CREDENTIALS
I am an Episcopal priest and a certified pastoral counselor. I am certified as a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and am certified by the State of North Carolina to practice as a Certified Fee-Based Practicing Pastoral Counselor.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The therapist-client relationship is confidential. “Confidential” means that, with certain exceptions, I will disclose neither the fact that we have a professional relationship nor the content of our sessions without your explicit written authorization. In most cases, confidentiality is protected by law. There are certain rare situations in which I must release information about you. For example, if I have specific knowledge that you are a danger to yourself or others, or if a child or elder person has been or will be abused, I must advise the appropriate persons. In order to increase the quality of my care I maintain a regular consultative relationship with a clinical supervisor.
APPOINTMENTS & FEES
Pastoral counseling sessions are 50 minutes in length, by appointment only, with a fee of $125.00. Please tell me if you believe that your circumstances warrant a reduced fee. The fee is paid by cash or check at the beginning of each session. Appointments may be made, rescheduled, or cancelled by calling 704-749-6143 where you may leave a confidential voice mail message. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give at least 24 hours’ notice (noon on Friday for a Monday appointment). Otherwise, you will be responsible to pay the full fee for the time reserved for you.
EMERGENCIES
I can be reached by telephone at my office during regular business hours. For non-emergencies after regular office hours, including weekends and holidays, you may leave a message on my confidential voice mail and I will contact you as soon as possible, at least by the next business day. If you are in a clinical or medical emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room to get the help that you need.
INSURANCE
I do not file insurance claims for clients. You, not your insurance company, are responsible for paying session fees. If you wish to seek reimbursement for my services from your insurance company, I will provide you with a statement for services rendered and payments received. If you do choose to seek reimbursement from your insurance company, the company will usually require that I submit a diagnosis of your mental health condition that indicates that you have an “illness” before the company will reimburse you. This becomes part of your permanent insurance record. I will inform you of the diagnosis I plan to render before I prepare the statement for you to send to your insurance company.
E-MAIL POLICY
The best way to contact me is by telephone. You may call at any time and leave me a message on my confidential voice mail at 704-749-6143. I prefer to use email only to arrange or modify appointments. If you send me an email regarding an appointment and do not hear from me within 24 hours, please call and leave me a voice message on my telephone line.
Please do not email me content related to your therapy sessions, as email is neither completely secure nor confidential. Any emails I receive from you and any responces I send to you become part of your client file.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
I am committed to maintaining proper boundaries that include, but are not limited to, protecting the privacy and confidentiality of our therapeutic relationship. Therefore I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site. Please do not use text messages and messaging on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to contact me.
MY LOGO
Green is a color that signifies growth and healing.
The circle is a symbol of wholeness.
The two lines inside the green circle are to indicate accompanying a person on a journey to wholeness. Accompanying you on your journey to wholeness
is part of my commitment in our work together.
Dr. Sarah M. Rieth, Pastoral Psychotherapist