First off, we get it.

 

The business community, particularly for startups and investors, is small. Everyone knows everyone else, and people talk. Plus, the Amity therapists happen to be very well connected, both personally and professionally, to the startup and investor world. While these connections are certainly an asset to you and your business given our specific knowledge and expertise in startups, we understand how it can be nerve-wracking to share your most personal issues, conflicts, and vulnerabilities under these circumstances, given how quickly information tends to spread in the real world.

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So let us put your minds at ease.

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We are licensed medical professionals through the State of Illinois, bound by the legal and ethical principles and statutes of HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), just like any doctor you might see for your physical health. Basically, we would lose our license, our reputation, and our personal dignity were we ever to share your personal or professional information outside the therapy setting without your express written consent (barring extreme circumstances outlined below, such as abuse or imminent harm). That includes friends, spouses, other therapists, other clients, investors; everyone.

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We understand your business and reputation are precious to you, as is your personal medical information, which includes mental health. We would never jeopardize our relationships with our clients, not to mention our professional and personal moral standing, by breaching your confidences in any way, which includes even the fact that you have come in to see us at all. If you have any further questions regarding this, please feel free to reach out and ask, anytime.

 

 

And here's the legalese, straight out of our contract:

 

"All information concerning clients is held confidentially and is released only through procedures consistent with applicable law and professional ethics. This confidentiality may be broken under the following circumstances, consistent with applicable law:

1. If child abuse is suspected, the therapist is mandated by the State of Illinois to report it to the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS).

2. If elder abuse is suspected, the therapist is mandated by the State of Illinois to report to the Office of Elder Abuse.

3. If a Client is reporting that he/she is a danger to him/herself or others, confidentiality may be broken in order to protect the Client or the person who is being threatened with harm.

4. As otherwise required to comply with applicable law or a court order.

5. AC Therapists will consult on their clinical work with one another, unless otherwise specified in initial session.

Terms of confidentiality between clients in the same case (cofounders, business partners, etc.) will be discussed and agreed upon at the start of therapy with all members of the direct client system."