Policies & Hours
Business Hours: Pacific Time*
Monday through Thursday from 10am-6pm
Out of the Office Friday through Sunday
Calls and emails are addressed during stated business hours only.
All Sessions are conducted remotely through phone or video call.
No Solicitations, Please!
By scheduling any services with Matthew Engel, MSW/LCSW/LICSW, CHt, contacting him, or making a payment for his services, you are confirming that you understand and agree to the following policies:
Crisis Intervention: Matthew Engel does not provide crisis intervention services. If you are experiencing a life threatening or mental health emergency or need to speak with someone immediately, please Call 911, your local emergency center, local police department, or a crisis hotline. Some (but not all) of those resources are posted on the Resources & Links Page on this website.
No Liability Policy: Matthew Engel maintains a No Liability Policy for all services. The consumer (client) is solely responsible for his/her/their decisions, interpretations drawn from services, and all consequences resulting directly or indirectly from them.
Purpose & Use of Services: Although many people find these services to be helpful, counseling and life coaching, astrology, hypnotherapy, past life regression, and business coaching are not intended to replace formal and contracted medical, mental health, legal, financial other professional services from an appropriately licensed or credentialed provider. These services are also not intended to treat, diagnose, or cure any medical or psychological illness or condition.The same rule applies to Matthew Engel's newsletters, seminars, talks and interviews.
Psychotherapy Verses Non-Psychotherapy Services: Matthew Engel is a California Licensed Psychotherapist (CA LCSW #24169) and Massachusetts Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LICSW #110541). However, psychotherapy is a specific service requiring signed consent for treatment that is mutually agreed upon between client and psychotherapist. Astrology sessions and courses, counseling, life and business coaching, hypnotherapy/hypnosis and past life regression are not psychotherapy - nor are they regulated by any state licensing board or protected by federal HIPAA laws. None of Matthew Engel's services constitute psychotherapy unless they are formally documented as such on his psychotherapy consent forms and paperwork. Any other service or correspondence from Matthew should not in any way be viewed or interpreted as psychotherapy. Utilizing Matthew Engel's non-psychotherapy services does not imply that he will work with you in a psychotherapy arrangement in the future.
Adults Only: You must be at least 18 years of age to utilize any of Matthew Engel's services, follow him on social media and to subscribe to his newsletter. On occasion, Matthew Engel may agree to work with people under 18 years old following a consultation with and signed consent by all of that child's legal guardians.
Confidentiality: The content of sessions, classes, groups and communications will be treated confidentially with some exceptions. These include but are not limited to: Perceived risk of harm to self or others, failure to make proper and timely payments, efforts to correct Matthew Engel's perception of any misrepresentation of his services or communications with him, security breaches through electronic communications, and other reasons at Matthew Engel's professional discretion. Furthermore, in an effort to educate and inspire other people about Matthew Engel's services as well as personal and spiritual growth, Matthew Engel may also speak publicly (in forums that may be recorded and further distributed) or write for publication about themes and details that arise in your sessions or communications with him. In such a case, your name and at least 1-2 potentially identifying details will be changed or omitted. In some cases, content from multiple clients will be combined in an effort to more effectively convey a point.
Payment for Sessions: Full payment is required in advance in order for Matthew Engel to reserve your time slot for astrology, counseling, coaching, and hypnotherapy (includes past life regression. You are responsible for returned or voided check fees and charge backs. Payment for sessions and classes will be considered null and void if those services are not used within 1 year of the date of payment.
Refunds: Refunds are not available for any of Matthew Engel's services or classes. Please be sure that your schedule works and that you're ready for this type of inner work before making a payment.
Rescheduling & Cancellations: In the event that you need to reschedule a session, you must provide at least 48 hours notice via phone call or email or you will be responsible for paying in full for the session. With a minimum of 48 hours notice, Matthew Engel will reschedule your appointment for another mutually convenient time. There may be a delay before such a time is available. Delays in rescheduling will not result in refunds. Payments for sessions that are cancelled, missed or changed without a minimum of 48 hours notice will not be credited toward future sessions. If you have not paid in advance for a session that you miss, change or cancel without the required notice, then you will be responsible for making full payment for it within 48 hours before any further services will be offered to you. When you schedule an appointment with Matthew Engel, he is reserving his professional time and building his schedule around your appointment. If you suspect that you may need to reschedule, please inform Matthew Engel immediately. To avoid any mishaps with wrong numbers, dropped calls, muffled voice mail, or lost emails, it is recommended that you verify that Matthew Engel received your cancellation/reschedule message in order to avoid losing your payment or being billed for that session. You can do so by calling and emailing.
Attendance Requirements: For people working with Matthew Engel in a psychotherapy or on-going counseling/coaching arrangement, there is a minimum attendance requirement and a maximum number of sessions that you may cancel per year without being charged in order for you to maintain your time slot and services with him - even with 48 hours notice. Contact Matthew Engel for details.
Tardiness: If you are running late for your 55-minute session, Matthew Engel will hold it for you for up to 20 minutes (and up to 30 minutes for sessions of 90+ minutes). However, the amount of time that you are late will be deducted from your session. In other words, if you schedule a 55 minute session and you arrive 10 minutes late, you'll have 45 minutes remaining for your session. If you are more than 20 minutes late (for 55-minute sessions) or more than 30 minutes late for 90+ minute sessions, the session will count as a missed appointment and you will be charged in full for it without eligibility for a credit or refund. Due to the extended time requirement involved for hypnotherapy and past life regression appointments, any tardiness may hinder your opportunity to do interactive hypnosis or regression in that session. In such a case, the remaining time may be used as a talk session instead. If Matthew causes the session to start late, he will offer to make up the lost time on that day or, if necessary, on a later date. If he is running less than 20 minutes late for a 55-minute session or 30 minutes behind for a 90+ minute session, he will not reschedule your entire session for a different day/time but will offer to make up the lost time in some capacity at no additional charge to you. If Matthew is running less than 20 minutes late for 55-minute sessions or 30 minutes late for 90+ minute sessions and you decide to cancel your appointment because of the delay, you will still be responsible for paying for it. In other words, Matthew asks you to wait for him for the same amount of time that he'll wait for you. Although Matthew makes every effort to begin sessions promptly, please be patient if he is running behind. For sessions conducted via Zoom or other video forums, please remain in the virtual waiting room until Matthew admits you to the meeting.
Payment for Classes and Groups: Payment must be made in full no later than 24 hours prior to the start time of the first session. Enrollment is based on availability. If a class is full by the time your payment is received, it will be refunded to you or credited for a future session (your choice, but if you request a credit, you cannot subsequently receive a refund if you change your mind). Due to limited space and scheduling logistics, no other refunds or credits for missed classes and workshops are available. Please be certain that your schedule will allow you to attend before registering. Once you enroll in a class, Matthew Engel is reserving that seat for you and communications that he posts to the public about that upcoming class may be reduced or taken down as a result.
Correspondence and Inquiry: Matthew Engel makes every effort to respond to messages as quickly as possible. He also receives a lot of inquiries. Please be patient as it may take 2-3 business days to get back to you.
No Texting: Matthew Engel does not correspond with clients via text. Please call or email (email is generally faster).
15 Minute Free Chat for New Clients: Matthew Engel usually requests a short phone or video call prior to scheduling a session for prospective new psychotherapy, coaching, hypnotherapy and past life regression clients (not required for stand-alone astrology readings). At his discretion, email correspondence may suffice. During these initial calls, please be respectful of Matthew Engel's time by limiting your inquiry to 15 minutes and having a clear set of questions and relevant background in mind to share about your goals for working together. The purpose of this conversation is for you and Matthew to get a preliminary sense as to whether it would be a good fit to set up an initial session.
Gift Certificates: On occasion, Matthew Engel offers gift certificates for Astrology readings and Past Life Regression. Please check with him prior to purchase. Also, please be certain that the recipient actually wants a session and understands how Matthew works prior to purchasing a gift certificate. If that person isn't really interested or doesn't understand how to make use of the session, it probably will not flow. For past life regression, Matthew recommends a phone consult with the recipient prior to purchase. For all sessions, the recipient is expected to review this website and contact Matthew with any questions prior to purchasing the session to make sure that it's a good fit. Refunds are not available and gift certificates that go unused after 1 year from the date of purchase will be null and void. All posted policies apply to gifted sessions.
Hypnotherapy & Other Recordings: Please never listen to your Hypnotherapy or Past Life Regression recordings while driving or engaging in any activity that requires attention and focus! Recordings are considered a special bonus gift from your session. Matthew Engel will not be held responsible for electronic or other glitches that prevent recordings from functioning or being received. If you lose your recording, a replacement may be available for a $15 fee.
Right to Refuse Services: Matthew Engel maintains the right to refuse or discontinue services with anyone at his discretion. In some cases, he may refer you to another professional whom he believes may be better suited to work with you.
These policies are subject to change without notice. All Contents on this website and blog as well as in Matthew Engel's newsletters are owned by Matthew Engel, MSW, CHt: Copyright 2005-2023 Matthew Engel, MSW, CHt: All Rights Reserved.