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Renew Counseling

Notice of Privacy Practices

Last updated: November 3, 2023

Renew Counseling Services
750 George Washington Way #8, Richland, WA 99352
www.renewcounseling.care

Steven Wallace, MA, MBA, LMHC (WA License # LH70016025)
(509) 593-3322, steven@renewcounseling.care

Jessica Wallace, MA, LMHC, NCC (WA License # LH61280794)
(509) 676-6735, jessica@renewcounseling.care

This notice describes how health information may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

My Pledge Regarding Health Information

Your health information is personal and private. I am dedicated to safeguarding it. I maintain records of the care and services you receive, both to ensure quality treatment and to meet specific legal obligations. This notice pertains to all records created during your treatment with me. Here, I outline how I might use or share your health details, and I clarify your rights concerning this information. I also lay out my responsibilities concerning your data. By law, I am bound to:

  • Ensure the privacy of your protected health information (PHI).
  • Provide you with this notification detailing my privacy practices and legal duties regarding your health information.
  • Adhere to the conditions of the current notice.

Please note, I can amend the terms of this notice, and any changes will pertain to all your existing data. Updated notices are available upon request and on my website.

How I May Use and Disclose Health Information About You

I use and share your health information in various ways. Below, I’ve categorized and described these instances, providing examples where possible. While not every scenario is detailed, all actions I take with your data fit within these categories:

For Treatment, Payment, or Healthcare Operations: Federal privacy regulations permit me to use or share your data without written consent for my own treatment, payment, or operational needs. I can also share your data for other healthcare providers’ treatment activities without your authorization. For instance, if one healthcare provider consults another about your health, they can access and discuss your confidential health data to assist in your diagnosis and treatment. Sharing for treatment is comprehensive since other providers require complete records to deliver quality care. The term “treatment” encompasses coordinating care with third parties, consultations among providers, and patient referrals.

Lawsuits and Disputes: In legal matters, if you’re part of a lawsuit, I might share your health details in response to a court or administrative directive. If there’s a subpoena, discovery request, or another legal process from someone else in the dispute, I might disclose your health data. This is done only after efforts to notify you or when a protective order for the requested data is sought.

Note Types

Session Notes: I keep “Session Notes” (also known as “Progress Notes” or “Clinical Notes”) that are part of your medical record. Session Notes provide a record of each therapy session. They serve as a means of documenting the content and progress of therapy, including the client’s presenting issues, treatment goals, interventions used, and the client’s response to those interventions.

Process Notes: I keep “Process Notes” (also known as “Psychotherapy Notes”) for my personal use that are NOT part of your medical record. They are meant to capture the therapist’s thoughts, observations, and insights during and after a session.

Certain Uses and Disclosures Require Your Authorization

Session Notes: Any use or disclosure of Session Notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:

  1. For my use in treating you.
  2. For my use in training or supervising associates to help them improve their clinical skills.
  3. For my use in defending myself in legal proceedings instituted by you.
  4. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate my compliance with HIPAA.
  5. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.
  6. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the session notes.
  7. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.
  8. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.

Marketing Purposes: As a healthcare provider, I will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.

Sale of PHI: As a healthcare provider, I will not sell your PHI.

Certain Uses and Disclosures Do Not Require Your Authorization

Subject to certain limitations in the law, I can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

  1. When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
  2. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
  3. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
  4. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.
  5. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on my premises.
  6. To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
  7. For research purposes, including studying and comparing the patients who received one form of care versus those who received another form of care for the same condition.
  8. Specialized government functions, including ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counterintelligence operations; or helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.
  9. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, I may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
  10. Appointment reminders and health-related benefits or services. I may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment with me. I may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that I offer.

Certain Uses and Disclosures Require You to Have the Opportunity to Object

Disclosures to family, friends, or others: I may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

You Have the Following Rights with Respect to Your PHI

  1. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of your PHI: You have the right to ask me not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. I am not required to agree to your request, and I may say “no” if I believe it would negatively affect your health care.
  2. The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full: You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to insurance for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
  3. The Right to Choose How I Send PHI to You: You have the right to ask me to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and I will agree to all reasonable requests.
  4. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI: You have the right to obtain an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that I have about you. This does NOT include Process Notes. I will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it (if you agree to receive a summary) within 30 days of receiving your written request, and I may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so.
  5. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures I Have Made: You have the right to request a list of instances in which I have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided me with an Authorization. I will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 30 days of receiving your request. The list I will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. I will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, I may charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for each additional request.
  6. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI: If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that I correct the existing information or add the missing information. I may say “no” to your request, but I will tell you why in writing within 30 days of receiving your request.
  7. The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice: You have the right to get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.

Modalities Explained

The world of counseling offers an array of tools, techniques, and approaches, commonly known as "modalities." Below is a brief overview of the various techniques you may encounter at Renew Counseling.

EMDR is a unique therapy developed to alleviate distress from traumatic memories, often used for treating trauma. Through guided eye movements, a therapist helps clients reprocess these memories, making them feel less intense and more distant. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR is brief and direct, often providing relief in fewer sessions. If you’re grappling with unsettling memories, EMDR might be the transformative approach you need.

Both EFT and EFIT are emotion-centered therapeutic approaches grounded in the belief that emotions play a pivotal role in identity and decision-making. EFT, utilized with couples, focuses on fostering and restoring emotional bonds, recognizing negative interaction patterns, and emphasizing emotional connection to strengthen relationships. EFIT, tailored for individuals, draws from similar principles, concentrating on understanding, regulating, and transforming emotional experiences. Both methodologies stress the transformative potential of emotions and aim to promote deep emotional awareness and responsiveness. In both contexts, the therapist guides clients to achieve greater emotional congruence, resilience, and improved interpersonal bonds.

IFS is a therapeutic approach that recognizes multiple sub-personalities or “parts” within an individual. These parts may have conflicting roles or desires, which can lead to internal strife and emotional challenges. IFS therapy helps clients understand, appreciate, and integrate these various parts to achieve greater self-awareness and healing. The therapist works with the client to heal their wounded parts and balance their internal system.

This therapy emphasizes unconscious processes and the influence of past experiences on present behavior. Clients are encouraged to explore unresolved issues and internalized conflicts from their past to understand how these issues impact their current relationships and behaviors. By bringing these unconscious thoughts and feelings to the conscious mind, clients can gain insight, resolve inner conflicts, and improve interpersonal relationships. The therapist acts as a guide, helping the client to recognize and understand deep-seated patterns and beliefs.

At its core, the Townsend Model suggests that personal growth thrives in an environment characterized by grace (unconditional acceptance), truth (transparent, honest feedback), and time. Such nurturing surroundings foster the development of a person’s “character”. Conversely, in the absence of this environment, “character deficits” may arise, leading to insecure attachment styles, a lack of boundaries, rigid thinking patterns, or feeling unequal to others. These deficits can manifest as symptoms within self (e.g., depression), unhealthy relationships, and decreased functioning in daily life. Our counseling journey aims to pinpoint the root causes of these symptoms. We’ll work together to promote healing and growth at the foundational character level, within a space of grace and truth. As we address these deep-rooted issues, the alleviation of symptoms naturally follows.