Records Confidentiality Statement

All records regarding your therapy that are maintained by Safe Spot are considered private and confidential. No records will be released to a third party without your express written consent. These records are also protected by state and federal law, as well as by standards of our profession as outlined in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics and the American Psychological Association Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Under specific circumstances, exceptions to confidentiality apply. These exceptions are mandated by law and our ethical commitments and include the suspicion of child abuse or neglect, or a serious and immediate threat to the life or welfare of you, another person, or the community at large, or a court order.

These protections include all written and electronic information, including email consultations with other colleagues of Safe Spot, facsimiles, computer files, therapist notes, insurance related information, and all written and electronic documentation associated with your services through Safe Spot. All therapy notes regarding your services at Safe Spot will be maintained on a computer at our agency that is not connected to the internet to verify that these records are kept secure. In addition, all computer files containing client information will be password protected, and the computer will require a user name and password for use. Only authorized personnel will have access to the computer containing client information. There are risks to confidentiality of any information that is transmitted via the internet. Safe Spot will utilize every available security measure to maintain the integrity of these communications.

Any hard copies of notes will be kept locked in a filing cabinet maintained by your therapist or our office personnel. All personnel and volunteers who have access to any client information have agreed to abide by the confidentiality requirements of our organization and have signed a confidentiality statement agreement.

In the event of a subpoena by an officer of a court to have access to your records, Safe Spot will enlist our attorney to protect the client privilege and will ask the court to review the necessity of the subpoena and request that the court protect your right to confidentiality. If the court disagrees with our request, they will issue a court order with which we would comply, which is acceptable practice under our professional ethical standards.

Under state and federal law and our professional ethical standards, you have the right to review and request copies of your records. It is our obligation to help you understand your records and to assist you with reviewing these records. We will ask that you sign a release for these records.
In the event that your therapist is no longer employed by Safe Spot, retires or is deceased, Safe Spot will continue to maintain your records securely. Should you wish to have a professional outside of Safe Spot review your records, you can request copies in writing. All client records are maintained for ten years from the date of your termination of services at Safe Spot. These records are maintained by a professional records maintenance firm contracted by Safe Spot to securely store your records. This firm ensures that records are kept locked and no employee is permitted access to any records. At the end of the ten year period, these records are completely shredded.

All of the above stated policies regarding the security of your records contribute to the success of your therapy at Safe Spot, and we are committed to upholding our obligations to protect your right to confidentiality.

I, the undersigned, have read the policy regarding my records of services with Safe Spot.