Confidentiality and Privacy Policy

The online environment may not be suitable if you are currently in a crisis situation. If you are seeking help for a medical emergency or crisis involving personal safety, (e.g. suicidal feelings, domestic violence, or homicide), please call 911 immediately.

Is therapy confidential?

In general, the law protects the confidentiality of all communications between a client and a psychotherapist. No information is disclosed without prior written permission from the client. However, there are some exceptions required by law to this rule. Exceptions include:

Suspected child abuse, dependent adult abuse, or elder abuse. The therapist is required to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.

If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person, the therapist is required to notify the police.

If a client is intending to harm himself or herself, the therapist will make every effort to work with the individual to ensure their safety. However, if an individual does not cooperate, additional measures may need to be taken, as required by law, to ensure their safety.

Online counseling is done via Skype. Skype uses 256-bit encryption, which has a total of 1.1 x 1077 possible keys, in order to actively encrypt the data in each Skype call or instant message. Skype uses 1024 bit RSA to negotiate symmetric AES keys. User public keys are certified by the Skype server at login using 1536 or 2048-bit RSA certificates. All sessions are in compliance with Code of Federal Regulations, Title 42, Part 2 (relating to Confidentiality of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patient Records), Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 611 (relating to Mental Health Records), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), as applicable. Grievances may be filed with the Texas Department of State Health Services by following this link: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/lcdc/lcdc_complaint.shtm. Jennifer Sartin’s license (# 11510) may be verified with the Department of State Health Services here http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/lcdc/lcdc_search.shtm