Charlotte Malkmus, MA, LMHC
License # LH60225428
621 Pacific Ave., Suite 100
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 355-2498
Adolescent Psychotherapy Information Disclosure Statement
The purpose of meeting with a therapist is to get help with issues in your life that are
causing you distress or that are keeping you from being successful. You may be here
because you wanted to talk to a therapist, or you may be here because your parent, guardian,
doctor or teacher had concerns about you. When we meet, we will discuss your thoughts and
feelings. I will listen to you, ask questions, and together we will try and come up with a plan
for improving the problems that brought you in. It’s important that you feel comfortable
talking to me about what’s bothering you. Sometimes that will include things you don’t
want your parents or guardians to know about. For most people, knowing that what they say
will be kept private helps them feel more comfortable and have more trust in their therapist.
Privacy, also called confidentiality, is an important and necessary part of good therapy.
In the therapeutic relationship, both client and therapist have certain clearly defined rights
and responsibilities. It is important that you know about these rights and responsibilities,
and their limitations. Please read through this document thoroughly, feel free to ask me any
questions, and sign it at the end.
I. Education, Training and Experience
I am a Washington State Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over a decade of
experience providing mental health services. I graduated in 2002 from Naropa University
with a Masters degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy. Contemplative Psychotherapy
combines traditional western approaches to mental health treatment with a more holistic
approach that includes increasing your understanding of how your own mind works, also
known as mindfulness. Mindfulness-based treatments have been increasingly studied in the
west over the past 30 years and have been proven highly effective.
I got my start in the field in New York City, providing post-9/11 Crisis Counseling in the
NYC public schools. I also worked as a senior counselor for the Infant and Child Learning
Center at Downstate Medical Center, on both the New York State Early Intervention
Program, and for the Safe Schools Healthy Students federal initiative. I served as Deputy
Director of The Inner Resilience Program, and as group leader for The Billy Esposito
Bereavement Center, both in Manhattan. I had a private psychotherapy practice in Brooklyn,
NY, and I co-founded Mindful Moms of Brooklyn, a support group for new mothers.
Currently, I am a clinical associate with the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute in
addition to my private practice in Tacoma.
II. Approach to Treatment
In most cases, I meet with people for psychotherapy on a weekly or twice-weekly basis. I also offer
psychoanalysis, in which I meet with someone four times a week. Psychoanalysis is characterized
by a greater depth and intensity than weekly psychotherapy, and patients in analysis lie on the
couch rather than sitting up face to face.
Whatever the frequency of sessions, my approach consists of the following qualities:
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Strengths-focused: Whether working with individuals, couples, or families, I take a
strengths-focused approach, attending to people’s inherent resilience and capacity for
growth.
Mindfulness-oriented: I encourage clients to cultivate an attitude of curiosity towards their
experience rather than one of judgment, inviting people to treat themselves with
compassion.
Embodied: Many therapies treat people from the neck up, ignoring the body. My approach
includes a focus on the connection between the mind and the body, which can be highly
effective in helping people cope with issues such as severe stress and chronic pain.
Collaborative: I view the psychotherapeutic relationship as a collaborative one, and
encourage honesty and regular feedback from clients.
Culturally competent: I am experienced working with people of diverse religious, ethnic,
racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, gender identities and sexual orientations.
Resources such as books and articles relevant to a particular type of treatment may be
recommended from time to time.
III.
Confidentiality
As a general rule, I will keep the information you share with me in our sessions confidential,
unless I have your written consent to disclose certain information. There are, however,
important exceptions to this rule that are important for you to understand before you share
personal information with me in a therapy session. In some situations, I am required by law or
by the guidelines of my profession to disclose information whether or not I have your
permission. I have listed some of these situations below.
Confidentiality cannot be maintained when:
>You tell me you plan to cause serious harm or death to yourself, and I believe you have
the intent and ability to carry out this threat in the very near future. I must take steps to
inform a parent or guardian of what you have told me and how serious I believe this
threat to be. I must make sure that you are protected from harming yourself.
> You tell me you plan to cause serious harm or death to someone else who can be
identified, and I believe you have the intent and ability to carry out this threat in the very
near future. In this situation, I must inform your parent or guardian, and I must inform
the person who you intend to harm.
>You are doing things that could cause serious harm to you or someone else, even if you
do not intend to harm yourself or another person. In these situations, I will need to use
my professional judgment to decide whether a parent or guardian should be informed.
>You tell me you are being abused-physically, sexually or emotionally-or that you have
been abused in the past. In this situation, I am required by law to report the abuse to the
Washington state authorities.
>You are involved in a court case and a request is made for information about your
counseling or therapy. If this happens, I will not disclose information without your
written agreement unless the court requires me to. I will do all I can within the law to
protect your confidentiality, and if I am required to disclose information to the court, I
will inform you that this is happening.
Communicating with your parent(s) or guardian(s):
Except for situations such as those mentioned above, I will not tell your parent or
guardian specific things you share with me in our private therapy sessions. However, if
you engage in serious risk-taking behavior, then I will need to use my professional
judgment to decide whether you are in immediate danger of being harmed. If I feel that
you are in such danger, I will communicate this information to your parent or guardian.
Even if I have agreed to keep information confidential – to not tell your parent or
guardian – I may believe that it is important for them to know what is going on in your
life. In these situations, I will encourage you to tell your parent/guardian and will help
you find the best way to tell them. Also, if I meet with your parents, I may sometimes
describe problems in general terms, without using specifics, in order to help them know
how to be more helpful to you.
Communicating with other adults:
School: I will not share any information with your school unless I have your permission
and permission from your parent or guardian. If I want to contact your school, or if
someone at your school wants to contact me, I will discuss it with you and ask for your
written permission. A very unlikely situation might come up in which I do not have your
permission but both I and your parent or guardian believe that it is very important for me
to be able to share certain information with someone at your school. In this situation, I
will use my professional judgment to decide whether to share any information.
Doctors: Sometimes your doctor and I might need to work together; for example, if you
need to take medication in addition to seeing a counselor or therapist. I will get your
written permission and permission from your parent/guardian in advance to share
information with your doctor. The only time I would share information with your doctor
even if I don’t have your permission is if you are doing something that puts you at risk
for serious and immediate physical/medical harm.
IV. 48- hour cancellation policy
If you miss a session without canceling, or cancel with less than 48 hours’ notice, you
must pay for that session in full.
V. Fees and Insurance
The fee for therapy is $140 per session, unless otherwise arranged. Sessions are 50
minutes in length and payments can be made weekly or monthly.
I am an Out-of-Network provider for some insurance companies. You may ask me for a
bill to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.
VI.
Phone calls, emails and texts
I use phone calls and emails in-between sessions generally for scheduling purposes only.
I ask that you do not text me, and that you email me only to schedule or reschedule a
session. There is no way for me to guarantee your privacy if you email or text me with
any private information. If you need to speak with me by phone, I will make every effort
to return your call within 24 hours. If you find yourself in crisis and need to speak to
someone right away, you can call the Pierce County Crisis Line: 800-576-7764.
VII.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with what’s happening in therapy, I invite you to speak with me
about it. I assure you that I will take your complaint seriously and address your concerns
with respect. If you believe that I’ve been unwilling to listen and respond, or that I’ve
behaved unethically, you can bring your complaint to the state governing board for the
health professions:
Department of Health
Health Systems Quality Assurance (HSQA)
Complaint Intake
P.O. Box 47857
Olympia, WA 98504-7857
360-236-4700
Email: HSQAComplaintIntake@doh.wa.gov
Adolescent Consent Form and Parent Agreement to Respect Privacy
Adolescent therapy client:
Signing below indicates that you have reviewed the policies described above and understand the
limits to confidentiality. If you have any questions as we progress with therapy, you can ask me at
any time.
Signature _______________________________________ Date__________
Notice of Privacy Practices
I hereby acknowledge that I have received and have been given an opportunity to read a copy of
Charlotte Malkmus’s Notice of Privacy Practices and ask questions.
_____________________________________________________________
Signature of Patient/Client
Date
Parent/Guardian:
Please sign below indicating your agreement to respect your adolescent’s privacy:
I will refrain from requesting detailed information about individual therapy sessions with my child.
I understand that I will be provided upon request with periodic updates about general progress, and
that I will be asked to participate in therapy sessions as needed. I understand that I will be informed
about situations that could endanger my child.
Parent Signature ________________________________________ Date__________
Parent Signature ________________________________________ Date__________