Covid-19 Return to Office Policy

We at Marietta West Cobb Counseling Center are happy to re-open our offices, with some cautions and new procedures in place. It is our hope that by all of us following these procedures we can protect each other and our community while still providing you excellent therapy services. Below is a copy of a document we are asking all in-person clients or guardians to sign showing your agreement to follow these new procedures. Please let your therapist know when you are ready to return to in-person sessions and we will send this and a waiver of liability (we don’t want to but we have to!) for you to sign electronically.

Procedures for In-Person Services During Covid-19 Public Health Crisis

This document contains important information about your agreement with Marietta West Cobb Counseling Center, Inc. (MWC3) to begin or resume in-person services in light of the current public health crisis. Please read this carefully and let your therapist know if you have any questions.

Decision to Meet Face-to-Face

You have agreed to meet in person for some or all future sessions. If there is a resurgence of the pandemic or if other health concerns arise, however, we may require that we meet via telehealth only. The decision to return to only telehealth sessions will be for everyone’s well-being and in compliance with recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and/or the state of Georgia. If you have concerns about meeting through telehealth, please speak with your therapist who will try to address your issues.

If you decide at any time that you feel safer staying with, or returning to, telehealth services, your therapist will respect that decision, as long as it is feasible and clinically appropriate. Reimbursement for telehealth services, however, is also determined by the insurance companies and applicable law, and current policy benefits will likely not continue indefinitely. We suggest you contact the customer service representative at your insuror’s office or HR department for clarification on benefits.

Risks of Opting for In-Person Services

You understand that by coming to the office, you are assuming the risk of exposure to the coronavirus or other public health risk. This risk may increase if you travel by public transportation, cab, or ridesharing service.

Your Responsibility to Minimize Your Exposure

To obtain services in person, you agree to take certain precautions which will help keep everyone (you, me, our families, MWC3 staff, and other clients) safer from exposure, sickness, and possible death. If you do not adhere to these safeguards, it may result in our starting / returning to a telehealth arrangement. This website developed by Apple Computers in conjunction with the CDC will help you determine your risk. If your results state “You Should Practice Social Distancing,” you are free to return to the office.

Please know that with our child clients we will do our very best to normalize these safety precautions & our new procedures.

• Pleasel keep you/your child’s in-person appointment only if you and your family are symptom free.
• Please take you/your child’s temperature before coming to each appointment. If it is elevated (100 Fahrenheit or more), or if you have other symptoms of the coronavirus, you agree to cancel the appointment or use telehealth.
• Please wait in your car or outside our suite until your therapist comes to the door and signals it is time for you to go into his/her office.
• You/your child will wash your/their hands or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer before your session start time. With children we will walk with them to the hallway sink & take turns washing hands.
• Our waiting room is temporarily closed. Thanks for understanding.
• You/your child can wear a mask in the office at the discretion of you and your therapist, in accordance with CDC and state of Georgia guidelines.
• Please keep a distance of 6 feet and there will be no physical contact (e.g. no shaking hands).
• Please try not to touch your face or eyes with your hands. If you sneeze, cough, etc., you will wash or sanitize your hands. In the playroom we will give gentle reminders to children if they touch their face.
• If you are bringing your child, please explain these guidelines to him/her. We will also explain this in a child-friendly way to our younger clients.
• Please take steps between appointments to minimize your exposure to COVID.
• If you are exposed to other people who are infected or in a position to be exposed to a great number of people who could be infected, please let your therapist know immediately.
• If a resident of your home tests positive for the infection, let your therapist know and we will then begin/ resume treatment via telehealth.

My Commitment to Minimize Exposure

MWC3 practice has taken steps to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus within the office and we have posted our efforts on our website and in the office. Please let me know if you have questions about these efforts.

If You or Your Therapist Is Sick

You understand that we are committed to keeping everyone safe from the spread of this virus. If you show up for an appointment and your therapist believes that you have a fever or other symptoms or believes you have been exposed, we will ask you to leave the office immediately. We can follow up with services by telehealth as appropriate.

If your therapist or another member of the MWC3 staff tests positive for the coronavirus, your therapist will notify you so that you can take appropriate precautions.

Your Confidentiality in the Case of Infection

If you have tested positive for the coronavirus, we may be required to notify local health authorities that you have been in the office. If we must report this, we will only provide the minimum information necessary for their data collection and will not go into any details about the reason(s) for our visits. By signing this form, you are agreeing that we may do so without an additional signed release.

Informed Consent

This agreement supplements the general informed consent/business agreement that we agreed to at the start of our work together.

Office Safety Precautions in Effect During the Pandemic

Marietta West Cobb Counseling Center, Inc. is taking the following precautions to protect our clients and help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

• Our waiting area is temporarily closed.
• We ask all clients to wait in their cars or outside.
• For child clients, your therapist will come to your car to get your child. Just send your therapist a text when you arrive! We will also bring your child to you when we are done! Curbside service. 😊
• MWC3 staff, at their discretion, may wear masks and ask you to wear a mask.
• MWC3 staff will try to maintain safe distancing at all times.
• Physical contact is not permitted. Air high fives are good! 😊
• Restroom soap is maintained, and everyone is encouraged to wash their hands for 20 seconds before and after their therapy session. With our child clients when our session is over, we will wash our hands after exiting the playroom.
• Hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is available in each therapy room.
• We are scheduling appointments at specific intervals to minimize the number of people passing in the hallway.
• Client appointments are spaced apart, so therapists have enough time to disinfect play items between each client.
• Commonly touched items are thoroughly sanitized after each use (door handles, light switches, bathroom surfaces, hard surfaces in offices).
• Tissues and trash bins are easily accessed. Trash is disposed of on a frequent basis.
• Common areas & offices are thoroughly disinfected at the end of each day.
• We have removed play materials that encourage sharing of bodily fluid such as bubbles, play doh, among other items. We have also removed toys that cannot be easily cleaned (cloth toys, puppets, sand).
• Each therapist is an independent contractor and has their own policies regarding toys in their office whether it is reducing the amount of toy items in a session or asking kids to bring in their own special bag of toys/art supplies. Please check with your individual therapist to find out how they are facilitating their sessions.
• All toys that a child touches during a session will be put aside and disinfected after their session.

Although we are taking precautions, we cannot guarantee that the playroom or offices is completely virus-free. If you are uncomfortable, please feel free to share your concerns with your therapist and we will schedule accordingly. We remain committed to you and your children and will work with you on the safest way to provide therapy services.