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Online Counseling Services Guide

On this page are easy-to-follow guidelines to enable you to use online counseling services I offer. Please read it if you are not already familiar with how these services work. Also feel free to request more information before you decide to try out any of these services.

Initial Inquiries/Responses

There is no charge for initial inquiries and responses by e-mail to find out if online counseling is appropriate for you. I may have you fill out a form or ask for you to provide more information to help me understand what your issues and goals are. After you have tried e-mail counseling, if you would like a telephone consultation, let me know and I may be able to arrange it as a separate service. Remember that you may be able to combine services or obtain discounts for paying in advance for multiple services, as described in the Rates & Terms of Service page.

Arranging & Paying for Services


Options and rates for online services are given in the Rates & Terms of Service page. You may choose to pay for one response at a time, or may choose to pay for several in advance which results in a discount. Payments can be made by credit or debit cards through PayPal, a well-known and trustworthy site for money transactions. You may also pay by money order or personal check, made out to me and sent to my main office address (Advanced Counseling Services - see Contact Me for mailing address). However, checks must be cleared through the bank prior to initiating services, which means you may have to wait several days before being able to use online services. Once payments are made and cleared, I will contact you with instructions on initiating service. If payments are not processed by your bank or credit card company, you are subject to administrative fees of $25 per item plus any applicable bank charges. In addition, if this occurs more than once, services may be terminated completely and administrative fees will be subtracted from any prepaid services before a refund is given.

E-mail Counseling

At the beginning, I will ask for whatever information I need to help me assess and understand your issues and needs. You do not pay anything until I have sufficient information to begin counseling. Once such information is obtained, you have the option of paying for a full (standard) e-mail response through the website. The charge for an e-mail counseling response is based on the total length of the response (not on time taken to compose it), counted in words or lines of text. A paid response contains a minimum of 300 words (approx 20 lines or 1/2 page of text on standard 8 1/2 x 11 letter paper, using this typeface (10 pt. Arial, which allows more words per line or page). A typical detailed response should run between one-half and one-full letter size page (25-50 lines, 300-700 words). I currently use MSWord 2003® for writing and formatting documents, but you may use any e-mail program to send/receive messages. If you need brief clarification of any of response (up to 300 words), it is included in the original price. This means you can ask for simple clarifications of any response without having to pay additional charges. You only pay for e-mail counseling when a detailed response is necessary to address information you provide. For an example of a typical length of an e-mail response (using a general article I wrote), click here.

Although all e-mails I send or receive are checked for viruses, it is recommended you have an anti-virus program on your computer to screen incoming and outgoing e-mails, since this is one of the more common ways computer viruses are spread (never open up an e-mail from any company or person you do not know!).

Service Guarantees, Cancellations, Credits and Refunds


General: Once you have paid for a service, I will provide it as described above. Neither you nor I are obligated to continue online counseling services. If I am unable to provide services for professional or technical (e.g., equipment malfunction) reasons, I will notify you as soon as possible. If I am not able to provide services that have already been paid for, you will receive a complete refund for all unused services (this will be pro-rated if some services were used already on a multiple service plan). You may cancel or terminate services at any time without prior notice. However, you will not be entitled to a refund for unused prepaid services except under certain circumstances (described below).

E-mail Counseling: Any inquiry or request for e-mail services will be answered as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours after I receive and read the e-mail (I check 1-2 times per day for new e-mail and will send you an automated response with the time of receipt indicated when I have opened it). If you send an e-mail and receive no response of any kind within 48 hours of when you sent it, you may try again or call me to find out what the problem is (see below for calling information). If I am away for a period of time which prevents me from responding in a timely manner, I will post a message on my website or in an e-mail which will automatically be sent when you request information. Once your payment for an e-mail service has been cleared, my response will be composed and sent within 48 hours. If I do not respond within this time, you will be given the option of a full refund or credit toward a future service. (Note: If you are a member of PayPal or some other service that can verify your account information in advance, payments may process sooner. Payments made by check will take longer to process).

 

Termination of Online Counseling Services, Confidentiality Provisions

Either party may terminate online services without prior notice, although I will generally not terminate services without attempting to notify you of the reason(s). In general, you will always have the option of continuing or discontinuing services as you desire. However, in certain cases I may choose or need to terminate services, as follows:

1. We mutually agree that you have met your goals and/or have reached the maximum benefit of online e-mail counseling for the time being.

2. The problems you are having are not amenable to online counseling and you are in need of in-person counseling
or a higher level of care (such as inpatient psychiatric or substance abuse).

3. You engage in abusive or illegal activities which may potentially cause endangerment, security risk, or irreparable harm to me, you or others. Confidentiality laws provide for contacting appropriate authorities if possible in the event I suspect you may harm yourself or someone else. In order to stay within the law, I need to have the following information when you begin counseling: A verifiable contact name and phone number of someone (e.g., yourself, a family member or friend) I can contact in case of suspicion of potentially dangerous activity or an emergency that prevents me from providing services). "Verifiable" means I would be able to reach you if necessary with reasonable effort and if I am not able to verify the authenticity of your contact information, I may choose to terminate services. In general, persons who are suspected of being safety risks to themselves or others will not be permitted to continue to use online services and will be referred to an appropriate type of service. Unlike office-based services, I cannot assure that I can contact or locate emergency services in your area. Having a contact person/phone number also helps to protect both parties against fraud, misrepresentation, impersonation, spam or other illegal or inappropriate uses of online counseling services.

4. You fail to follow my Terms of Service which you agree to when you request any type of online counseling service. Examples include misrepresenting yourself or your circumstances, not paying for services or not being appropriate for online counseling. Although you are free to set your own goals, if I feel you are not making sufficient progress or need a different level of care, I may choose to terminate services after a reasonable effort has been made to assist you. You may receive refunds for unused prepaid services if I choose to terminate services, except in cases where you are not using the services as agreed. If money is remaining in your account after subtracting for unexcused or voluntary service cancellation, you will be given a refund by check, money order or credit to a credit card per your instructions and contact information you provide.

5. I am unable to provide services for professional (e.g., lack expertise), technical (e.g., equipment malfunction) or personal (e.g., illness) reasons. In such cases, I or my designated representative will notify you using your latest contact information as soon as possible. If I need to terminate services prematurely, you will be entitled to a full refund of any unused prepaid time. Please allow up to 90 days to process refunds.


For additional information about rates, terms of service and privacy policies, click here. For my contact information, click here.


 

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