Supporting Families With Clear Structure & Confidentiality

At Eastside Center for Healing, we provide therapeutic support for children and teens within the context of their families and caregivers. When therapy involves a child whose parents are divorced or separated, we build in additional structure upfront so that expectations are clear, rights are protected, and confidentiality is respected from the very beginning.

Therapy with Parenting Plans — What You Should Know

When a child’s therapy is occurring in the context of a divorced or separated family with a parenting plan, additional measures are required before treatment begins:

  • A current parenting plan must be on file with the clinic

  • Each parent must complete a separate parent profile

  • Caregivers review and acknowledge our Counselor Disclosure Statement and clinic policies

  • Parents understand therapy is not a substitute for legal decision-making

Confidentiality & Release of Records

Protecting your child’s therapeutic space and confidentiality is essential.

  • Therapy records are not released to another parent without proper written authorization

  • A signed Release of Information (ROI) is required before records can be shared

  • Parenting plans alone do not automatically authorize record release

  • Requests from attorneys, schools, or third parties are reviewed carefully and may be declined or deferred pending clarification

This approach safeguards the child’s space and ensures that record sharing only happens when all legal and ethical conditions are satisfied.

Why Parents Complete Separate Profiles

We ask each parent to complete their own intake documentation so that:

Each caregiver has independently acknowledged clinic policies
Informed consent is clearly documented
Both parents have been advised of their rights and limits of confidentiality
Misunderstandings are minimized later in therapy
This protects children and clinicians alike.

What Child or Teen Therapy Is — And Is Not

Child and teen therapy at Eastside Center for Healing:

  • Is focused on emotional wellbeing within a safe, confidential space

  • Is not forensic evaluation

  • Is not a custody assessment

  • Does not interpret or enforce court orders or parenting plans

We help children and teens feel heard, supported, and equipped with coping skills — within the limits of ethical and legal practice.

If Parents Disagree

If caregivers disagree about participation, access to records, or direction of treatment:

  • Therapy does not become a decision-making referee

  • Written clarification or updated authorization may be required

  • In some situations, therapy may be paused or discontinued if continuing would be clinically inappropriate

Protecting the child from being placed in the middle of adult conflict is part of effective, trauma-informed care.

Transparent From the Start

Families are provided with clear written policies, disclosures, and expectations before therapy begins. These guidelines govern care throughout treatment so that everyone — parents, children, and clinicians — understands the boundaries and process.