Before things go too far, we both need to understand what is and is not involved here.

Web based counseling has the advantage of being convenient and relatively inexpensive. You pay $25.00 per question instead of $120.00-200 per contact. You can ask the question at any time of the day or night from any location without having to set up an appointment at a specific time and place.

Every coin has two sides and you need to understand the limits of using this type of service.

There are differences between on-line services and the services that you would receive in person at an office. If you came to my office, we would spend an hour talking things over and asking each other questions. I could hear your tone of voice, see your body language and ask questions to clarify what you say. I could also ask about things that you might not have mentioned because they came to my mind instead of yours.

By agreeing to and utilizing these on-line services, you are accepting the risks and limitation that this type of service involves as well as any issues that may result from those risks and limitations.

When you use this service, I have to work from the information you provide in the form. This type of advice does not amount to psychological diagnosis or therapy. Also, it does not constitute a professional relationship as the term is used in law.

While I try to make my assessment and advice as accurate and useful as possible, I cannot make any promises or infer any guarantee regarding what will happen if you make use of this service.

Confidentiality

The use of e-mail does have some risks. Please be assured that I do not sell or loan any information and will do everything possible to keep things private on my end.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to encrypt e-mail communication, so the possibility of being intercepted/hacked does exist. Also, if someone other than you uses your computer, you should use some type of password protection and delete the communication as soon as practical.

If you present a danger to yourself or another person, I have to try to contact proper authorities. Also, if you are involved in a court case or expect one to come up, most courts can get mental health records if they try hard enough. Better talk to your lawyer first.

Server problems and disruptions in the web in general can happen in a way that prevents an e-mail from being properly delivered. Be very careful to type your e-mail address correctly!

Scope of Service

If there is an emergency or crisis, you need to get to someone in person or on the telephone. E-mail is just not fast enough to serve this purpose. Also, I just do not know what services or resources are available in your location.

Since this service is paid for by credit card, I can only work directly with people over the age of eighteen, who are legally using their credit card. I have enjoyed a lot of time working with adolescents and would love it if they could use this site, but the realities are what they are. If a parent wants to use this site on behalf of an adolescent, they need to be very clear that they are the parent and that they are asking the question.

Only a medical doctor can answer specific questions on the subject of medication. I can only suggest general ideas and possibly suggest questions to ask the doctor.