Scheduling & Privacy

Accessing Services & Scheduling

Any person eligible for services may contact Focus Psychological Services directly. There is no need for referral through the Department. Dependents of employees may contact Focus Psychological Services directly, and do not need to go through the family member employed by the Department. To arrange an appointment or get more information call:

Focus Psychological Services
(858) 565-0066

Callers telephoning into Focus Psychological Services will be greeted by an automated messaging system. Callers with urgent messages should select option 0.

Scheduling:

Focus therapists schedule appointments with client confidentiality in mind. We suggest and request that clients not arrive more than 10 minutes before their appointment unless instructed to do so by the therapist. We cannot guarantee that clients will not see someone they know in the parking lot or the waiting room. If this is of concern to you, please inform your counselor and alternative arrangements may be discussed.

Cancellations:

Appointments are usually made for 50-minute sessions and your time is reserved for you. In a sense, the arrangement is for you to have exclusive use of the professional’s time for your scheduled appointment. Therefore, we would appreciate as much advance notice of cancellations as possible. This will enable us to accommodate others who are waiting for appointments. We recognize that there are circumstances that are unavoidable. If you must cancel, we will attempt to reschedule an appointment for you within a few days. However, you must realize that our schedules are usually quite full, and missed appointment could result in a wait of a week or more.

There may also be times when we must cancel an appointment to respond to an emergency. We will reschedule with you as soon as possible.

Worker’s Compensation Evaluations:

Workers Compensation evaluations are not included in the scope of our services. If you are seeking documentation for a claim, please contact your City’s Risk Management Compensation Division for a referral to a specialist in this area.

Confidentiality & Privacy

We want to assure all clients and prospective clients that the law and our professional ethics require that information given and discussed during counseling sessions is kept strictly confidential. Staff at Focus Psychological Services will not release clients’ name or the content of therapy sessions without explicit written permission of the client. Contracting agencies are only informed of statistical data regarding access to services. Agencies do not receive client names or other identifying data.

However, there are several conditions under which the obligation of confidentiality must be set aside when we are mandated by law to take action to insure clients’ safety or the safety of others. Every effort will be made to resolve these issues before information is acted upon. Exceptions to confidentiality are as follows:

If a client indicates that he or she intends to seriously hurt or kill themselves or someone else, we must act to notify potential helpers and/or victims.
If a client reports child or elder abuse or molestation, we are legally bound to report it to the appropriate authorities.
Children under the age of 18 have limited confidentiality. Certain information may be disclosed to the legal parent/guardian of the child. Please discuss this matter with your counselor.

Schedule A Session:

If your agency is not listed, please contact EAP for mental health benefits. Should you wish to pay out of pocket for services, rates will be discussed with your clinician.