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online and 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 phone or 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. 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. Established clients 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). If payments are not processed by your bank
or credit card company, you are subject to administrative fees
of up to $25 per item. 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.
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).
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:
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1. We mutually agree that you have
met your goals and/or have reached the maximum benefit of online
counseling for the time being. |
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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). |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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For additional information about
rates, terms of service and privacy policies,
click here. For my contact information,
click
here.
Terms of Service & Privacy
Policies
Contact Information
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