Regina Abayev, JD, LMFT

Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective date: September 6, 2026

Your health information is personal, and I am required by law to protect it. This notice explains how I use and share the information I keep about your care, what rights you have over that information, and what to do if you think those rights have been violated.

I am required to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect. If I revise it, the new version applies to all information I hold, including information created before the revision.

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What information this covers

Protected health information, or PHI, is information that identifies you and relates to your mental or physical health, your care, or payment for that care. It includes your intake paperwork, assessments, treatment plans, diagnoses, session dates and lengths, billing records, and our correspondence.

Psychotherapy notes are treated differently. These are my private notes about the content of a session, kept separate from the rest of your record. With narrow exceptions written into the law, I will not release them without your written authorization, and your authorization to release your general record does not include them.

How I use and share your information without your authorization

Treatment

I use your information to provide and coordinate your care. If you want me to consult with your psychiatrist, physician, attorney, or a previous therapist, I will ask you to sign a release first. In an emergency, I may share what is needed to get you care.

Payment

This practice is private pay. I use your information to bill you and to process payment. If you ask for a superbill to submit to your insurer for out-of-network reimbursement, it will include your diagnosis, dates of service, and procedure codes. Once you submit it, your insurer's privacy rules govern that information, not mine.

Health care operations

I use your information to run the practice: scheduling, record keeping, quality review, and consultation with other licensed clinicians about your care. When I consult, I share only what is necessary and I do not use identifying details unless there is a specific reason to.

Business associates

Some services I rely on, including my electronic health record, my telehealth platform, and my billing system, store or handle your information. Each of these is bound by a written agreement requiring them to protect it under the same standards I follow.

Uses and disclosures I am permitted or required to make by law

California and federal law require or permit me to disclose information without your authorization in specific situations. These are limits on confidentiality, and they apply whether or not you agree with them in the moment.

• Suspected child abuse or neglect. If I have reasonable suspicion that a child has been abused or neglected, I am required to report it to the appropriate agency.
• Suspected abuse of an elder or dependent adult. The same reporting duty applies.
• Serious threat to health or safety. If you communicate a serious threat of violence against a reasonably identifiable person, I am required to make reasonable efforts to warn that person and to notify law enforcement.
• Danger to yourself. If I believe you are at imminent risk of serious harm to yourself, I may disclose information to those who can help protect you.
• Court orders and legal proceedings. If a court orders disclosure, I must comply. A subpoena alone is not the same as a court order, and I will assert your privilege where the law allows.
• Health oversight. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences may review records in the course of an investigation or audit.
• Coroners and medical examiners may receive information as the law provides.
• Workers' compensation. If your care is connected to a workers' compensation claim, disclosure may be required.
• Public health and safety activities as required by law.

Working with couples and families

When I see a couple or a family, the relationship is my client, and I keep one record for that work. That has practical consequences worth understanding before we start.

I hold a no-secrets policy. If you tell me something individually that has direct bearing on the couples work, I will not keep it from your partner indefinitely. I will talk with you about how and when to bring it into the room. If you want a space where what you say stays with me, individual therapy with a different clinician is the right setting for that.

Because the record belongs to the work rather than to one person, I generally will not release couples or family records unless everyone who participated authorizes it in writing. If the record is subpoenaed, I will assert privilege on behalf of all participants where the law allows.

Uses that always require your written authorization

• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes.
• Any use or disclosure for marketing purposes.
• Any sale of your protected health information. I do not sell client information.
• Any other use or disclosure not described in this notice.

You can revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revoking it stops future disclosures, but it cannot undo a disclosure I already made while the authorization was in effect.

Your rights

See and get a copy of your record

You can inspect and receive a copy of your record, in paper or electronic form. I will respond within 15 days under California law. I may charge a reasonable fee for copying and postage. In narrow circumstances I may deny access, and if I do, you have the right to have that denial reviewed.

Ask me to correct your record

If you believe something in your record is wrong or incomplete, you can ask me in writing to amend it. If I deny the request, I will tell you why in writing, and you may submit a statement of disagreement that becomes part of the record.

Ask for a summary instead of the full record

Sometimes a summary serves you better than the complete file. You can ask for one, and we can talk about what would actually be useful for your purpose.

Request restrictions

You can ask me to limit how I use or share your information. I am not required to agree to every restriction, but I will tell you either way. There is one restriction I must honor: if you pay in full out of pocket for a service, you can require that I not disclose information about it to a health plan.

Request confidential communications

You can ask me to contact you a particular way or at a particular address. If you need me to avoid calling your home, or to use only a specific email, tell me and I will accommodate reasonable requests without asking why.

Get an accounting of disclosures

You can request a list of certain disclosures I made in the six years before your request. This does not include disclosures for treatment, payment, or operations, or ones you authorized. The first accounting in any twelve month period is free.

Get a paper copy of this notice

Ask and I will give you one, even if you already received it electronically.

Be notified of a breach

If your unsecured information is breached, I will notify you as the law requires.

Choose someone to act for you

If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise these rights on your behalf. I will verify the authority before acting.

Telehealth

I see clients throughout California by video. The platform I use is HIPAA compliant and sessions are encrypted and not recorded. No electronic system is perfectly secure, and where you take the session matters as much as the technology. Use a private space, and expect me to ask at the start of a session who else is in the room with you.

My responsibilities

• I am required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• I will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• I must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• 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 can revoke that permission in writing at any time.

Changes to this notice

I can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information I hold. The current version is always available on this page, and a copy is posted in my office.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question about this notice, or you think I have violated your privacy rights, tell me directly. Most of the time we can sort it out in a conversation. You will not be retaliated against for raising it, and nothing about your care will change because you did.

You also have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20201, by calling 1-877-696-6775, or online through the OCR complaint portal. You can file with both of us, or with OCR alone.