Mental Health Matters LLC: Your Partner in Mental Health
GROUP GUIDELINES
1. Please respect confidentiality outside of the group. Please do not mention any group members’ names and/or information discussed in the group outside of the group. I cannot guarantee confidentiality in a group setting.
2. Please let me know if you are unable to attend the group.
3. If you are not present for more than two consecutive weeks and you have not had communication with the facilitator your name will be taken off the list of attendees.
4. This is a psycho-educational support group, it is not therapy. The group is being facilitated by Melissa Shockman, MA at Mental Health Matters LLC.
5. Please seek permission prior to giving feedback to another group member and stick to “I” statements, avoid advice giving or problem fixing.
6. Please respect rights to differences in belief systems. If at any time you experience discomfort because of someone’s sharing, you may take a break or state your issue privately to the group facilitator.
7. We are committed to creating a safe space so we appreciate feedback and ideas of how we might further improve this group.
8. To balance time among group members the facilitator may need to gently remind someone that because sharing times are limited in a group setting, we may need to move on….
Thank you!
public disclosure satement
- Relationships & Systems: Asking for help requires bravery, honesty, humility, and it must be grounded in realistic expectations. Client experiences and resiliency factors are incredibly varied therefore, what might be helpful for one person might not be helpful to another. I am dedicated to creating a safe space for my clients to discover how previously learned behavior patterns might influence current patterns of interaction. Learning can, and often is directly influenced by past experiences involving shame, silence, and secrets. Public humiliation, survivor grief, and complicated grief are other examples of potentially deep shame internalization situations.
- Creating Balance: People develop a lens of the world based on their past experiences that can become ingrained; the body can become overwhelmed by emotional cues and affect a person’s functioning level and sense of purpose. Situations cannot always be changed, yet how people perceive and react to these situations can be altered to create structure and balance.
- Confidentiality: Information discussed during session times will be held in confidence except as per federal and state law. I cannot guarantee confidentiality in group settings as I have no control over what members communicate in my absence. As a practice, I do not retain any client notes. Under court subpoena and in cases of abuse as per APA guidelines I am a mandatory reporter. You have a right to agree to a partial or full release of information in writing to other professionals or to yourself for the benefit of your continued care.
- Mandaroty Reporting: The law states that as a mandatory reporter, I have a duty to report disclosures made which lead me to suspect abuse of another person including vulnerable people such as children, older people, and people who are disabled as per ADA regulations. If disclosures are made of intent to harm yourself or someone else, I have a duty to warn and/or intervene when possible.
LEGAL STATEMENT
Melissa Shockman, MA is a non-licensed seeking practitioner specializing in providing psychoeducational group formats and facilitation, individual skills sessions and providing empirically based video content.
I do NOT diagnose, treat, or provide services for “disorders” as listed in the most current revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
I work with people surrounding issues that include the survivor-ship of abuse and the ensuing life and relational issues that often follow extreme stress situations and conditions..
As an unlicensed practitioner I do NOT label people with diagnosis out of the DSM. I do NOT have clients fill out any diagnostic tests that might result in the DSM labeling.
In the case of an emergency contact: Mental Health Crisis Intervention at 800-716-9769, call 911, report to nearest hospital, or call 988 National Suicide Hotline.