with every reasonable effort. It is never possible, however, to absolutely guarantee confidentiality. Conducting therapy through any form of electronic media (telephone, internet, video conference, etc) introduces unique opportunities for confidentiality to be breached. Here are some of the efforts I have taken to minimize the possibility of your confidentiality being compromised.

Firewalls
I have installed a firewall in my computer which helps to keep my files safe from hackers who may know how to access my computer while I am online. Also, I do not leave my computer online when I am not using it.

Code Words
If you chose, you can be identified, in all communications, by a code word that only you would know. This minimizes the possibility of somebody contacting me and pretending to be you.

Aliases
I encourage every client to utilize an alias in all communications with me to minimize the possibility of others stumbling upon our communications. I do need to have your real name and physical location on file, however, for legal and ethical reasons.

Unique e-mail accounts
Some clients may want to utilize free e-mail accounts provided by such operations as Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. in order to keep our communications out of the normal flow of traffic and to avoid accidental forwarding or other access (your children or spouse, for instance).

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Protected Health Information If you decide to participate in online therapy, the information you provide to me becomes Protected Health Information (PHI), with the exception of private psychotherapy notes. This type of information includes diagnostic descriptions, treatment information, types of services and outcomes or potential outcomes from the treatment process.

Types of Disclosures

Your (PHI) will not be disclosed without your express written permission except in the following cases:

Suspected child abuse or neglect. If you present information in a session or in an email that causes me to suspect you are involved in child abuse or neglect, I am obligated to report my suspicions to appropriate authorities in your area and will do so, even without your permission.

Threats of harm to yourself, another person or the public. If I have a clear and reasonable suspicion that you will harm yourself or another, I am obliged to contact local authorities.

As required by Federal Law Except in the above cases, I will not release any information concerning you to anyone without your written permission. Release of Information

I may ask you to sign a release of specific information for a particular person or agency. An example of this would be if I need to coordinate care with another therapist or a physician. In that case, I will email you a release form, ask you to sign it and return this form by regular mail. If you do sign a release of information and decide to withdraw it at some point, you can do that. Please email me with the request and follow it up with a written request by regular mail. No further release of information will occur after I receive the email.

Disclaimers

In order for you to appropriately utilize therapy conducted online, you need to be aware of the following: 1. Online therapy is still considered to be in the experimental stage. Little research has been done to measure its effectiveness. By contrast, face to face therapy has been studied extensively and most of these studies do demonstrate that utilizing therapy is effective in helping you change.

2. Psychotherapy, by definition, relies upon the use of "non-verbals" to help the therapist do the work. Non-verbals include posture, tone of voice, movements and everything else beyond the words. Non-verbals are not available in online therapy and this makes the interpretation of your communication much more difficult. Communication online can also be prone to misinterpretation. It is very important that both you and your therapist work hard at communicating effectively with one another.

3. It is possible to intercept email sent between a client and a therapist. However, it has been said that there is no greater likelihood of someone intercepting an email between client and counselor as there is someone eavesdropping on a face to face session. It is quite possible to misdirect email simply by not paying close attention to who you are replying. It is always suggested that 1) never send/receive personal email from a work computer 2) that you always double check the To: address box prior to clicking the send button. You are also welcome to check out the encryption programs available at little or no charge.

4. You are not in the physical presence of a therapist, which can be cause for concern. The therapist is better able to intervene with you if you both are in the same room. Concerns have also been expressed regarding if you therapist is in another state or country. If you do have a problem with your therapist, what recourse do you have? The recommendation usually is to work with a therapist who is licensed in the state where you live.

5. There are certain issues which are clearly inappropriate for online work. If you are SUICIDAL, YOU MUST SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY! YOU SHOULD CALL 911 or get yourself to an Emergency Room for an evaluation. You can also call 1-800-SUICIDE.

6. You will need to talk specifically about the issues you want to address online as a part of an assessment process.

7. You must be at least 18 years of age to access therapy online.

Questions

If you have questions about the privacy notice, please contact me at MaryCamejo@counselingcatholics.com. Further information concerning PHI can be obtained from:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Ave SW Washington, D.C. 20201