Michael D. Penticuff, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
(512) 454-9300
1300 West Lynn Street, Suite 110
Austin, Texas 78703
This information describes the ground rules under which I can work with you effectively, ethically and legally. In its paper form, it is accompanied by a separate page that amounts to an agreement between us to accept these rules as the basis of our working relationship and that permits you to provide me with the information I must keep in my files.
Nature of Services. I provide long-term and short-term counseling and psychotherapy for individual adults, couples, groups, and adult members of families, as well as psychological and vocational assessment and organizational consultation. Notice that I do not provide services to children. There are no provisions for children to wait in my office building, so it is important that appropriate arrangements for child care elsewhere be made before coming to my building for any purpose. Many of the more specific aspects of my services, such as my philosophy as the therapist, your role as the client, your goals for therapy, and duration of services, will be discussed with you individually. In general, however, you will determine your goals and you will decide on the duration of your therapy. Your treatment will be unique to your needs and is likely to change as those needs change.
Appointments. Although I occasionally happen to be in my office at other times, I am generally available for individual appointments Monday through Wednesday beginning at noon and continuing until as late as 7 p.m. Since I may plan to be away from the office unless I have an appointment there, it is very important that appointments be kept or, if they must be changed, that I be informed no later than the end of the previous business day.
Fees. The fee for a 45-minute office visit with one person is $105.00; the fee for a 45-minute office visit with a couple or a family is $135.00. The excess portions of sessions that extend beyond 45 minutes will be charged in 15-minute increments. The fee for group work is $30.00 for each 90-minute session; for groups of couples, the fee is $50.00 per 90-minute group session. Telephone consultations will be charged in 15-minute increments at the rate the caller would be charged for an office visit. Fees for psychological work at the organizational level will be determined separately in each instance. Finally, fees for psychological testing are set separately for each test. All fees are negotiable either upward or downward upon request.
It is very important that you pay the agreed-upon fee prior to leaving the office after each individual or group session, in the form of cash or check. If you find it inconvenient to write several checks per month, it is acceptable to pay for several sessions in advance. Fees that are unpaid, or that appear likely to be unpaid, will be discussed with you individually or in your group. Accounts are considered delinquent after two sessions are unpaid. At this point, if payment arrangements have not been made, routine appointments will cease until the situation is addressed. If you are having financial troubles that may affect your ability to pay for therapy, please let me know and ask for a confidential application for alternative fee arrangements.
Insurance Philosophy. My fee structure is substantially lower than the prevailing rates in Austin and is based on the assumption that I will not personally deal with insurance companies. There are numerous reasons for this: insurance companies almost always require a psychiatric diagnosis which then becomes a permanent part of your medical history; insurance companies require the repeated sharing of personal information about you before they will agree to an initial or increased allocation of sessions; company representatives who do not know either you or me and who may be working in another state with the benefit of little psychological training are empowered to make decisions about the type and amount of work that is appropriate for you; insurance companies rarely cover an unlimited number of sessions, so that you may have to quit your work with me or suddenly begin paying a much higher fee if you wish to continue beyond their willingness to pay; and it is neither pleasant nor cost-free for me to spend my time and other resources dealing with insurance companies instead of with you.
If you do wish to file for insurance reimbursement, I will be happy to furnish you with a receipt, but you will still be expected to pay at the time of service and it will be up to you to mail the receipt to your insurance company and to do any telephoning or other negotiation. If it becomes necessary for me to become personally involved beyond furnishing you with a receipt, I will charge you in 15-minute increments at the rate that would apply to you for individual work with me (in the event you are using Medicare benefits, once you have paid me your copay I will file a claim with Medicare for you at no charge to you). Insurance companies will not reimburse for this type of charge.
Confidentiality. I treat all information shared with me with great care. You are generally entitled to access to your record, but I certainly will not discuss you or anything identifiable about your situation with anyone other than you and people who are, with your knowledge, members of the team of professionals who are a part of, affiliated with, or consultants to my practice. There are several exceptions to confidentiality mandated by Texas State law. Some examples: I must break confidentiality if the client is a danger to self or others, if child abuse, even if it occurred long ago, is suspected or confirmed, or if my records are subpoenaed by a court, and in situations in which governmental agencies require information for audit or administrative purposes. Finally, while I certainly hope not to encounter this situation, Texas law authorizes me to provide information as necessary to collection agencies if other efforts to collect payment have failed. In addition, it is legally and clinically necessary that I keep notes regarding our work with you. If you decide to come in, it will be necessary for you to see my HIPAA Privacy Notice before we start our work together (this is a Federal requirement). Since this is something that must be done at some point, it will save time when you come in if you will click on this link now. Also, under the Federal PATRIOT Act, I may be required to grant the FBI access to your records if they view you as being able to assist in an investigation relating to terrorism. In the extremely unlikely event that this occurs, the law prohibits me from notifying you in any way. Finally, confidentiality is a particularly important consideration where group work is concerned. Group work is based on mutual trust, and violations of that trust can be detrimental to the group as a whole.
Potential Side Effects. It is important that you realize that working with a psychologist may sometimes lead to unexpected consequences. For example, you might learn enough about yourself that you would come to recognize that a job or relationship you were convinced was right for you has in fact contributed heavily to negative feelings; you might then decide to give up that job or that relationship rather than continue to endure the emotional consequences of keeping it. In general, exploring problems may uncover painful feelings and it is important to know that this is a normal part of the growth process. One aim of therapy is to work through and resolve these underlying hurts and this requires your ongoing commitment to therapy.
Complaints. I very much hope that we can resolve any misunderstandings that may arise by discussing them together. Indeed, working through such difficulties is one of the most effective ways to grow psychologically and emotionally. Nonetheless, you are entitled to know that, should you have a complaint that you cannot resolve by talking with me, or that you do not care to discuss with me, you have the right to call the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists at (512) 305-7709.
Alternative Services. You should know that there are many forms of mental health assistance available in and around Austin and that it is perfectly appropriate to ask me about such alternatives. You also should know that you have the right to withdraw from services at any time and that I will assist you, if you desire, with finding an appropriate referral.
Emergencies. I have a voice messaging system which can be accessed only by me. I check it frequently if I cannot answer the phone personally.
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