Welcome to Lighthouse Counseling. Therapy is based upon boundaries and trust. Please carefully review the following information since it is the foundation on which the counseling relationship is built.

I currently attend Regent University as a Marriage and Family Therapy student. I am currently accruing hours toward graduation with my Master’s Degree, with the intent to pursue licensure in the state of Virginia afterwards. 

COUNSELING SERVICES OFFERED

I, your counselor, am limited by the extent of my training. The purposes of our sessions are to assist in your free expression of any life events that have altered your present circumstances. It is my hope that through expressing your inner condition, with your permission, I may share various techniques and exercises increasing your awareness of negative thought patterns. It is generally a goal to work together in our sessions to alert you to new, alternate perspectives and share practical suggestions for work at home (such as reading, writing, and other projects) in efforts that you might leave feeling empowered to make the best possible choices moving forward. I am also certified in EMI (Eye Movement Integration).

The execution of these services is not a guarantee of results at any time. Therefore, the acceptance of counseling services and at-home work fulfillment is not an assurance that you will see the specific progress that you hope to see. Please remember to be patient with yourself as I try to help you through this process during our weekly sessions and we figure out which treatments may work best for you. Additionally, the most important ingredient in the healing process will be your cooperation with at-home work and your desire to move forward on that journey. You are encouraged to express any setbacks you are experiencing, hindrances to your progress, or difficulties with performing your weekly recommendations during our sessions. 

COMMUNICATION PRACTICES

Furthermore, it is my duty to warn you, as the client, that you may experience increased negative side effects during the counseling process. There is no way to predict the way in which the mind will react to new thought processes. Any progress you may make will involve the difficult task of unpacking painful experiences. When the need to communicate arises, my preferred mode of communication is through email to natalie@lighthouse-counselingllc.com. Please remember that email is not guaranteed to be secure and all communication through email must be saved to your electronic file. This means that this becomes part of your clinical file and subject to court-ordered records requests. I will also accept text messages from clients for the purpose of scheduling or to let me know that you need a phone call check-in for an emergency session. When you text, do not share information regarding the reason you need to call me back. Simply let me know that you need a call and I will let you know when I can accommodate your request. Please note that I only use this phone number during business hours Mondays through Thursdays 9-5. If you are in an emergency situation that requires immediate assistance, please contact the non-emergency hotline at 988 or use the crisis text line at 741-741. Additionally, Fire-Police-Rescue can be reached in the event of a serious emergency at 911.

It is my duty to make you aware that you possess the right at any time to refuse any counseling services you are offered regardless of personal reasoning. Additionally, you will be notified in a timely manner of any changes in counseling modality. In the event that I, your counselor, become incapacitated or am unable to perform my duties to you, you will be notified by myself or a designated person in the office of the possibilities of using another professional to meet your mental health needs at our earliest convenience. If there must be a cancellation of services for any reason, our office will do our best to provide you with exit counseling and offer comparable alternate options. Please know that if you decide to cease using our services at any time, we will discuss your options and offer referrals to other mental health providers if you wish to use them.

CONFIDENTIALITY & INFORMATION RIGHTS

All clients are offered confidentiality to the best of our abilities. Personal information that is shared in the context of the 50-minute session is kept private between you and I, your counselor. During your counseling session you are encouraged to open about your inner thought life to encourage progress in your treatment. However, I do need to inform you there are a few exceptions to the rules of confidentiality (1) If you disclose something to me that leads me to believe you may be a harm to yourself OR that harm may come to others (2) In the event that I hear about any current abuse of a minor, an elderly person, or a person living with disabilities. In the presence of these circumstances I am legally obligated to report any suspected harm to appropriate parties in efforts to form a safety team for any person who may be at risk. Apart from this, all other information is bound by confidentiality unless you are under court ordered counseling, billing or admin inquiries are involved, consultation is needed, or I am under legal obligation to provide documentation of counseling services.  Additionally, all your personal information and records are kept and transmitted to any necessary parties through HIPAA compliant mediums. At any time, you have the right to request and obtain information that is in your personal records or has been transmitted on your behalf with a signed Release of Information. Do not hesitate to ask me if you have any thoughts or questions about this.

EXPLANATION OF DUAL RELATIONSHIPS

It is important to note that I will show respect to our therapeutic relationship by doing my best to keep it within the confines of our 55-minute sessions. If I see you in an alternate context, I will do my best to acknowledge you with a smile or a simple response, but in essence I am most concerned with your privacy and the sanctity of our working relationship. I will not be able accept offers to see you socially, connect with you via social media (with the exclusion of office promoted social media) or other means, nor will I be able to accept gifts or offers for services that may conflict with our professional relationship. It is not my intention to appear uncaring or cold, but merely to acknowledge that you are a person who deserves the respect of privacy and the dignity of an office only relationship. Moreover, if I am performing marital or family counseling services I am ethically unable to keep any secrets between you and your family members. However, I am happy to work with you on self-disclosure should the need arise.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

As your therapist, I will be following the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics as a primary document to enhance my professional practices with clients. The ACA’s ethical documents found at https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf. 

I want to make you aware that, as a student intern, videotaping or audio recording can aid in my learning processes, but it will only be done after you’ve given your consent. These video and audio recordings are used solely for the purposes of counselor training and improvement and will be disposed of after use by myself or a counseling supervisor via HIPPA guidelines. My goal is to help you to be as informed as possible if any unforeseen circumstances should arise. 

You should be aware that you are not limited to any number of sessions during your time here. Furthermore, it is recommended for treatment progress to maintain at least one weekly or bi-weekly attendance of a session. The only exception to this is that I am currently a graduate student and I am unable to perform counseling services during school mandated breaks. Additionally, you should be aware that once my status changes, we can discuss any further alterations to treatment and billing at that time.