Spiritual Counseling Services
Sunyata Satchitananda
This Legal Disclaimer and Client Disclosure is provided in accordance with the California Health Freedom Act, commonly known as SB577, and the related provisions of the California Business and Professions Code.
Sunyata Satchitananda provides spiritual counseling and related alternative or complementary services in the State of California. These services are offered within the limits allowed for non-licensed alternative and complementary practitioners.
The full text of SB577 and the related California code sections may be viewed through the Official California Legislative Information website. A PDF copy of this Legal Disclaimer and Client Disclosure is also available for download (below).
Required Disclosure
Sunyata Satchitananda is not a medical doctor, licensed physician, licensed psychotherapist, psychologist, marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, professional clinical counselor, or other state-licensed healing arts practitioner.
The services provided by Sunyata Satchitananda are alternative or complementary to healing arts services licensed by the State of California.
The services provided by Sunyata Satchitananda are not licensed by the State of California.
Clients with medical, psychological, psychiatric, or physical conditions that require diagnosis, treatment, medication, crisis care, or licensed professional care should contact an appropriately licensed medical or mental health professional.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, psychiatric emergency, risk of harm to yourself or another person, or any urgent safety concern, contact emergency services immediately or seek help from a qualified licensed professional.
Scope of Services
Sunyata Satchitananda provides spiritual counseling and related alternative or complementary services. These services may include spiritual counseling, personal inquiry, sacred sexuality education, Tantra-informed guidance, sexual healing education, intimacy and relationship support, archetypal and shadow inquiry, emotional self-awareness, meditation, breath work, movement, sound, somatic awareness, somatic feedback, energy healing, Reiki, intuitive spiritual guidance, and, when appropriate, channeled or inspired guidance.
These services are non-invasive. They do not include medical diagnosis, psychiatric diagnosis, psychotherapy, licensed mental health treatment, physical therapy, medical treatment, or the prescription of medication.
These services are intended to support the client’s own process of self-awareness, personal growth, spiritual development, emotional understanding, embodied presence, intimacy, sexuality, relationship, and connection with their inner life.
Theory and Basis of Services
For purposes of SB577 disclosure, the theory of treatment upon which these services are based is that spiritual, emotional, energetic, relational, sexual, and embodied aspects of human experience are often connected. Greater awareness of these aspects may support a client’s sense of personal meaning, wellbeing, wholeness, groundedness, self-understanding, and conscious choice.
The work may draw from spiritual counseling, meditation, Tantra-informed practice, somatic awareness, breath work, energy healing, archetypal inquiry, shadow inquiry, sacred sexuality education, communication practice, philosophical inquiry, and personal reflection.
These services do not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical disease, psychiatric condition, psychological disorder, injury, or physical illness. They are not a substitute for care from a licensed physician, psychotherapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other licensed healthcare provider.
Medication, Medical Care, and Licensed Treatment
No statement, suggestion, recommendation, or educational material provided by Sunyata Satchitananda should be understood as medical advice, psychiatric advice, psychological diagnosis, or a recommendation to discontinue medical or mental health care.
Sunyata Satchitananda does not prescribe, administer, or recommend the discontinuance of prescription medication, legal drugs, controlled substances, or any treatment prescribed by an appropriately licensed practitioner.
Clients who are using prescribed medication or receiving medical, psychological, psychiatric, or other licensed care should consult their licensed provider before making any change to their care, medication, treatment plan, or support system.
Any books, articles, recordings, exercises, referrals, or third-party materials shared during or after sessions are educational in nature. The client remains responsible for using their own judgment and for seeking licensed professional care when needed.
Education, Training, Experience, and Qualifications
Sunyata Satchitananda has been an ordained minister since 1980.
Sunyata Satchitananda is a Certified Tantric Healer through the Ohana School of Tantra and a Certified Reiki Master / Shinpiden in the Mikao Usui lineage.
Sunyata Satchitananda has practiced Tantra since 2001 and is the author of books, meditations, essays, and articles on spiritual growth, sacred sexuality, sexual healing, shadow work, archetypal inquiry, personal transformation, and related subjects.
Confidentiality and Clergy-Penitent Privilege
Sunyata Satchitananda treats client communications and session information as private and confidential.
As an ordained minister, Sunyata Satchitananda provides spiritual counseling within a spiritual and ministerial capacity. Confidential spiritual counseling communications may fall under California clergy-penitent privilege when the communication is made in confidence, in the presence of no third person so far as the client is aware, and under circumstances where the clergy member is authorized or accustomed to hear such communications and has a duty to keep them confidential.
Confidentiality and clergy privilege may have legal limits. These may include situations involving client consent to disclosure, waiver of privilege, court order, legal duties related to abuse or neglect, imminent risk of harm, or other circumstances where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
Client Responsibility
The client understands that spiritual counseling services are alternative or complementary services and are not licensed medical, psychological, psychiatric, or psychotherapeutic treatment.
The client understands that these services are not a substitute for medical care, mental health care, crisis care, medication, diagnosis, or treatment from a licensed professional.
The client agrees to seek appropriate licensed medical, psychological, psychiatric, or emergency care when needed.
Client Acknowledgment
I, ________________________________, acknowledge that I have been provided with this written disclosure in plain language and in a language I understand.
I acknowledge that I have been informed of the following:
- Sunyata Satchitananda is not a licensed physician, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other state-licensed healing arts practitioner.
- The services provided by Sunyata Satchitananda are alternative or complementary to healing arts services licensed by the State of California.
- The services provided by Sunyata Satchitananda are not licensed by the State of California.
- I have been informed of the nature of the services to be provided.
- I have been informed of the theory and basis upon which the services are offered.
- I have been informed of Sunyata Satchitananda’s education, training, experience, and other qualifications regarding the services to be provided.
- I understand that I will receive a copy of this acknowledgment and that Sunyata Satchitananda will maintain a copy for three years.
Signature: __________________________
Date: ______________________________