Privacy and the Use of Electronic Communication

For licensed mental health professionals, confidentiality is protected by a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

As a therapist, I am obligated to ensure the confidentiality of the personal information that you share with me. The only exceptions to this obligation occur if I am concerned that you are going to harm yourself or someone else, or when the safety of a child is involved.

The transmission of client information by email and/or texting has a number of risks that clients should consider prior to the use of email and/or texting. These include, but are not limited to, the following risks:

• Email and texts can be circulated, forwarded, stored electronically and on paper, and broadcast to unintended recipients.
• Email and text senders can easily misaddress an email or text and send the information to an undesired recipient.
• Backup copies of emails and texts may exist even after the sender and/or the recipient has deleted his or her copy.
• Employers and on-line services have a right to inspect emails sent through their company systems.
• Emails and texts can be intercepted, altered, forwarded or used without authorization or detection.
• Email and texts can be used as evidence in court.
• Emails and texts may not be secure and therefore it is possible that the confidentiality of such communications may be breached by a third party.

Your privacy both on this website and as a client is extremely important. Please consider the above risks when opting to communicate via these means of communication and include the minimum information possible.