Sowing Seeds Counseling LLC Terms and Conditions:
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE: This notice went into effect on February 28, 2023; updated December 24, 2025.

(“We, Our, Us” referring to Sowing Seeds Counseling LLC)
(“You, Your, Patient” referring to current or past patient)

APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS:

Please remember to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance. You will be responsible for the

entire fee if cancellation is less than 24 hours.

The standard meeting time for psychotherapy is 60 minutes. It is up to you, however, to

determine the length of time of your sessions. Requests to change the 60-minute session needs to

be discussed with the therapist in order for time to be scheduled in advance.

Cancellations and the re-scheduled session will be subject to a full charge if NOT RECEIVED

AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. This is necessary because a time commitment is made to

you and is held exclusively for you. If you are late for a session, you may lose some of that

session time.

TELEPHONE ACCESSIBILITY:

If you need to contact us between sessions, please leave a message on our business voicemail and avoid

using any PHI (Personal Health Information) when leaving a message. We are sometimes not immediately

available; however, we will attempt to return your call within 48 hours. If a true emergency situation arises, please

call 911 or 988 or go to the nearest local emergency room.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATION:

Due to the importance of your confidentiality and the importance of minimizing dual

relationships, our psychotherapists do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any

social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). We believe that adding patients as friends or

contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may

also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please

bring them up when we meet, and we can talk more about it.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION:

We cannot ensure the confidentiality of any form of communication through electronic media,

including text messages. If you prefer to communicate via email or text messaging for issues

regarding scheduling, cancellations, or general questions, we will do so. While we may try to return

messages in a timely manner, we cannot guarantee immediate response and request that you do not use

these methods of communication to discuss therapeutic content and/or request assistance for

emergencies.

Services by electronic means, including but not limited to telephone communication, the

Internet, facsimile machines, and e-mail, is considered telemedicine by the State of California.

Under the California Telemedicine Act of 1996, telemedicine is broadly defined as the use of

information technology to deliver medical services and information from one location to another.

If you and your therapist chose to use information technology for some or all of your treatment,

you need to understand that: (1) You retain the option to withhold or withdraw consent at any

time without affecting the right to future care or treatment or risking the loss or withdrawal of

any program benefits to which you would otherwise be entitled. (2) All existing confidentiality

protections are equally applicable. (3) Your access to all medical information transmitted during

a telemedicine consultation is guaranteed, and copies of this information are available for a

reasonable fee. (4) Dissemination of any of your identifiable images or information from the

telemedicine interaction to researchers or other entities shall not occur without your consent. (5)

There are potential risks, consequences, and benefits of telemedicine. Potential benefits include,

but are not limited to, improved communication capabilities, providing convenient access to up-

to-date information, consultations, support, reduced costs, improved quality, change in the

conditions of practice, improved access to therapy, better continuity of care, and reduction of lost

work time and travel costs.

Effective therapy is often facilitated when the therapist gathers, within a session or a series of

sessions, a multitude of observations, information, and experiences about the client. Psychotherapists

may make clinical assessments, diagnosis, and interventions based not only on direct verbal or

auditory communications, written reports, and third-person consultations, but also from direct

visual and olfactory observations, information, and experiences. When using information

technology in therapy services, potential risks include, but are not limited to, the therapist’s

inability to make visual and olfactory observations of clinically or therapeutically potentially

relevant issues such as: your physical condition, including deformities, apparent height, and

weight, body type, attractiveness relative to social and cultural norms or standards, gait and

motor coordination, posture, work speed, any noteworthy mannerism or gestures, physical or

medical conditions including bruises or injuries, basic grooming, and hygiene including

appropriateness of dress, eye contact (including any changes in the previously listed issues), sex,

chronological and apparent age, ethnicity, facial and body language, and congruence of language

and facial or bodily expression. Potential consequences thus include the therapist not being

aware of what he or she would consider important information, that you may not recognize as

significant to present verbally to the therapist.

MINORS:

If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to some information about your therapy. We

will discuss with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive, and

which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.

TERMINATION (END OF THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP):

Ending relationships can be difficult. Therefore, it is important to have a termination process in

order to achieve some closure. The appropriate length of the termination depends on the length

and intensity of the treatment. We may terminate treatment after appropriate discussion with you

and a termination process if we determine that the psychotherapy is not being effectively used or if

you are in default on payment. We will not terminate the therapeutic relationship without first

discussing and exploring the reasons and purpose of terminating. If therapy is terminated for any

reason or you request another therapist, we will provide you with a list of qualified

psychotherapists to treat you. You may also choose someone on your own or from another

referral source.

Should you fail to schedule an appointment for three consecutive weeks, unless other

arrangements have been made in advance, for legal and ethical reasons, we must consider the

professional relationship discontinued.