Emory Luce Baldwin, Certified Parent Educator and Marriage and Family Therapist, Telephone: 301-588-1451
7034 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland, 20912
Family Encouragement Center, 10100 Connecticut Ave., Kensington, MD 20895
(301) 588-1451
Send an e-mail to emory@emorylucebaldwin.com
 

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"Helping families, children and adolescents
grow well."

Office Policies

Emory Length:

Individual or Family Sessions are 55 minutes long. Parent Consultations are 90 minutes long.

Payment:   

My fee for individual or family therapy is $95 before 5:00 pm, and $110 for sessions beginning or ending after 5:00 pm. Parent consultations are $150 before 5:00 pm, and $175 for sessions beginning or ending after 5:00 pm. Payment is due at the time of the appointment, unless otherwise arranged. I suggest to my clients that they write out their check before our sessions, so that our work is not cut short to give you time to write your check at the end of the session. I will provide you with an invoice, at your request, to be submitted for insurance reimbursement.

I recognize that therapy is costly in terms of both your time and your money. I respect my clients commitment to improving their families and their lives, and I acknowledge my obligation to provide quality service that will benefit you now and in the years to come.

New Clients:

New clients should fill out the Family Questionnaire and send it to me at least 24 hours before our scheduled meeting. This questionnaire will probably take you about an hour or two to fill out. Your answers to these questions will give me a lot of helpful information about your family. In addition, by filling out the questionnaire before time, we can get right to work and not use valuable time gathering basic information during our first session. The easiest way to send me your completed questionnaire is to send it to me as an e-mail attachment. You can download it from here: Cancellation:

Therapy needs to take place consistently for you to experience the greatest benefits. I ask for 24 hours notice before cancelling an appointment, which you can do by calling or e-mailing me a message. If you must cancel a session with less than 24 hours notice, you can reschedule the session for later that week at no charge—and I will do my best to accommodate you in rescheduling. If you do not reschedule your session for the same week, than you will be asked to pay for the missed session. I hold myself to the same standard that I ask for from my clients, and if I miss a session without cancelling it 24 hours in advance, your next session will be free of charge.

In case of dangerous weather situations, I follow federal government cancellation announcements. If the federal government is closed, than my office is also closed. In addition, if the area near my office is impassable, I will call you to let you know not to come. Otherwise, I will expect you to either: keep the appointment, reschedule for later in the week or pay for the missed session.

Confidentiality:

All information disclosed within your therapy session, including case notes and records, will be treated as confidential. No information will be revealed to anyone not present in therapy without the permission of the client or a legally authorized representative unless an applicable legal or ethical exception exists.

When seeing couples and families, it is an important part of my work to promote honesty and openness. Therefore, I do not keep secrets between family members. If someone tells me something that is not known by family members, I will work with that individual to assist them in sharing their secret.

Duty to Warn/Report:

I am required by law to report to the appropriate law enforcement agency any suspected abuse and any situation where the client threatens violence to an identifiable victim. If feasible, this means that I am also legally required to inform the specified victim or victims of the nature of the threat, the identity of the person making the threat, and the identity of the specified victim or victims. All actual or suspected acts of such abuse will need to be reported to the appropriate agency. I am also legally permitted to break confidentiality if you present a danger to yourself or others.

Availability:

I am generally available to see clients Monday through Thursday, from 8:00 am through 8:00 pm. I see clients in my Kensington office during the daytime on Monday and Tuesday, and the rest my time I am in my Takoma Park office.

Contact After Hours:

Between therapy appointments, you may leave a message by calling (301) 588-1451. To reach me more quickly, press #911 at the end of your message and your message will be forwarded to my cell phone. I check my voice mail frequently, and will return your call as soon as possible. If you are in crisis, you should go to your nearest emergency room and call me from there.

Termination:

It is my goal to support every client who wishes to terminate therapy, for whatever reason. When the client is ready to leave therapy, I wish to help my client(s) end therapy in a positive manner. We can then focus on the progress the you have made, the challenges you may continue to face, and what you can take from therapy to meet those challenges.