Before you book
What to expect
What happens between sending a message and sitting down, what the first hour is actually like, and what stays private. Written because most people want to know before they commit, and asking feels like a lot.
Getting in touch
Three ways, and none is better than the others. Book directly through our online calendar if you already know you want an appointment. Call or text if you would rather speak to a person first — Tiffany answers, and she is a co-owner of the practice rather than a service. Or send a message and we will come back to you.
Calls outside working hours reach a voicemail. Every inquiry gets an answer the same day.
Booking and the forms
Scheduling, intake forms, insurance and billing all run through our clinical system. You will fill in the intake forms there before the first session — they are the standard history and current-circumstances questions, and you can leave anything blank that you would rather talk about in person.
The first session
The first hour is not therapy so much as working out what the therapy should be. Expect to be asked what brought you, what has already been tried, and what you want to be different. Expect not to be rushed, and expect not to have to tell the worst of it on day one.
At the end we will say plainly what we think the work looks like — how often, roughly how long, and whether we are the right people for it. If we are not, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
What stays private
What you say in the room stays in the room. We are a HIPAA-covered practice, your record is held in our clinical system rather than on this website, and nothing you tell us goes to an employer, a family member or an insurer beyond what billing requires.
There are narrow legal exceptions that apply to every counselor in Alabama, and we will go through them with you in the first session rather than burying them in a form.
Your privacy is important to us. Information shared in therapy is confidential and will not be disclosed without your written permission, except when required or permitted by law. Exceptions may include situations involving an immediate risk of serious harm to yourself or others, suspected abuse or neglect of a child, elderly person, or vulnerable adult, or when records are required by a valid court order or other legal requirement.
When possible and appropriate, we will discuss any necessary disclosure with you before information is shared. If you have questions about confidentiality or its limits, please ask your therapist.
One thing worth saying plainly: this website is not a confidential channel. The contact form and email are fine for arranging a time. Do not use them for clinical detail — that belongs in the room.
On it being a big deal
Evergreen is a small place and people notice cars. That is a real consideration, not a silly one, and it is one of the reasons we work online as well as in person — the same counselor, the same hour, from wherever you are.
The other thing we would say: most people who come here are not in crisis. They are managing something that has gone on long enough that managing it has become the problem. Coming in early is not an overreaction; it is the cheaper version of the same conversation.
If it is urgent
We provide crisis counseling and mobile crisis response, including our standing arrangement with the Conecuh County Fire Association. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — those reach someone now, and we will pick up the thread afterwards.
That is the whole of it
If something here raised a question rather than answering one, ask us — that is a perfectly good reason to get in touch.