APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS/MISSED APPOINTMENTS
All services are provided by appointment. I will personally answer my business phone and emails unless you are referred to my billing specialist. If you are a current client/consultee, I typically respond on the same or next business day. If you are inquiring about adjunctive EMDR treatment or psych-social assessments to access gender affirming medical care, please leave the following information on my voice mail; your name and phone number (that I can leave an explicit voicemail on), briefly the main issue you would like help with, your primary therapist's name, your health insurance carrier, and your availability Tuesdays and Thursdays. I try to respond to these inquiries within 3-4 business days unless my outgoing voicemail clearly states that I don't have any openings or I'm away.
EMDR ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT: This treatment is on a referral basis, so I will need to first consult with your primary therapist regarding hopes for the EMDR treatment (with written permission from you). Then I will schedule a brief phone call with you directly as a meet and greet. I normally conduct an initial evaluation the first meeting that will last around 60-70 minutes (longer than our regular sessions) to continue assessing whether EMDR will be helpful to you and for collaborative treatment planning. If EMDR still seems to be a good fit for both of us, we will then schedule weekly or bi-monthly appointments at a recurring time that we agree on. After the initial assessment we will be doing EMDR each session and meet 1-4 months. My role will be as an adjunctive therapist providing EMDR to supporting you and your work with primary therapist. So I will periodically contact your primary therapist to ensure we are on track.
TRANSGENDER/NON-BINARY/GENDER FLUID and GENDER QUEER CLIENTS, I will provide the psycho-social assessments so I may write the support letter to your medical provider and/or insurance company. If you are in primary therapy, I will consult with that therapist (with your written permission) to obtain or provide any information that will be helpful to you in this process. I do not provide primary therapy yet can provide referrals of individual therapists who are knowledgeable and affirming.
FOR SUPERVISION CONSULTATION: We can do a brief phone consult initially to see if I'm a good fit for your needs. Appointments initially may be more frequent (weekly to -bimonthly) and transition to monthly or as needed. I ask that we both sign a supervision agreement regarding expectations we decide I can be helpful as a consultant.
For all the services I provide, if you cancel or miss sessions frequently, I may not be able to reserve the appointment time for you and may end the treatment. There may be rare situations in which one of us is ill or have a family emergency. In addition, there will be times that one of us will be on vacation. Otherwise, we both will commit to making every effort not to miss appointments, particularly at the last minute. In addition, you are responsible for arriving to your session on time; if you are late, your appointment will still need to end on time and if you are more than 15 minutes late without contacting me to see I am still able to meet the appointment will automatically be cancelled with a late cancel fee.
Since the scheduling of an appointment involves the reservation of time specifically for you, a minimum of 24 hours (1 business day prior) notice is required for rescheduling or canceling an appointment. If you do not show or if you cancel late, you will be expected to pay 50% of the session fee (rather than 50% of your co-pay). If requested, I will try to find another time for you to reschedule your appointment in the same week. Please make every effort to provide as much notice as possible if you need to cancel, as it increases the likelihood that I will be able to reschedule your appointment and so I may be able to schedule another service during that hour. If, during our time together, you do not show for two appointments or if there is a pattern of cancellations, even 24 hours in advance, therapy may not be effective and I may decide to end therapy.
TELEHEALTH SESSIONS
Telehealth is the use of video and audio technologies to support services between providers/consultants and their clients/consultees' when meeting in person is not available. It is Secure and Confidential. TheraNest does not allow for session video or audio to be recorded.
You will need:
A smartphone, tablet, or computer with a camera and internet access. There is no app to download. To be located in a state that I am licensed in (currently only Oregon). A private space to talk. To provide me with written consent beforehand. I must have consent documented before we can proceed.
What to expect:
Click on the link in your email or text reminder and you will enter the waiting room until I arrive. Once I am available, you will see a “Join Session” button at bottom of screen to click on.
Helpful tips:
Telehealth is best with a laptop or desktop, it does not work well on a phone. With Desktop or Laptop use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Safari
With a tablet, iPad or smart phone use Google Chrome with Android and Safari with IOS. If you're only choice is using a phone, it's helpful to have it connected to wi-fi when we talk to assist connection speed and quality. Keep in mind that public and unprotected wi-fi offers less security, so please use only secure wi-fi to protect your information. Any room where a door can close is ideal. Headphones can help to increase a sense of privacy when people are unavoidably nearby in other rooms, but this isn't necessary.
BACKUP: If my Theranest telehealth platform Is not working or we have significant technological problems, we will use the back up of Doxy.me which is also HIPAA secure. If that occurs, I will inform you to go to this backup platform. It is pretty similar to my client portal and my waiting room via Doxy.me. Just put the following link in browser: https://doxy.me/drmorse
COMMITMENT TO TREATMENT
If we both agree that I am a good fit for your needs, please give adequate time to be able to assess if being helped. If at that time, services do not feel helpful, I welcome feedback. You can also ask for referrals to someone whom would be a better fit. Most important is that you get the help you need!
CONTACTING ME
Due to my limited work schedule, I am often not immediately available by telephone, email or text.
Phone: I make every effort to return calls promptly. When I am unavailable, my telephone is answered by confidential voice mail that I monitor during business hours Tuesday and Thursday. However, I am not available to return calls on weekends, non-office hours or days, and holidays, or when I have informed you that I am out of the office. Please see crisis resources on my Resources Page for immediate needs.
Electronic Communication: You should be aware that I cannot ensure the confidentiality of email and text as they are both not secure avenues of communication. If you would like to communicate via email for issues regarding scheduling or cancellations, I will do so if you provide your permission. Please do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies.
All services are provided by appointment. I will personally answer my business phone and emails unless you are referred to my billing specialist. If you are a current client/consultee, I typically respond on the same or next business day. If you are inquiring about adjunctive EMDR treatment or psych-social assessments to access gender affirming medical care, please leave the following information on my voice mail; your name and phone number (that I can leave an explicit voicemail on), briefly the main issue you would like help with, your primary therapist's name, your health insurance carrier, and your availability Tuesdays and Thursdays. I try to respond to these inquiries within 3-4 business days unless my outgoing voicemail clearly states that I don't have any openings or I'm away.
EMDR ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT: This treatment is on a referral basis, so I will need to first consult with your primary therapist regarding hopes for the EMDR treatment (with written permission from you). Then I will schedule a brief phone call with you directly as a meet and greet. I normally conduct an initial evaluation the first meeting that will last around 60-70 minutes (longer than our regular sessions) to continue assessing whether EMDR will be helpful to you and for collaborative treatment planning. If EMDR still seems to be a good fit for both of us, we will then schedule weekly or bi-monthly appointments at a recurring time that we agree on. After the initial assessment we will be doing EMDR each session and meet 1-4 months. My role will be as an adjunctive therapist providing EMDR to supporting you and your work with primary therapist. So I will periodically contact your primary therapist to ensure we are on track.
TRANSGENDER/NON-BINARY/GENDER FLUID and GENDER QUEER CLIENTS, I will provide the psycho-social assessments so I may write the support letter to your medical provider and/or insurance company. If you are in primary therapy, I will consult with that therapist (with your written permission) to obtain or provide any information that will be helpful to you in this process. I do not provide primary therapy yet can provide referrals of individual therapists who are knowledgeable and affirming.
FOR SUPERVISION CONSULTATION: We can do a brief phone consult initially to see if I'm a good fit for your needs. Appointments initially may be more frequent (weekly to -bimonthly) and transition to monthly or as needed. I ask that we both sign a supervision agreement regarding expectations we decide I can be helpful as a consultant.
For all the services I provide, if you cancel or miss sessions frequently, I may not be able to reserve the appointment time for you and may end the treatment. There may be rare situations in which one of us is ill or have a family emergency. In addition, there will be times that one of us will be on vacation. Otherwise, we both will commit to making every effort not to miss appointments, particularly at the last minute. In addition, you are responsible for arriving to your session on time; if you are late, your appointment will still need to end on time and if you are more than 15 minutes late without contacting me to see I am still able to meet the appointment will automatically be cancelled with a late cancel fee.
Since the scheduling of an appointment involves the reservation of time specifically for you, a minimum of 24 hours (1 business day prior) notice is required for rescheduling or canceling an appointment. If you do not show or if you cancel late, you will be expected to pay 50% of the session fee (rather than 50% of your co-pay). If requested, I will try to find another time for you to reschedule your appointment in the same week. Please make every effort to provide as much notice as possible if you need to cancel, as it increases the likelihood that I will be able to reschedule your appointment and so I may be able to schedule another service during that hour. If, during our time together, you do not show for two appointments or if there is a pattern of cancellations, even 24 hours in advance, therapy may not be effective and I may decide to end therapy.
TELEHEALTH SESSIONS
Telehealth is the use of video and audio technologies to support services between providers/consultants and their clients/consultees' when meeting in person is not available. It is Secure and Confidential. TheraNest does not allow for session video or audio to be recorded.
You will need:
A smartphone, tablet, or computer with a camera and internet access. There is no app to download. To be located in a state that I am licensed in (currently only Oregon). A private space to talk. To provide me with written consent beforehand. I must have consent documented before we can proceed.
What to expect:
Click on the link in your email or text reminder and you will enter the waiting room until I arrive. Once I am available, you will see a “Join Session” button at bottom of screen to click on.
Helpful tips:
Telehealth is best with a laptop or desktop, it does not work well on a phone. With Desktop or Laptop use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Safari
With a tablet, iPad or smart phone use Google Chrome with Android and Safari with IOS. If you're only choice is using a phone, it's helpful to have it connected to wi-fi when we talk to assist connection speed and quality. Keep in mind that public and unprotected wi-fi offers less security, so please use only secure wi-fi to protect your information. Any room where a door can close is ideal. Headphones can help to increase a sense of privacy when people are unavoidably nearby in other rooms, but this isn't necessary.
BACKUP: If my Theranest telehealth platform Is not working or we have significant technological problems, we will use the back up of Doxy.me which is also HIPAA secure. If that occurs, I will inform you to go to this backup platform. It is pretty similar to my client portal and my waiting room via Doxy.me. Just put the following link in browser: https://doxy.me/drmorse
COMMITMENT TO TREATMENT
If we both agree that I am a good fit for your needs, please give adequate time to be able to assess if being helped. If at that time, services do not feel helpful, I welcome feedback. You can also ask for referrals to someone whom would be a better fit. Most important is that you get the help you need!
CONTACTING ME
Due to my limited work schedule, I am often not immediately available by telephone, email or text.
Phone: I make every effort to return calls promptly. When I am unavailable, my telephone is answered by confidential voice mail that I monitor during business hours Tuesday and Thursday. However, I am not available to return calls on weekends, non-office hours or days, and holidays, or when I have informed you that I am out of the office. Please see crisis resources on my Resources Page for immediate needs.
Electronic Communication: You should be aware that I cannot ensure the confidentiality of email and text as they are both not secure avenues of communication. If you would like to communicate via email for issues regarding scheduling or cancellations, I will do so if you provide your permission. Please do not use these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for emergencies.