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Consent for Guided Self-Care

Welcome!

We are excited to welcome you to Guided Self-Care. Please review the information below that provides an overview of the program and guidelines for how to make the best use of it.

Guided Self-Care

Lyra Clinical Associates P.C. (“LCA”) is making Guided Self-Care (also referred to as “GSC” in the following) available to you. Guided Self-Care is a non-therapeutic, active and present focused intervention that helps people make desired changes in their lives and enhance their wellbeing. As part of GSC, LCA will pair you with a Coach to help craft your goals for the program based on what you want to achieve. By participating in the program and getting support from your coach, you can strengthen and build skills to better address issues like stress management, anxiety, sadness, relationship difficulties, adjusting to changes, clarifying your goals and values in life, making decisions, getting unstuck from a particular situation, etc.

Your contribution:

  • Commit to actively participate in the program.
  • Commit to weekly review of activities.
  • Commit to taking assessments every 3 weeks.
  • Attend the coaching session as agreed, unless you’re ill or have an emergency.
  • Actively participate within a session.
  • Understand that you are free to reject any advice, suggestions, or skills from the coach.
  • Do your best to follow-up on and implement any plans you develop in collaboration with your coach.
  • Understand that the coach is not a psychotherapist.

Coach contribution:

  • Collaborate with you in the development of coaching goals and a coaching plan.
  • Review your activities and provide feedback.
  • Review assessment results.
  • Maintain confidentiality as described below.
  • Seek supervision or consultation as appropriate.

Length of Guided Self-Care

The coaching program is based upon evidence-based practices that have been proven to help clients address concerns like excessive anxiety or sadness. GSC clients typically work with their coach for one session and then continue through the program with personalized activities for 6 weeks with support from the coach via the GSC messaging system. You may request an additional session during the 6 week program.

Guided Self-Care is Different from Therapy

Your coach is not trained as a psychotherapist. This program is not a substitute for any form of medically prescribed or therapeutic services (including psychiatric services, psychotherapy, or counseling). The program does not involve the diagnosis or treatment of mental health disorders as defined by the American Psychiatric Association. If, during the course of Guided Self-Care, psychotherapy is preferred or necessary to address your needs, your coach will connect you with the Lyra care team to identify an appropriate provider.

We do not recommend participation in Guided Self-Care if: a) you are currently receiving individual therapy, b) you have started a medication within the past 6 months for mental health concerns or c) you have a history of hospitalization for behavioral health concerns.

The Lyra Website

As part of Guided Self-Care you will need to access the Lyra Website to: a) participate in the video coaching session(s) (see more detail below about Video Sessions), b) submit assessments and practices in between sessions, and c) connect with your coach via secure messaging. Your coach will orient you to using the Lyra Website during your session.

You can decide to have your coaching session(s) by phone rather than by video. In this circumstance your coach will call you for the session at the number you provided at registration. You will still need to use the Lyra Website to complete assessments and assignments. Your use of Lyra’s website is subject to our Privacy Policy and HIPAA Notice (U.S.).

Assessments

Before your first session, your coach will ask you to answer some questions that will help them better understand your situation and how they can be most helpful. Throughout the program, you will also be asked to fill out assessments to track your progress.

Messaging Communication

You are encouraged to contact your coach to ask questions and share progress. Please message them within the Lyra Website and they will address them as soon as possible. Your coach checks their messages in the Lyra Website regularly during business hours and will make every effort to return your message within 2 business days.

All messages will be deleted after 13 months.

Emergency Procedures

In a crisis, please call 911, go to the local emergency room. Please do not use the Lyra Care messaging or email if you are experiencing an emergency.

If you experience an emergency during your sessions with your coach, or if your coach becomes concerned about your personal safety, the possibility of you injuring someone else, or about you receiving proper psychiatric care, your coach and LCA will do whatever possible within the limits of the law to prevent you from injuring yourself or others and to ensure that you receive the proper medical care. For this purpose, LCA or your coach may contact the person whose name you have provided as your emergency contact.

Rescheduling/Cancellations

Rescheduling and cancellations of existing sessions negatively impact our coaches availability to book new sessions and help clients. To minimize this impact we ask you to please keep rescheduling and cancellations to a minimum. We also require 24 hours notice to cancel or reschedule sessions.

If you cancel or reschedule within 24 hours of a scheduled session, or you do not attend a scheduled session you may be charged a $65.00 Late Cancellation Payment.

Confidentiality

Your privacy and confidentiality is important to us. We want to let you know that when care transitions are indicated, information regarding your care needs (e.g. difficulty sleeping, high stress) may be shared with other members of the Lyra care team in order to help coordinate care. Coaches on the team also consult with one another to make your care even more effective. During consultations coaches make every effort to protect the identity of their clients.

In certain instances your coach may disclose information about your sessions without requiring your consent. These instances include:

  • When there is suspected elder, dependent adult, or child abuse or neglect.
  • When, in the coach’s judgment, you are in danger of harming yourself or another person, or are unable to care for yourself.
  • If you communicate to the coach a serious threat of physical violence against another person, the coach is required by law to inform both potential victims and legal authorities.
  • If the coach is ordered by a court to release information as part of a legal proceeding.
  • As otherwise required by law.

If you experience an emergency during your sessions with your coach, your coach will take appropriate steps to ensure your safety and help get you to the appropriate care. In the cases where your coach becomes concerned about your personal safety or the possibility of you injuring someone else, the coach may need to disclose information to a third party in order to prevent you from injuring yourself or others and/or to refer you to appropriate medical care.

For more information, see Lyra’s Privacy Policy and Lyra Clinical Associate P.C.’s HIPAA Notice. If you have additional questions about how Lyra protects your privacy, you can also email [email protected].

Video Sessions

Coaching Technology

We make every effort to ensure a seamless and secure experience for your session(s), however there are potential risks to this video technology, including interruptions, unauthorized access, and technical difficulties. If you experience a situation where you are not confident of the continued security or quality of your session, such as interference with your signal, poor quality of the video, or continued interruptions, you or your coach can discontinue the session. In order to have the best results for coaching sessions, you should be in a quiet place with limited interruptions when you start the session.

Recording

Your coach will record the coaching video sessions with your permission using the Lyra Website for ongoing quality improvement and for quality assurance of our services. If you do not want your session recorded, please let your coach know at any point during the session and the recording up to that point will be deleted. When you give your permission and the sessions are recorded, the recordings are kept for 2 weeks and then deleted.

Research, Writing, Teaching

Your coach and others at LH conduct internal research, training, and supervision. Your coach may use information about you and your care in any of these ways. Your coach or others at LH may also prepare publications for professional and/or lay audiences; any information about your care would be used only in an anonymized and/or de-identified way for these publications.

Open Communication

It is important for your coach that your needs are being met in the program and that you are getting the most out of your coaching experience. If for any reason you consider this is not happening, please let the coach or the Lyra care team know immediately so we can make adjustments or consider alternative ways to improve your care experience.

Social Media

LCA believes that adding clients as friends or contacts on any social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) can compromise your confidentiality and you and your coach’s respective privacy. As such coaches do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). If you have questions about this, please discuss them with your coach.

Billing and Payments

The fees for your sessions may be partially or fully paid for by your, or your eligible sponsor’s, employer or Health Plan, with or without any cost share to you, as long as you are an eligible employee in good standing with the company, and as long as further sessions are considered clinically appropriate. Lyra’s services are not covered by Medicare. If you have insurance coverage through Medicare, you are financially responsible for any costs that are not covered by your employer or another Health Plan in which you are enrolled. Please check with Lyra at 1-(877) 505-7147 prior to your session if you have any questions about how your session will be covered. Please note that certain professional services outside of the presenting problems, such as chart preparation requests and participation in legal proceedings, may be outside the services paid for by your employer or Health Plan and may incur additional fees. Any additional fees will be discussed and agreed upon when they are requested. Fees for services may be subject to change in the future. If you have questions about the full cost of a session prior to any health plan cost coverage, you may contact the Lyra Care Team at [email protected]

By accepting, you are confirming that you have read and understood this agreement and have had your questions answered to your satisfaction. You accept, understand, and agree to abide by the contents and terms of this agreement and consent to participate.