Notice of Privacy Practices
Eureka Center for Psychotherapy
Operated by Erik Karff Marriage and Family Therapy, Inc., a California marriage and family therapy corporation
Effective date: October 26, 2026
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
Your privacy matters to us. This notice explains how Eureka Center for Psychotherapy ("Eureka," "we," or "us") uses and protects your health information, the circumstances in which it may be shared, and the rights you have under federal and California law. It applies to the health information maintained by Eureka and its clinicians and authorized staff in connection with the practice.
Your rights
Access your records. You may request to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your health records. We will respond within the time required by applicable law. California law generally provides for inspection within five working days and transmission of requested copies within 15 days, subject to applicable exceptions. Certain separately maintained psychotherapy notes have additional legal protections and may not be part of the records available for direct inspection or copying.
Request corrections. If you believe information in your record is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request an amendment. We will review your request and explain any denial in writing as required by law.
Ask for private communications. You may request that we communicate with you using particular contact information or methods, such as a specific telephone number or mailing address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.
Request limits on disclosure. You may ask us to restrict certain uses or disclosures of your information. Although we are not always required to agree, we will consider your request. If you pay for a service entirely out of pocket and request that we not disclose information about that service to your health plan for payment or health care operations, we will honor that request unless a law requires disclosure.
Request an accounting of disclosures. You may ask for a list of certain disclosures we have made of your health information during the preceding six years. Federal law excludes some disclosures from this accounting, including many made for treatment, payment, or health care operations.
Choose a representative. A person legally authorized to act on your behalf may exercise your privacy rights after we verify their authority.
Receive this notice. You may request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have received or reviewed it electronically.
Make a complaint. You may raise a privacy concern with Eureka or file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you for making a complaint.
How we use and share health information
We use and disclose health information only when permitted or required by applicable law, and we follow California confidentiality protections when they are more protective than federal law.
To provide treatment. Your clinician may use your information to assess your needs, create or update a treatment plan, coordinate care, and obtain appropriate clinical supervision or consultation. For example, with an appropriate legal basis, information may be shared with another professional involved in your care.
To operate the practice. Authorized members of Eureka's clinical and administrative team may use information as necessary for practice operations, such as scheduling, clinical oversight, documentation, quality assurance, compliance, and securing records. Access is limited according to job responsibilities and applicable safeguards.
To arrange payment. We may use or disclose information needed to verify benefits, submit claims, receive payment, or respond to permissible insurance reviews. Such information may include a diagnosis, dates of service, treatment codes, and clinically necessary documentation. Insurance-related disclosures remain subject to California law, applicable plan requirements, and any legally required authorization or restriction.
When the law requires or permits it. Depending on the circumstances and applicable safeguards, information may be used or disclosed for mandated reports of suspected child, elder, or dependent-adult abuse or neglect; serious threats to health or safety; public-health or health-oversight functions; workers' compensation; lawful requests from government authorities; or other requirements of law.
Legal proceedings. We evaluate subpoenas, court orders, and other requests for records under applicable law, including California's psychotherapist-patient privilege and confidentiality requirements. A subpoena does not automatically mean that otherwise protected psychotherapy records will be disclosed. We provide information only when there is a lawful basis to do so.
Other disclosures authorized by law can include certain research activities subject to required safeguards, and requests involving a coroner, medical examiner, or other legally authorized official. We do not use these categories as blanket permission to release psychotherapy information.
Your choices and disclosures requiring authorization
You may tell us whom we may contact or inform about your care, such as a family member or other support person, subject to applicable law. In an emergency, we may share the minimum information lawfully needed to respond to a serious threat or support your care.
We generally need your written authorization for uses or disclosures that are not otherwise permitted by law. Written authorization is generally required for marketing that falls within HIPAA's authorization rules, the sale of protected health information, and most uses or disclosures of psychotherapy notes as specially defined by HIPAA. Psychotherapy notes are distinct from ordinary clinical progress notes and the treatment record.
If you sign an authorization, you may revoke it in writing, except to the extent we have already relied on it or another legal exception applies. We do not treat this privacy notice itself as authorization for session recordings or AI-assisted transcription. Any optional session recording is addressed in Eureka's informed consent, and AI-assisted clinical tools are addressed in a separate consent.
If fundraising communications are ever made using protected health information where law permits them, you may opt out. We will obtain any authorization, give any advance notice, and offer any choices required by applicable law.
Additional protection for certain substance use disorder records
Some substance use disorder treatment records are protected by a federal law commonly called 42 CFR Part 2. When Eureka creates, receives, or maintains records to which Part 2 applies, those records receive the additional protections required by that law. In particular, Part 2 records generally may not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without your written consent or a qualifying court order and subpoena. Other Part 2 restrictions and consent requirements may also apply. If a proposed use of your Part 2 information for fundraising ever arises, we will provide the notice and choice required by law.
Our responsibilities
We are required to safeguard your protected health information, follow the privacy practices stated in the notice currently in effect, and notify affected individuals when a reportable breach of unsecured protected health information occurs. We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to our operations. While no electronic system can be guaranteed entirely free of risk, we take reasonable steps to protect information handled through our practice.
We may revise this notice when our legal duties or practices change. The updated notice will be posted on this page, available at our office, and provided upon request. Material changes will take effect no earlier than the date stated in the revised notice, except as otherwise required by law.
Questions, requests, or complaints
For access requests, confidential communication preferences, requests to amend records, questions about this notice, or privacy complaints, contact:
Eureka Center for Psychotherapy — Privacy Contact
4053 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
Phone: (650) 762-5164
Email: connect@eurekatherapy.org
You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, by visiting hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint, calling 1-877-696-6775, or writing to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201. You may complain to Eureka, HHS, or both, and you will not be penalized for doing so.
A paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices is available upon request.
