Confidentiality and Addiction Treatment

Confidentiality is of major importance in addiction treatment. Our clients need to know that what they tell us, and even their presence in our services, is a secret. We act in a number of ways to protect your confidentiality, some of which may seem strange until you understand them.

In addition to all the protection of records (locks on cabinets, passwords and rapid timeouts on computers, document shredders, etc.), in our outpatient offices we take additional measures as well. The sign on our suite says “PRPG” rather than “Practical Recovery Psychology Group.” If I enter the waiting room to greet a new client I say “My name is Tom Horvath. Who is here to see me?” rather than “Are you John Brown?” Even if there is only one person in the waiting room, it might NOT be John Brown. There is a glass window between reception and the waiting room, so that conversations in the receptionist’s office cannot be heard in the waiting room. We keep our voices lowered in the reception area, and there is an expensive sound masking system throughout the entire suite. After your session you can depart through a back door so that you don’t need to go through the waiting room again. The door between the waiting room and the rest of the suite has privacy glass. You can see if someone is there (so you don’t open the door on them), but you can’t tell who it is. If you are standing outside the reception office but inside the inner suite, no one from the waiting room can see you.

Your confidentiality is important to us.