Notice of Privacy Practices

Rebecca Gilbert, MSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker · California License No. LCSW 129798
Effective date: September 9, 2026

Your privacy matters here, not only because the law requires it but because trust is the ground this work stands on. This notice explains how I protect your health information, the limited circumstances in which I may use or share it, and the rights you hold over it. If anything in it is unclear, please ask me. I would far rather explain something twice than have you carry uncertainty into our work.

In this notice, protected health information (or PHI) means information about you that could reasonably be used to identify you and that relates to your mental or physical health, the care you receive, or payment for that care.

How I May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

For treatment

I may use your health information to provide and coordinate your care. For example, if you and I agree that a consultation with your physician or psychiatrist would support your treatment, I may share relevant information with them - ordinarily with your written authorization, and always limited to what is genuinely necessary.

For payment

This is a private pay practice and I do not bill insurance directly. I may use your information to process your payment, or to prepare a superbill or Good Faith Estimate at your request. If you choose to submit a superbill to your insurance plan, you are the one making that disclosure, and the information you send becomes subject to your plan's rules rather than mine.

For health care operations

I may use your information for the necessary administration of this practice - scheduling, record keeping, quality of care, and my own professional development. As is standard and ethically expected in this field, I participate in clinical consultation and supervision with other licensed professionals to make sure you receive sound care. In consultation I share only what is necessary and take care to limit identifying details.

Uses and disclosures that do not require your authorization

Certain narrow disclosures are required or permitted by law even without your agreement. You have a right to know them in advance:

• Suspected child abuse or neglect. As a mandated reporter in California, I am required to report reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect to the appropriate authorities.
• Suspected abuse or neglect of an elder or dependent adult. The same reporting obligation applies.
• Serious threat to health or safety. If you communicate a serious threat of physical violence against an identifiable person, or if I believe you present a danger of serious harm to yourself, I may be required or permitted to disclose information in order to protect against that harm - which can include notifying a potential victim, law enforcement, or others able to help.
• Judicial and administrative proceedings. If you are involved in a court proceeding and records of your treatment are requested, I will not release them without your written authorization, a valid court order, or another legally sufficient basis.
• Health oversight and licensing. I may be required to disclose information to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the course of an investigation or compliance review.
• As otherwise required by law. Including public health activities, coroners and medical examiners, and workers' compensation matters where applicable.

Uses and disclosures that require your written authorization

Anything not described above requires your written authorization before I will share your information. This includes, and the law specifically singles out:

• Psychotherapy notes. These are my private notes about our sessions, kept separately from your formal record. They receive heightened protection and will not be disclosed without your specific authorization except in the few instances the law requires.
• Marketing. I do not use your information for marketing, and I will not solicit or publish a testimonial from you.
• Sale of your information. I do not and will not sell your health information under any circumstances.
• Sharing with family, partners, or anyone else you name - which is entirely your call, and revocable at any time.

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. A revocation is effective going forward; it cannot undo a disclosure I already made in reliance on it.

Substance Use Disorder Records: Additional Federal Protections

If your record includes information about substance use disorder treatment that is protected by federal law at 42 CFR Part 2 - for example, records I receive from a federally covered substance use disorder treatment program - that information carries confidentiality protections that are stricter than HIPAA. You should know what that means in practice:

• Some disclosures that HIPAA would otherwise permit are not permitted for Part 2 records without your written consent.
• Part 2 records generally may not be used or disclosed in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you without your specific written consent or an appropriate court order. A subpoena alone is not enough.
• Unauthorized disclosure of Part 2 records is subject to federal penalties, and you may file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about a suspected violation.
• Federal law and regulations do not protect any information about a suspected crime committed by you either at the program or against program personnel, and they do not protect information about suspected child abuse or neglect from being reported to the appropriate state authorities.
• If you give written consent for a disclosure of Part 2 records, you may revoke it at any time, and you may request a list of disclosures made under a single consent you have given.

California Law

California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and related state laws give your records protections that in several respects exceed HIPAA. Where state and federal law differ, I follow whichever provides you greater privacy. California also provides specific additional protections for HIV-related information, records concerning minors, and records concerning substance use and mental health treatment.

Your Rights Over Your Information

These rights are yours to use, and using them is never held against you. Requests should be made in writing so that I can respond properly.

• To inspect and receive a copy of your record. You may ask to see or receive a copy of your health information, including an electronic copy. I will respond within the timeframe the law allows. In the specific and uncommon circumstance where I believe direct access would be reasonably likely to cause substantial harm, I may offer to review the record together or provide it to another licensed professional of your choosing instead; you may have that decision reviewed. Psychotherapy notes are not subject to this right of access.
• To request an amendment. If you believe something in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask me to amend it. If I decline, I will explain why in writing and you may submit a statement of disagreement to be kept with your record.
• To an accounting of disclosures. You may request a list of certain disclosures of your information made outside of treatment, payment, and operations.
• To request restrictions. You may ask me to limit how I use or share your information. I will consider every such request, though I am not always required to agree to one.
• To confidential communications. You may ask me to contact you in a particular way or at a particular place - a specific phone number, no voicemail, no email, nothing sent by mail. I will accommodate reasonable requests without asking you to justify them.
• To a paper copy of this notice, on request, at any time, even if you have already received it electronically.
• To be notified of a breach of your unsecured protected health information.
• To choose someone to act for you - a legal guardian, or a person holding a valid power of attorney for health care - who may then exercise these rights on your behalf.

My Responsibilities

• I am required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• I will notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• I must follow the terms of the notice currently in effect, and I will give you a copy of it at the start of our work together.
• I will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell me in writing that I may. If you change your mind, you may revoke that permission in writing at any time.
• Telehealth sessions are conducted over a HIPAA-compliant, encrypted video platform. Any service I use that handles your health information on my behalf is bound by a business associate agreement requiring it to protect that information as I would.

Communication and Its Limits

Please know that email, text message, and voicemail are not fully secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email or text for scheduling and brief logistics, that is a reasonable choice and I will keep such exchanges to a minimum and store them as part of your record. Please do not send clinical detail, crisis information, or anything sensitive by those channels. You may ask me at any time to stop using a channel, and I will.

Questions and Complaints

If you have a question about this notice, or you believe your privacy rights have been violated, I hope you will bring it to me first - that conversation is genuinely welcome. You may reach me here:

You also have the right to complain directly to the federal government, and you may do so instead of or in addition to contacting me. Complaints may be filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint, by mail to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20201, or by calling 1-877-696-6775.

Concerns about my conduct as a licensee may be directed to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences at bbs.ca.gov or (916) 574-7830.

You will never be retaliated against for filing a complaint. Not by a change in your care, not by a change in how you are treated in this room.

Changes to This Notice

I reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and to make the new terms apply to all health information I maintain, including information created or received before the change. If I revise this notice, the current version will always be posted on this website and available from me on request.