As a therapy client, you have rights:

You may ask questions and receive answers about treatment.

You may ask about the therapy approaches I use, and the approaches we are using in our sessions.

You may ask about the cost of your services.

You can make decisions about your own life.

You can end therapy or go see another clinician. A final therapy sessions to complete the treatment is highly suggested to help solidify the work we have done together.

The hardest part of my job is dealing with scheduling and cancelling appointments. 

After 13 years in private practice, I have active clients who take up a majority of my schedule, and I have inactive clients who return for a check-in session, along with new clients who are trying to be seen. Sometimes I schedule extra sessions to try to fit everyone in just before or after my normal hours.

To schedule: Either use the home screen once you are logged or click on the calendar. From there, choose the length of the session you would like to schedule and the type (office, phone, online). Then the calendar will adjust to show you the options that are available that meet what you selected.

These are the details of the scheduling and cancellation policy.

1. All scheduling is done thru the client portal, unless we schedule your appointments during our session time together. I made a video to show you more about how to schedule (and how to make sure you've cancelled your session) that you can watch by visiting my TammyWhitten.com website (or by copying and pasting this website: https://www.tammywhitten.com/client-portal-tutorials/).

2. If we run out of time to schedule during our appointment, you will need to log-in to the portal outside of the session to see what's open.

3. In order to schedule an appointment, you must place a card on file. The system will not let anyone schedule without a card on file. You may find more on this in the policy that addresses fees and payments for services.

4. I try to monitor my schedule to see if things are booked, and if I am able, I may open up additional times outside of the normal hours. But I am not always able to do this. Under the "Calendar" tab, there is an option to add yourself to a waitlist. I do check here if someone needs to make a change with their appointment to see if anyone is looking for a time to meet. If you have special circumstances and need a session ASAP, but nothing is showing up in the portal, please message me here within the portal. 

5. In order to cancel or change an appointment time, you must log-in to the portal to click the button at least 24 hours in advance of the time your session is scheduled to begin. Please make sure you click on it again when it asks you to CONFIRM that you are cancelling, or else the request will NOT go through, and the session will still show on the schedule and the cancellation fee will be applied. (The videos will show you how to double-check this: https://www.tammywhitten.com/client-portal-tutorials/.)

6. If the button to cancel an appointment is not showing up, that means that it is 24 hours or less before your scheduled appointment is supposed to start, and it is too late to change the appointment without the session fee. If you have just received an appointment reminder on your phone or in your email account, then it is too late to change your appointment.

7. If you need to make me aware of a situation, the best way to do so is to message me here in the portal. Due to my therapy schedule, and my home demands, I am not able to answer phone calls unless they are scheduled previously, nor am I able to respond to text messages. I ask that you only contact me via text is there is an immediate crisis the day of an appointment or if you are running late to your scheduled appointment. This helps me to be fully present during my other sessions, and not distracted.

8. The fee for missing an appointment, or for failing to cancelling more than 24 hours in advance, is the same as your session fee for that day. While many offices have a standard fee, because I offer different session lengths, and some sessions are less than the typical fee charged by most medical offices, I decided to make it the same at the session fee to make things easy. 

9. If you arrive late to your session, I am unable to go over our scheduled time to make-up what we missed. Going over puts me behind for the rest of the entire day, and can cause distress for others who have babysitters, sick family members, or other appointments. It also makes me feel extremely pressured, and I want to be my best self for all of my appointments. 

10. If you are running late, are sick, travelling, do not want to travel to the office in certain weather conditions, we can always do a phone session at your scheduled time. 

To avoid any mishaps, if you do log in and cancel an appointment, I recommend that once you cancel the appointment, you click back to the main page on your account to make sure that appointment is no longer showing up. It will disappear if it was cancelled. If it is still showing up there, then please go through the steps again to make sure that you hit the "confirm" button in the cancellation process.

1. If you are court ordered to complete therapy, please complete the optional form called, "Details about Court Proceedings," to share information about the situation with me. 

2. If you are in the midst of legal proceedings, such as a divorce, custody battle, or other legal situation, please complete the "Details about Court Proceedings" form as well.

3. If at any time during our work together, the courts require you to complete therapy or you become involved in legal proceedings, please complete the "Details about Court Proceedings" form and let me know during our work. 

4. Please provide a copy of any specific documents that outline what we need to cover .

5. If there are any Restraining Orders or Domestic Violence Protective Orders (DVPOs) in place, please alert me to those as well.

6. Should a letter be requested to go the courts, there is a letter document fee that applies. Check with your attorney and the courts to see if the invoices from inside this system (complete with date, time, payment, and my signature) will suffice for proof of attendance with the court, if you would like to avoid the additional fee for my time.

Due to the time involved in court proceedings, along with the necessary tasks I must complete with my malpractice insurance and license, any involvement in legal and court proceedings will be billed to the client for my time involved. 

Court standby (such as being available by phone or other forms of standby): $500 for each day

Court presence and appearance fee: $1500 for each day

Costs for time and services related to legal proceedings (includes any time for conversations with counsel or law offices, any consultations done with my own attorney should they be needed, research for the case, preparing documentation related to the issue, reviewing documentation, preparation time, or any other related time for the legal issue at hand): $150/hour 

Other costs incurred: These costs willl be passed along to you at the same rate I pay for things such as parking fees, road tolls, costs for obtaining research documents, etc.

Travel expenses: The current Federal mileage reimbursement rate will be charged for any miles incurred for any travel related to the case. For example, travel to the court house, travel to meet with legal counsel, travel to pick up materials, travel for any necessary trainings or meetings. Travel feels also entail if overnight accomodations are needed, such as hotel and food.

Copy fees: $0.10/page

The work we do together is sacred and is held in the utmost of respect and confidence.

These are the times when what we discuss may be shared with others:

1. If you bring a guest to one of our sessions, they will see, hear, and take part in our discussion. You may let me know if there are portons of our work you do not want shared in front of the guest. Anyone who has not completed the forms and accepted the policies here in the client portal is considered a "guest" and is not therapy client, as there is no therapy agreement to provide services. 

2. If you ask me to share information with someone outside of our sessions. I will ask you to sign and return the "Release and Receipt of Information" form found here in the client portal. This will tell me who you want me to share information with, and what type to share. Examples of this are communicating with your doctor's office, a school, social services, etc.

3. If you need me to write a brief letter document to share with your school, employer, or other group/person. (You are asked to complete the "Release and Receipt of Information" form for this, too. In addition, there is a brief letter document fee of $50 that applies to any letter that is one page of less. Longer letters have a higher fee.) 

4. If you use the invoices inside the client portal as "Superbills" to send to your insurance company for reimbursement according to your plan, they will know that we work together and they will require that I give you a mental health diagnosis on your invoice.

5. If I suspect the abuse of children under of the age of 18, of those who have disabilities, or the elderly, then I am required by law to contact the Department of Social Services to share my concerns.

6. If you are seriously contemplating harming yourself or someone else.

Your signature below indicates that you have been told about the exceptions to confidentiality in the work we do.

I understand that Tammy Whitten, MS, LMFT, CFLE, PLLC is not an emergency service. Tammy's office hours are posted on her main website, TammyWhitten.com, and on the tabs on the portal (www.TammyWhitten.com/schedule) that display before you log in. Tammy tries to keep the days she is out of the office posted on the home tab of the portal. All appointments and phone calls are by appointment only.

In the event of a crisis, there are some options listed on the crisis tab of the portal (https://tammywhitten.securepatientarea.com/portal/custom_page/contact/). The REAL Crisis Center is a local organization with trained volunteers who are available 24/7 to provide help at the moments you need it most. They can be reached at (252) 758-HELP.

In the event of an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately. This includes if you are in an unsafe situation, there is a threat of domestic violence, there is active violence, or you are experiencing difficulty breathing, etc.

Tammy Whitten, MS, LMFT, CFLE, PLLC is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in North Carolina and Virginia. She is a nationally Certified Family Life Educator. She provides therapy services in her office in Greenville, NC, along with phone and online sessions to clients in North Carolina and Virginia. She is unable to provide therapy to those in other states, or to clients who move to a state where she is not licensed.

Tammy does not give evaluations in matters of custody. There are trained evaluators who do provide those services. Tammy does not have that credential with the courts, and it's usually a conflict of interest for a therapist to provide both therapy and those types of evaluations.

Tammy does not give intelligence or educational testing. Psychologists typically administer those assessments. She is licensed to diagnose mental health conditions as outlined in the current edition of the DSM-5, as well as relational diagnoses that are not a part of that manual.

Tammy does not prescribe medication. Only physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners are able to prescribe medication. The only mental health professional who can prescribe medication is a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists mostly prescribe medications due to the demand, and don't do a lot of therapy.

1. Payment is due at the time of the session. You may pay online prior to the session, or at the start of our session. I am able to accept cash, checks, debit credit cards, and health spending account cards (HSA). 

2. Prior to scheduling an appointment, you must enter in a debit/credit card to keep on file in the portal. This started as a way to reduce no-shows and last minute cancellations. If we are using a debit or credit card to pay for the session, I prefer to use the card on file in the system because it will automatically post on your account. My other card processors are not directly connected to the system, so I have to manually enter in the payments. On a busy week, I sometimes forget to do this, and it makes both of us stress a bit.

3. If you come across hard times in your employment or circumstances, please let me know so we can work out a plan. I am willing to work out a plan, as I am committed to being as helpful as possible. Any special arange mentioned we work out must be adhered to continuously for it to remain in effect

4. If no special arrangements have been made, invoices are unpaid, and no payment has been received from you after 30 days, things may get sticky. Sessions may be paused until payment arranagements can be made. Efforts will be made to collect the payment directly from you. If there is no response/payment, then your outstanding balance with either be taken to court for payment, resulting in court fees imposed on top of the fees owed, or your account will be turned over to collections. In the event that an outside agency such as the courts or a collection agency has to be involved, every effort to protect your private health information will be made. Due to the name of my business, others involved will know mental health services were provided.

5. If our session runs over the allotted time, the invoice will be adjusted to reflect the additional service time. This helps us to stay on time so clients who arrive after you can start their session on time. It also helps me to be able to be able to complete my notes and other office procedures so I can arrive home on time for my family.

My practice is self-pay. This means that I am NOT on any insurance panels. 

Payment is required at the time of our session, If you would like to use your insurance, please tell me during your first session, so I can make sure to code your invoices a certain way. You will pay me, and I will enter the payment in the system. Then you will submit the invoice to your insurance provider, and they will reimburse you according to your plan. You can find copies of your invoices, with all of the necessary information needed for your insurance company, in the client portal under "Billing."

The rates posted on the portal under the "Prices" tab. The prices tab is only visible BEFORE you log-in to the portal. The rates will also be automatically generated on your invoice at the time of the session. The rates are the same whether services are delivered in the office, on the phone, or online. They are the same whether you are here for an individual session, a couple session, or a family session.

1. Rates are only guaranteed for active clients. Once your status changes to "inactive" you rates will adjust to the current rate for new clients. 

2. If your session runs past the scheduled time, you will be charged a prorated rate for that additional time. You will an adjustment on the invoice and will be billed for that time.

3. If you cancel less than 24 hours prior to the session starting, or if you no-show, you will be charged the rate for your session. Because some clients use the invoices in the system with their insurance company for reimbursement, and because insurance companies do not pay for missed appointments, those invoices can not be submitted to them. Should you cancel less than 24 hours prior, the cancel button does not show up in the portal on your side once the 24 hour mark is reached. Even 1 minute after, you are unable to cancel. If you miss your session, I will cancel it on my end, however, the invoice will not be cancelled and the amount will be billed to the card you have on file. This is so that any invoices shared with your insurance accurately reflect the services provided.

4. Payment is accepted via cash, check, debit card, credit card, or HSA cards. 

6. All clients must have an active card on file to schedule sessions.

5. There is a $25 fee for any check that is returned, in addition to the amount listed on the check.

6. If financial circumstances change in your life, and you need to come to therapy, but you can't pay for the session at the time of the session, please send me a message in the portal before the session so we can make arrangements. I am willing to work with you if you let me know before the session and if you stick to the arrangements that we make. These arrangements are not indefinite.

7. If you do do not abide by the special payment arrangements that are made, your balance will be handed over to a collection agency, the courts, or other financial institutions to collect payment, and you will be referred to another clinician or other resources that may be of help to you. 

8. If you need me to write a letter (i.e. court, school, employer) there is a fee. Brief letter documents are $50 and are considered to be one page. Longer documents are $100.

9. All sessions must be paid for no later than the day of the session, either in the office at the time of the session or online in the client portal. An invoice is automatically generated when the appointment is scheduled, for clients who want to pay at that time. The session fee will show up as a balance on your account the day before your session.

Effective March 29, 2021, please be aware that messages sent may be read by an office assistant. Office assistants may be interns or virtual assistants.

From this point forward, please do not include any personal information in messages. Messages sent in the portal should focus on clarifying policies, questions about scheduling or billing, where to access something, or other basic info. 

Assistants will not have access to your credit card, nor will they have access to your diagnosis, medical records, notes, or anything related to your health information. They will primarily help with messages, scheduling, forms, and with billing at times.

If I am aware of any assistant who knows you in any way, I will activate the setting for your file (and any related family members) so they can not even see you are in the system. They will not have access in any way to your name, address, scheduling, or messages, in addition to not having access to records and diagnoses. Assistants must share if they see a name they know immediately so I can block off that file. Failure of them to disclose that to me will result in immediate termination. 

My goal it so protect your privacy and to add in the supports I need to give you my best self in our therapy sessions. After 12 years in private practice, my client roster is big, and I can't do all of the backend pieces on my own. My hope is this will provide faster answers to your questions and concerns, and I can focus on delivering my best in therapy sessions, without trying to juggle all of the admin work, billing, and other aspects on top of everything else.