What do I do if I am in Crisis?
If you are in Crisis and need immediate assistance, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.  Severe emotional distress or having thoughts of wanting to hurt yourself or hurt someone else is to be taken seriously and requires that you seek help immediately.

What is Coaching?
The focus of Coaching is to grow as a person.  The primary issue is personal development.  This can be in the areas of improving your relationships, making career decisions, transitioning to a new phase of life, or living a life that is meaningful to you. 

What is Psychotherapy?
The focus of Psychotherapy is to improve your mental health.  The primary issue is usually debilitating depression or anxiety.  These feelings may be associated with medical illness, dysfunctional relationships, loss, or trauma.

What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
This type of therapy is based on the thoughts and feelings we have, and the behaviors we engage in, due to the circumstances in our lives.  As we become more aware of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, first in hindsight, and then later, in the moment, we are better able to change them.  This results in our being able to deal with these circumstances more effectively. 

What is Psychodynamic Therapy?
This type of therapy is based on the association of early experiences (usually those of childhood) and our way of being in the world now.  By looking at how we have come to be who we are today, and then making the determination that we want to be different, we are better able to change.

What is Play Therapy?
This type of therapy encourages the play of children with their families.  Techniques include the use of puppets, toys, and sand to help family members express their feelings and practice new ways of interacting. These techniques can also be used with children individually and adults.  

What is an Assessment?
An assessment is a test that you can take to see where you are on any given topic.  The Coaching vs Psychotherapy Assessment will help determine whether coaching or psychotherapy will be more helpful for you at this time.  Other assessments are available as products for purchase.

What is Take a Moment?
Take a Moment is a feature offered to promote relaxation and visualization.

What is Progress Tracker?
The Progress Tracker is a feature available to Coaching clients only and is used to guide and encourage.  The information is submitted on-line by the Coaching client and feedback by
Dr. Rivera is received via e-mail.

What is the Life Satisfaction Tracker?
The Life Satisfaction Tracker is a feature available to Coaching clients only and is used to guide and encourage.  The information is submitted on-line by the Coaching client and feedback by Dr. Rivera is received via e-mail. 

What are the Policies of Better Life By Design?
Confidentiality refers to the fact that any personal information provided by the client either on-line, on the phone, or in-person is between the client and Dr. Rivera.  However, there are times when Dr. Rivera is legally mandated to “break” confidentiality which means that the information must be disclosed to another person, in most instances the disclosure would be to legal/military authorities.  These situations includes times when there is a good chance that clients will either hurt themselves or someone else or when either a child or elder has been hurt or abused. Personal information may also be released if legally mandated to do so in other situations.

Privacy and Security
Personal information is obtained from you when you subscribe, register, enter a program, make a payment, or navigate throughout the website (e.g. server logs from your browser, cookies, and IP address).  Contact information that you provide may be used to send to you information on promotions, products, services, or other updates.  Users may opt-out of receiving such information.  Personal information is accessible to business partners which may include web hosting servers, the webmaster, payment services, billing services, etc.  There is no responsibility or liability of Better Life By Design, LLC for any defect, malfunction, or security breaches of business partners.  HIPPA compliant procedures are in effect as appropriate.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to information of and by children under 13 years of age.  No information of or by children under 13 years of age is knowingly collected by Better Life By Design, LLC.  

The security of personal information is provided by the physical, electronic, and administrative procedures which are in place to protect your information.  However, there is the possibility that information may be stolen or altered via illegal access despite the security measures taken.

Any links that you may access allows your information to be available to that third party.  The responsibility or liability for the confidentiality, privacy, or security policies of these other parties rest solely with them. 

Better Life By Design, LLC reserves the right to make any changes/updates to the policies as appropriate or necessary.  Please contact Better Life By Design, LLC if there are any questions or concerns regarding the policies.