Before your first session, we encourage a free 15-20 minute initial consultation. It is also best practice to do so. This gives you the opportunity to share what you are looking for in your therapeutic process and what you would like to work on.

If you choose to work with us and we believe we are a compatible fit, the next step will be to schedule your first appointment. If you would like to work with another counselor or we are unable to help—we can provide you with external referrals based on your preferences.

For your first appointment with us, you’ll receive an automated e-mail and link to create a Client Portal via Simple Practice for scheduling, payment, and completing electronic intake documentation. You can fill these documents out in the comfort of your home prior to your first appointment.

In addition to you getting a chance to ask us questions, some common question we ask you during a phone consultation include:

—What are your general therapeutic goals?

—Why are you seeking help, now?

—Have you received therapy before? How was your experience? What did you feel worked and didn’t work for you?

—Are you currently experiencing a mental health crisis or have a history of hospitalization, mental health emergencies, self harm, etc.? (We ask because we do not provide on call, 24-hr, crisis services and we what to be sure our treatment setting the most appropriate fit for your needs).

Our first session is commonly called an intake session, which is longer than your typical counseling session. A typical session ranges from 45-55 minutes long, whereas a intake session is 90 minutes long. This session allows us the opportunity to help us learn more about who you are and what's important to you. Additionally, we will use this time to describe our counseling approach, policies, and expectations for this process.

Just like any doctor’s office, you will be required to complete intake paperwork as a new client. This paperwork will be sent electronically through your Client Portal in our Simple Practice (EHR) system. You will be given a notice with a confirmation of our first appointment as well as a link to log in and complete your paperwork. This paperwork must be completed before the start of our first session. If this paperwork is not complete before the start of our first session, we will be unable to meet and we will reschedule your session after you have completed the paperwork.

The intake session also allows us to hear more about your reasons for starting counseling at this particular juncture in your life. Our first session will also help us understand the larger context of the struggles and difficulties you as well as the goals you have for counseling. We aim to make this an organic dialogue, with a few poignant questions in between. Finally, this session also gives us the opportunity to answer any questions you might have and to review paperwork, making sure we have all the information we need for counseling to begin successfully.

We do not hold standing or automatically recurring appointments.
This means we cannot guarantee that the same appointment time will be reserved for you each week or every other week.

The most requested appointment times are typically evenings after the workday. Each clinician may have only a handful of these openings, while many clients are hoping to schedule during those same hours. Keeping appointments on a rotating basis allows us to offer these limited times more fairly and serve clients with a wide range of schedules and needs.

Whenever possible, we encourage some flexibility with appointment days and times, as this will generally provide you with more opportunities to be seen regularly. We will always make our best effort to support the frequency of care you and your clinician have discussed, whether that is weekly, biweekly, monthly, or as needed.

We also recognize that flexibility is not possible for everyone. Should you have a particularly limited schedule and need to meet on a specific day and time, we can explore whether another clinician within our practice may be able to accommodate you. When appropriate, we may also help you identify a therapist outside of our practice whose availability is a better fit.

Our clinicians balance their work with clients alongside community activism, volunteer service, continuing education, and leadership roles related to mental health access and justice. These commitments are an important part of our practice values, but they can occasionally affect clinicians’ schedules and availability.

Many of our clinicians schedule several weeks—or even months—in advance. Planning ahead and communicating regularly with your clinician or our Administrative Assistant at admin@mindfulhealingcounseling.com will be important in maintaining consistent care.

Appointments may be requested by:

• Contacting your clinician directly by email

• Emailing our Administrative Assistant

• Submitting an appointment request through your SimplePractice Client Portal

Most clinicians make appointments available several weeks or months in advance, and we encourage scheduling ahead whenever possible.

In order to protect the integrity of our professional relationship and to preserve our therapeutic alliance, we do not have any contacts or connection on social media (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.) with any former, potential, or current clients. It is unethical for us to do so. In sum, please don’t be surprised if we are unable to accept a friend request, follow you back, or message you back after a comment.

Additionally, we do not receive text messages from clients regarding any matters outside of scheduling. However, you can also reschedule or cancel an appointment by calling, leaving a voicemail, or email. We do not use the messaging system through Simple Practice.

Once and a while you might spot us in the community. If you see us in person, it is our policy to not approach you. We will not greet you or engage in any conversation with you—unless you initiate a greeting first and appear welcoming. Additionally, we will not be able to discuss any of our work from our sessions. If you are with others, we will not share the therapeutic relationship we have with you. We want to respect your privacy and maintain professional boundaries.

Depending on when you contact us, if it is late in the evening or on the weekend, it may take 24-48 hours to respond. Thank you in advance for being patient with us!

If you are an existing active client and experiencing a dangerous or life threatening emergency, psychiatric or medical, you should call 9-1-1 immediately and go to your nearest hospital or emergency services.

Please note: We do not provide 24-7 on call services, inpatient, or acute outpatient treatment.

Afterwards, you can provide our contact information to the care facility or point of contact, so that we can coordinate care with you and those involved. We can also collaborate with you to create a safety plan to reduce acute distress.

As a result, if you are currently undergoing recovery for a pervasive and long term substance use issue(s), recent/frequent hospitalization, or severe mental health symptoms—our office setting and availability may not provide the best care to fit your treatment needs and your goals.

We can provide you with referrals during out phone consultation if we determine together that you need a different setting or help then we can provide.

Cancellation by the Client:

We ask that clients provide as much advance notice as possible if a session needs to be canceled or rescheduled. This allows us to honor clinicians’ time and, when possible, offer the appointment to another client in need.

Inform Your Healer

Please take a moment to note your clinician’s direct contact information, as this will be the best way to let them know if you’re unable to attend a session.

• Cancellations made 24–48 hours in advance: 50% of the session fee will be charged

• Cancellations made within 24 hours or less of the scheduled session, or no-shows: 100% of the session fee will be charged

More Details

For clients using in-network insurance benefits, cancellation fees are calculated using the rate established through our contract with your insurance provider, rather than your usual copay or coinsurance amount.

Although we are not required to calculate cancellation fees using the insurance-contracted rate, we choose to do so as a best practice, out of respect for our agreements with insurance providers and, most importantly, for the clients who access our care through their insurance plans.

For example, if your insurance provider’s contracted rate for a session is $100, a 50% cancellation fee would be $50.

For out-of-network and self-pay clients, cancellation fees are based on the full session fee. Our fees are listed transparently on our website and vary based on the clinician’s licensing status and the type of service provided.

Thank You

This policy helps ensure consistency, fairness, and sustainability across the practice while respecting the time and labor involved in holding session space. 

Running Late to Session: If you arrive 20 minutes or more to a session, we recommend rescheduling the session so that you are able to receive quality services for your time.

If you are late, we can only meet for the remaining time left of the session you had scheduled.

We cannot guarantee that we can provide you with additional time to make up for the time you were late. It is your choice if you would like to continue with the session for the remainder of your scheduled appointment. You will be charged the rate of the full session you scheduled.

Running late to a virtual session: Assuming we do not hear from you, after 10 minutes, we will reach out to you via email to check to see if you still plan on attending our scheduled session.

After this follow up email is sent, if we still do not hear from you, we will wait approximately 10 additional minutes before leaving the virtual room.

We will follow up to reschedule and this will be considered a “no show” and subject to it’s fees according to our policy.

Cancellation by a Healer or Inclement Weather: If we should have to cancel an appointment with you, we will contact you as soon as possible through your email. We will provide an option to reschedule your appointment at this time. This cancellation is at no cost or penalty to you.

Frequently missed sessions: If you miss 3 scheduled sessions, back-to-back, we will have to discuss if it is the right time for you to commit to counseling. We would not want to keep you on as a client if there isn’t progress being made or we are unable to help due to your schedule.