Authentic Minds Practice Policies

About psychotherapy services

Psychotherapy is a working cooperative relationship between you and your therapist. Each member of this cooperative relationship has certain responsibilities. Your therapist will contribute their knowledge, expertise, and clinical skills. You, as the client, have the responsibility to bring an attitude of collaboration and a commitment to the therapeutic process. While there are no guarantees regarding the outcome of the treatment, your commitment may increase the likelihood of a satisfactory experience.

As a client in psychotherapy, you have certain rights and responsibilities that are important for you to understand. There are also legal limitations to those rights that you should be aware of. I, as your therapist, have corresponding responsibilities to you. These rights and responsibilities are described in the following sections.

Please note that psychotherapy is not an emergency service. If you are experiencing suicidal or homicidal thoughts, are in crisis, or need immediate help, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

Benefits and risks of psychotherapy

Psychotherapy has both benefits and risks. Risks may include experiencing uncomfortable feelings, such as sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, frustration, loneliness and helplessness, because the process of psychotherapy often requires discussing the unpleasant aspects of your life. However, psychotherapy has been shown to have benefits for individuals who undertake it. Therapy often leads to a significant reduction in feelings of distress, increased satisfaction in interpersonal relationships, greater personal awareness and insight, increased skills for managing stress and resolutions to specific problems.

Note that there are no guarantees about what will happen. Psychotherapy requires a very active effort on your part. In order to be most successful, you will have to work on things we discuss outside of sessions.

The first few sessions

Your Authentic Minds Provider will typically start with a comprehensive evaluation of your needs. By the end of the evaluation, your Authentic Minds Provider will be able to offer you some initial impressions of what your work together might include. At that point, you will discuss your treatment goals and create an initial treatment plan. You should evaluate this information and make your own assessment about whether you feel comfortable working with them. If you have questions about procedures, you should discuss them whenever they arise. If your doubts persist, your Authentic Minds Provider will be happy to help you set up a meeting with another mental health professional for a second opinion.

Appointments and cancellations

After the initial intake session, you and your provider will schedule all follow up sessions. Payments for each appointment can be made through Headway by debit or credit card or ACH transfer.

You may cancel appointments with a 24 hour notice free of charge. If a session is cancelled with less than a 24 hour notice or a no-show, you may be subjected to a $100 late cancellation fee. However, we understand life may happen and this is not always the case. If you are able to reschedule your session within 7 days of the original appointment, you may void the cancellation fee. You may contact the owner of Authentic Minds Psychotherapy, Kelly O'Hanlon, LPC at 484-619-2104 or info@amtherapy.co with further questions regarding the policy.

Professional Records

Your Authentic Minds Provider is required to keep appropriate records of the psychological services that they provide. Your Authentic Minds Provider keeps brief records noting that you were here, your reasons for seeking therapy, the goals and progress we set for treatment, your diagnosis, topics we discussed, your medical, social, and treatment history, records they receive from other providers, copies of records they send to others, and your billing records. Except in unusual circumstances that involve danger to yourself, you have the right to a copy of your file. Because these are professional records, they may be misinterpreted and / or upsetting to untrained readers. For this reason, your Authentic Minds Provider recommends that you initially review them with them, or have them forwarded to another mental health professional to discuss the contents. If your Authentic Minds Provider refuses your request for access to your records, you have a right to have their decision reviewed by another mental health professional, which will be discussed with you upon your request. You also have the right to request that a copy of your file be made available to any other health care provider at your written request.

Use of AI Transcription for Clinical Documentation

Authentic Minds Psychotherapy utilizes a secure, HIPAA-compliant AI-powered transcription platform to assist clinicians with clinical documentation and note-taking during or after sessions. This technology is designed to support accurate recordkeeping and allow clinicians to focus more fully on the therapeutic process.

AI-powered transcription complies with applicable privacy and security standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Any information processed through this platform is protected and handled in accordance with federal privacy regulations and professional ethical standards.

Clients have the right to decline the use of AI-assisted transcription for their sessions. If you are uncomfortable with the use of this technology, please inform your clinician, and alternative documentation methods will be used without impacting your access to care or quality of services.

Confidentiality

Communication between you and your counselor is confidential. This means that your counselor will not discuss your case orally or in writing without your expressed written permission.

Your counselor has an ethical and legal obligation to break confidentiality under the following circumstances:

  1. If there is a reason to believe there is an occurrence of child, elder, or dependent adult abuse or neglect.

  2. If there is reason to believe that you have serious intent to harm yourself, someone else, or property by a violent act you may commit.

  3. If you disclose that you knowingly develop, duplicate, print, download, stream, or access through any electronic or digital media or exchanges, a film, photograph, video in which a child is engaged in an act of obscene sexual conduct.

  4. If you introduce your emotional condition into a legal proceeding.

  5. If there is a court order for release of your records.

Additional Rights and Responsibilities

  1. In addition to your right to confidentiality, you have the right to end your counseling at any time, for whatever reason and without any obligation, with the exception of payment of fees for services already provided. You have the right to question any aspect of your treatment with your therapist.

  2. You also have the right to expect that your therapist will maintain professional and ethical boundaries by not entering into other personal, financial, or professional relationships with you.

  3. If you are unhappy with what is happening in therapy, please contact Kelly O’Hanlon, MS, LPC at kohanlon@amtherapy.co. Such comments will be taken seriously and handled with care and respect. You may also request another therapist referral within our outside the practice.

  4. You have the right to considerate, safe and respectful care, without discrimination as to race, ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, or national origin.

  5. You have the right to ask questions about any aspects of therapy and about my specific training and experience.

  6. In circumstances that lead us to conclude that your counseling needs would be better served at another counseling facility, we will suggest an appropriate counselor(s) or counseling agency.

  7. By choosing to sign our consent forms at our initial session, you give permission to provide counseling services.