Requesting Your Records — Texas Clients
Last updated: September 7, 2026
Texas law requires that requests for mental health records be in writing. To obtain your records, or your child's records, from our practice, please do the following:
How to request your records
- Complete our HIPAA-compliant Authorization and send it to us through the patient portal of SimplePractice, our electronic health records system. In the subject line, write "REQUEST FOR RECORDS." Please be sure to include the records you want, and the name, address, and/or e-mail address of the intended recipient.
- If you do not have access to the patient portal, please e-mail your request for records and the Authorization to joannyanglmft@andarapsychotherapy.com. In the subject line, please write "REQUEST FOR RECORDS."
- If the records are to be used in litigation, please include case information, such as the cause number, title, and court where the case is pending.
- If you need a Business Records Affidavit, please let us know in your request for records. There is a $15 charge for providing a Business Records Affidavit. No Affidavit will be provided unless the fee is paid.
- There is a fee for providing records in this practice. Fees for records will be billed at the same hourly rate as a therapy hour ($300 individual, $400 couples) in 15-minute increments. We accept credit/debit cards such as Discover, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Please note that Texas law does not require us to provide records until the fee is paid.
- If you are requesting a copy of couples counseling records, family counseling records, or records for a person who is not yourself or your child, state and federal law require that you provide either a Court Order or an Authorization signed by the person (or parent of the person) whose records you are requesting. 45 C.F.R. §164.512(e); Texas Health & Safety Code §611.004, §611.0045, §611.008.
Instructions for attorneys and document companies
A subpoena alone is not sufficient to compel the disclosure of confidential counseling and billing records or "Protected Health Information" (PHI) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule (HIPAA), 45 C.F.R. Chapter 164.
For medical/mental health records or information that are requested or subpoenaed in litigation (including court testimony), HIPAA allows a covered entity — Joann Yang, LMFT and/or Andara Psychotherapy — to disclose PHI in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding as follows:
- In response to an order of a court or administrative tribunal; or
- Where the individual (or parent) is a party to the proceeding, they know that the request for their PHI has been made, and do not object.
45 C.F.R. §164.512(e). An Authorization from the individual or parent is the kind of document that will satisfy the second option.