Dear Client:
As you may know, modern psychotherapy in America is rather paperwork-intense. The fortunate thing about this is that this paperwork is for your benefit and protection.
The following 4 standard elements of psychology practice are designed to protect you:
1) Consent to & Acknowledgement of Privacy Practices (please review the Notice of Privacy before signing)
2) Outpatient Contract (or Informed Consentto Treatment),
3) Questionnaire
4) Consent to Release Information to Another("third") Party
Please, review these policies and forms, print out the signature pages and bring them to our first appointment. If you are not able to view these forms online or print them out, please, make sure you arrive at least 20 minutes prior to our first appointment to fill out the forms.
I estimate that it will take you about 20-30 minutes to fill out the forms below. And I, no doubt,recognize that this investment of time is hardly an exciting proposition for you. But such is the standard of practice. I hope that you find these forms, at the very least, to be of some educational value as they provide information about the process of modern-day psychotherapy, as well as information about the various aspects of confidentiality, and payment terms.
Having these forms already filled out prior to the appointment will allow us to maximize our clinical time and to not unnecessarily delay the conversation about what brings you into therapy at this time in your life.
You can download the first appointment (3) forms in the Intake Forms folder on this site. Should you need to direct me to release information to another party, you would need to download the Consent to Release form also available on this site.
Thank you for your patience with this paperwork. I look forward to meeting you in person.
Pavel G. Somov, Ph.D.