How to Make an Appointment for Psychotherapy or Counseling from Northshore Counseling and Wellness Center

APPOINTMENT FLEXIBILITY - Evening and weekend appointments may be available.

Sessions are usually scheduled weekly or twice weekly, depending on your needs, and last 50 minutes. In some cases, family or couples therapy sessions will be scheduled for 90 minute sessions.

Important: Prior to your first appointment, be sure to download, print, and fill out the necessary forms. Use the tab at the top of the page titled "Forms to be Completed" to access all of the forms. All of the information you provide is confidential.

Call Us:   You may reach us by phone at (985) 624-2942 for scheduling an appointment. If we are not available when you call, your call will be answered by our confidential answering machine. If your call isn't returned within 24 hours, please call again.

Cancellations: If you cancel your appointment without a 24-hour notice, the time set aside for you is lost. Insurance will not cover canceled sessions. With the exception of an emergency, you will be charged a $75 cancellation fee. Should you know in advance of a conflict in your schedule, an alternate session will be offered.

First Session Guarantee: Since many people are unsure about going to therapy in the beginning, we are offering a way to make it an easier process. If after your first session you don't think that working with us is a good fit, there will be no charge for that session. This can allow you to try out therapy without "losing" anything if it does not work for you.

Fees for our Counseling
and eCounseling Services

Our fees are based on session length and can be discussed prior to your first visit. We accept private payment of fees as well as insurance. Payment is expected at time of service. However, if you are well-motivated but cannot afford the usual fee, arrangements may be available to help you.

FEES vary by insurance. Most plans cover mental health. When you schedule your first appointment, we will ask you to contact the person who handles our billing so that you can give her all of your insurance information. She will use this information to contact your insurance company to determine coverage, benefits, deductible, and copay information, as well as obtain an authorization from the insurance company for us to provide treatment for you. Be advised that you will be responsible for fees if your insurance company denies benefits.

Privacy for our Counseling, Psychotherapy, and eCounseling

Privacy of clients' records is of utmost concern. The law protects the privacy of all communications between a client and a psychotherapist. In most situations, We can only release information about your treatment to others if you sign a written Authorization form that meets certain legal requirements imposed by HIPAA and/or Louisiana law.

However, in the following situations, no authorization is required. Disclosures required by health insurers or to collect overdue fees are discussed elsewhere in this Agreement. There are some situations where we are permitted or required to disclose information without your Authorization:

• If you are involved in a court proceeding and a court order is made for information concerning the professional services we provided. We cannot provide any information without your (or your legal representative's) written authorization, or a court order. If you are involved in or contemplating litigation, you should consult with your attorney to determine whether a court would be likely to order us to disclose information.



• If a government agency is requesting the information for health oversight activities, we may be required to provide it for them.



• If a client files a complaint or lawsuit against us, we may disclose relevant information regarding that client in order to defend ourselves.



• If we have reason to believe that a child under the age of eighteen (18) years has been abused, abandoned or neglected or who observes the child being subjected to conditions or circumstances which would reasonably result in abuse, abandonment or neglect, the law requires that we file a report with the appropriate government agency.



• If a client communicates an explicit threat of imminent serious physical harm or death to a clearly identified or identifiable victim or victims, and the client has the apparent intent and ability to carry out such a threat, we may be required to take protective actions. These actions may include notifying the potential victim and contacting the police, and/or seeking hospitalization for the client.



• If we believe that there is an imminent risk that a client will inflict serious physical harm or death on him/herself, we may be required to take protective actions. These actions may include attempting to hospitalize the client, calling the police or contacting family members or others who can assist in protecting the client.



• If such a situation arises, we will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action and we will limit our disclosure to what is necessary.



• Additionally, the privacy of our communications with a client who is a minor is not protected. Parents have a right to ask about the content of psychotherapy. However, we recognize negative impact this might have on a minor client’s willingness to share in therapy. Therefore, we make sure that adolescents and their parents know that our role is to support the adolescent, and we encourage parents to address any questions or concerns about the content of our psychotherapy with the minor instead of through us. If we do have to make a disclosure to the parents due to any of the above reasons, we inform the minor client first and support the client in telling the parents instead of us having to inform parents in such a way that violates the client’s trust.
  

Driving Directions for Northshore Counseling and Wellness Center

Our office address is located at
633 Asbury Drive, Suite A, Mandeville, LA 70471.

• From Highway 190 (Causeway), exit at the Mandeville/Ponchatoula exit (Hwy190/22).


• Turn East on Higway 190. After turning, you will see Kmart on your left and Stein Mart on your right.


• Take a left on Asbury Drive- it is the light after the shopping center that houses Kmart, Whitney Bank, and Hollywood Video.


• After turning left on Asbury Drive, go straight until you come to the stop light (Tire Kingdom will be on your right).
  
  
• Go through the light, and the building is the second building on the right. Our office is on the bottom floor on the right side of the building.

Forms to be Completed

The initial visit to our office can be significantly expedited by taking a few minutes to complete the forms below. Everyone should complete the HIPPA Policy form, the Client Information and Agreement, and the Adult Intake Questionnaire. If a minor is receiving services also complete the Child Intake Questionnaire.

Thank you for your consideration.

You can click to open immediately and print or right-click to download and "save as".
• Client Information and Agreement -- Click here.
• HIPPA Policy Form -- Click here.
• Adult Intake Form -- Click here.
• Child Intake Form -- Click here.