Practice policies.

Northwest Psychiatry LLC offers psychotherapy and medication management as a collaborative relationship. Both the client and provider have specific responsibilities. The provider brings clinical knowledge, expertise, and skill. The client is responsible for active collaboration and commitment to the therapeutic process.

Initial sessions involve a comprehensive assessment of needs. After evaluation, initial impressions, treatment objectives, and a treatment plan will be developed together. Clients are encouraged to ask questions throughout the process and to assess their comfort with the approach.

Psychotherapy has both benefits and risks. Benefits include significant reduction in distress, enhanced satisfaction in relationships, increased personal awareness, improved stress management, and resolution of specific problems. Risks may include temporarily experiencing uncomfortable emotions such as sadness, guilt, anxiety, anger, or frustration when discussing difficult life experiences.

Appointments are scheduled in advance based on your goals, treatment needs, and mutual availability. Insurance claims are filed through Headway; self-pay session fees are billed by the practice through the client portal.

Voicemail messages are checked during normal business hours. Messages left after hours will be addressed the next business day.

For non-urgent matters, messages (via Headway, email, phone, or fax) will typically receive a response within 24–48 hours, unless otherwise specified.

Clients will be informed of planned absences in advance, and contact information for a covering mental health professional will be provided. If a provider cancellation occurs last-minute, the provider will reschedule or have staff reach out directly.

Your provider is not always immediately available by telephone and does not answer calls during sessions. You may leave a confidential voicemail and calls for non-urgent matters will be returned within 1–2 business days after chart review.

All communication between you and your provider is confidential. Your information will not be shared orally or in writing without your expressed written permission — with the following legally required exceptions:

• Reasonable belief of child, elder, or dependent adult abuse or neglect.
• Reasonable belief of serious intent to harm oneself, someone else, or property through a violent act.
• Disclosure involving the creation, distribution, or access of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), which may lead to legal consequences.
• Introduction of your emotional condition into a legal proceeding, which may have legal repercussions.
• A court order for the release of records.

Your provider maintains appropriate clinical records including session notes, treatment goals and progress, diagnoses, medical and social history, records from other providers, billing records, and any copies sent to third parties.

Except in cases involving self-harm risk, you have the right to obtain a copy of your file. Due to the sensitive clinical nature of these records, it is recommended that you review them with your provider or request that they be forwarded to another mental health professional to avoid misinterpretation. If access to your records is denied, you have the right to have that decision reviewed by another mental health professional.

As a client at Northwest Psychiatry LLC, you have the right to:

• End treatment at any time for any reason, without obligation beyond fees for services already provided.
• Question any aspect of your treatment at any time.
• Expect that your provider will maintain professional and ethical boundaries — no personal, financial, or dual-relationship involvement.
• Receive considerate, safe, and respectful care, free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, or national origin.
• Ask questions about your treatment plan and your provider's training, credentials, and experience.
• Request a referral to another provider at any time, without judgment.

If you have concerns about your care, please discuss them directly with your provider. All feedback is taken seriously. If your needs would be better served by another provider, an appropriate referral will be offered.

The therapeutic relationship may end for a variety of reasons, including your preference to work with a different provider, completion of treatment goals, or your provider’s clinical judgment that another setting would better serve your needs. The reasons for discharge will always be discussed openly, and a list of qualified alternative providers will be offered upon request.

The discharge process may be extended, if necessary, to provide transitional support for a time-limited period. Ongoing failure to pay for services, attend sessions, or engage respectfully may also lead to discharge. In these circumstances, every reasonable effort will still be made to provide referrals before the relationship ends.

Telehealth services are provided through Doxy.me, a HIPAA-compliant platform using secure, encrypted video connections — you join directly from the Appointments tab of your client portal. By participating in telehealth, you consent to the electronic transmission of health information between you and your provider.

Transcription to help write your note

Your provider may use a transcription tool during or after a session to help them write their clinical note. The recording goes to two places and no others: this practice’s own systems, and Deepgram, the speech-to-text service the practice uses to turn it into words. What that involves:

• The audio is used to produce text and is then deleted from this practice's systems — within minutes when the text is produced, and within half an hour if it never is. It is not kept as a recording of your session.
• When your provider transcribes a session as it happens, the sound is passed straight through to that service as you speak. It is not written down anywhere in this practice's systems, not even briefly.
• The text becomes part of your provider's note, which is retained as your confidential medical record.
• Your provider may ask the system to draft the note's sections from that text. Nothing is added to your record until your provider has reviewed it and saved it.
• This practice's systems send your recording to no company other than the transcription service named above, and send no audio or transcript anywhere for research or product improvement.
• Your provider decides whether to use it at all, and reviews everything it produces using their clinical judgement.

Your telehealth rights include:

• The right to withdraw consent for telehealth services at any time without affecting your ongoing care.
• Neither you nor your provider records the session, other than the transcription described above — and you can ask your provider not to use that.
• If experiencing a crisis during a remote session, your provider may determine in-person or higher-level care is appropriate.
• If technical difficulties prevent reconnection within 10 minutes, contact the office to reschedule.
• In an emergency during a session, your emergency contact and/or appropriate authorities may be contacted.

Clients prescribed controlled substances (stimulants, benzodiazepines, and other Schedule II–IV medications) must adhere to the following policies. These rules exist to ensure client safety and legal compliance.

• All controlled substances must be obtained exclusively from Northwest Psychiatry LLC (or a covering provider with written authorization).
• All controlled prescriptions must be filled at the same pharmacy. Notify the office before changing pharmacies.
• You must inform the office of any new medications, medical conditions, or adverse effects.
• Inform all healthcare providers — including emergency department providers — that you are on a controlled substance and that this agreement exists.
• Sharing, selling, or allowing others to access your medication is illegal and grounds for immediate discharge.
• Do not alter your medication in any way — take it whole as directed. Never break, chew, crush, inject, or snort it.
• Do not exceed the prescribed dose without provider approval.
• Tampering with a written prescription is a felony.
• Attempting to obtain controlled substances under false pretenses is illegal.
• Keep medications safely stored and out of reach of children.

Refill policy:

• Refills require a scheduled appointment. Provide at least 24 hours' notice to cancel or reschedule.
• Prescriptions will not be issued after hours, on weekends, or on federally recognized holidays.
• Early refills are only provided when the provider or client will be out of town when the refill would normally be due.