Alma Member Charter

We’re proud of the trust placed in Alma by our Members, and their guests and patients. To ensure that we live up to this trust, Alma requires that all Members follow this Member Charter.

If you believe that one of our Members is in violation of this Charter, please contact us at [e-mail].

1. Listen first. Lead with kindness and respect. Our office space is used to discuss sensitive matters, often involving patient Protected Health Information. You agree to be diligent in protecting our space from physical or digital intrusion by, for example, safeguarding your office keys and Member Network password.

We do not tolerate: 

• Trolling, bullying, or harassment
• Bigoted or hateful language, specifically around topics related to protected identities
• Gaslighting or any language that dismisses somebody’s history, customs, practices, or beliefs

2. Assume positive intent. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Extend the same level of empathy and understanding you have with your clients towards other members and Alma staff. 

• Approach any tough or challenging interactions with the goal of bridging disconnection and engaging with the vulnerability that these kinds of conversations require, as opposed to reinforcing shame, blame or punishment. This allows for supportive conversations and it gives us all room to grow.
• Avoid starting conversations with other members or Alma staff with an escalated tone of anger or condescension. 
• If you have a disagreement with another member or an employee at Alma, assume that no harm was intended.
• Try to resolve issues by seeing the humanity in each other.
• Share your feedback with kindness. Every provider at Alma has the opportunity to impact the membership experience by completing our quarterly satisfaction survey. We’re also eager to hear your thoughts and ideas throughout the year — just send a message to [e-mail]. 

3. Protect privacy and confidentiality. Vulnerability and trust go hand in hand. It is imperative that we are mindful of privacy and confidentiality, especially when we’re discussing sensitive topics. Use good judgment before sharing information about other members or clinical cases with each other. 

• Do not share any insurance rates publicly, as this violates insurance company contractual stipulations and your Alma agreement. 
• Do not share any protected health information (PHI) or any information that is in direct violation of HIPAA. Ask yourself, “Will this information self-identify persons involved?” If the answer is yes or even maybe, don’t share.
• Do not repost messages or share details from a members-only discussion without explicit permission from the member themselves.
• Do not take screenshots of the community without permission. 
• Do not record video or audio of Alma meetings or events.

4. Treat clients with care. Members have autonomy over their private practice. We are proud of the multitude of styles and approaches Alma can offer to prospective clients. That said, it’s important that every client receives the highest quality of care. 

• Be respectful of your clients’ time and manage the administrative aspects of your business efficiently. For example, do not repeatedly reschedule appointments at the last minute or leave your client in the dark. 
• Instill confidence in your clients by showing up professionally and with clear ethical standards. Practice cultural awareness and sensitivity.
• Represent yourself to clients accurately and don’t take on a client who is out of your scope of training. Practice responsibly and refer a client out when you are no longer equipped to care for them. When terminating care with a client, do so responsibly.
• Read Alma’s Conduct Policy for more information.

5. Be considerate about what you share and why. We encourage you to share your personal work and achievements, but please do so thoughtfully with context. Don’t spam our community. If you need a gut check on your post, please reach out to one of our community team members via a message on this platform. 

• If you have a question for the community, provide as much detail as possible upfront. This makes it easier for members to support you right away without additional follow-up questions. 
• Consider where you are posting. Ask yourself if the question or comment relates to the theme of the space.  
• Don’t misrepresent yourself, your scope of practice, or your expertise to clients or members in the community. If you are promoting a group or a project, we expect that you have certification in this area and/or it is clearly in your realm of professional training.
• Don’t plagiarize content from other providers or external resources and pass as your own words or work.

In addition to these broad precepts, all of our Members agree not to misuse Alma’s office space or digital services - or to help anyone else do so - and not to even try to do any of the following in connection with Alma Membership:

• probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network;
• breach or otherwise circumvent any security or authentication measures;
• access, tamper with, or use non-public areas or parts of the services, or shared areas of the services you haven't been invited to;
• interfere with or disrupt any user, host, or network, for example by sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, or mail-bombing any part of the services;
• access, search, or create accounts for the Services by any means other than our publicly supported interfaces (for example, "scraping" or creating accounts in bulk);
• send unsolicited communications, promotions or advertisements, or spam;
• send altered, deceptive or false source-identifying information, including "spoofing" or "phishing";
• promote or advertise products or services other than your own without appropriate authorization;
• abuse referrals or promotions to get more storage space than deserved;
• circumvent storage space limits;
• sell the services unless specifically authorized to do so;
• publish or share materials that are unlawfully pornographic or indecent, or that contain extreme acts of violence;
• advocate bigotry or hatred against any person or group of people based on their race, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual preference, disability, or impairment;
• violate the law in any way, including storing, publishing or sharing material that's fraudulent, defamatory, or misleading; or
• violate the privacy or infringe the rights of others.