#icsa

[herhimthem]

hey hey everyone, I've got more KOSA-related information for you.

So as we all know, KOSA is dumb. The bill is so ridiculously vague it's honestly impressive, and it will ultimately do much more HARM than good. Another reason (other than being able to exploit it) for it's vaugness is that it's just.. doing TOO MUCH.

KOSA is trying to fix a GIGANTIC issue with multiple facets with one single bill. It just can't work like that.

On Twitter, I found this thread that has more SPECIFIC information about the Invest in Child Safety Act, you can read that here.

The poster is looking into it more, and as time goes on, hopefully a list of several alternative bills that replace KOSA *as a whole* can be compiled.

Keep bothering your Reps and Senators folks, tell them about these bills, we got this👍🏽

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

The Heart of Cult Recovery: Compassion for the Self

Daniel Shaw

I left Siddha Yoga, the religious community I had lived and worked in for more than a decade, in 1994. Almost simultaneously, I began my training for a master’s degree in social work with the aim of becoming a psychotherapist. I asked my psychoanalytic supervisor at my clinical internship for some psychoanalytic reading, and she recommended two books: Alice Miller’s Drama of the Gifted Child,1 and Heinz Kohut’s How Does Analysis Cure?2 In the first book, I began learning about narcissism; in the second, I began learning about empathy. I perceived that the guru I had just left fit the profile of a narcissist, but I wanted to understand more clearly what that meant.

As I studied more, particularly the work of Erich Fromm in The Heart of Man3 and Escape From Freedom,4 I was led to formulate the concept of the traumatizing narcissist, based largely on my observations of my former guru, Gurumayi. Once I had left the cult and begun to reclaim my critical-thinking abilities, Gurumayi became a human being to me, not a deity. What I couldn’t find in her was real compassionate empathy, real unselfish giving.

I believe that the development of compassionate empathy had been aborted in Gurumayi by her guru, the late Swami Muktananda, who has been credibly accused of many abuses of power, including predatory pedophilia and multiple sexual assaults. In the time I spent working for Gurumayi, what I observed in the place where empathy could have been was contempt for whomever she could not control, and contempt disguised as “the grace of the guru”5 for the many people she did control. My first effort to theorize about the traumatizing narcissism of cult leaders—the shame they conceal from themselves and others behind their contempt, and their traumatizing impact on followers—became my final paper for graduate school, titled Traumatic Abuse in Cults: A Psychoanalytic Perspective, which can be accessed on the ICSA website.6

Fast forward to around 2015. My psychotherapy practice was going well, but I realized that my training had not taken me as far as I felt I wanted to go when it came to helping my most severely traumatized clients, some of whom had extreme dissociative symptoms.

I began to study the work of contemporary traumatologists, clinicians who are developing trauma treatments informed by research in neuroscience. This research changed everything for those who had been focused on treating PTSD: It informed the work of Judith Herman7 and Bessel van der Kolk,8 Alan Schore’s research linked to psychotherapy,9 Onno van der Hart’s theory of structural dissociation,10 Dan Siegel’s model of the brain and affect regulation,11 Patricia Ogden and Janina Fisher’s Sensorimotor Psychotherapy,12 and Richard Schwartz’s theory of internal family systems.13

Read more here...

_____________________________________

International Cultic Studies Association, Inc. 100 Bull Street, Suite 200 Savannah, GA 31401

www.icsahome.com

[panconquesoyleche]

Un pequeño collage✨

[scobbe]

So brilliant new therapist this week gently guided me toward the realization, “oh, so it all felt awful all the time even though it seemed miraculously wonderful because a certain level of thought-control was going on?” Stepped right in it and disappeared over my head.

Religious trauma is her specialty and she got into it all due to an early fascination with cults so she is a bit of an expert in her field, and now I’m reading about “control-based leadership” and “bicameral normative systems” and I’m shaking my fist at God.

Apparently I was supposed to have this experience but it does kind of suck.

[dirty-graves]

Tbh people need 2 start recognizing tht trauma effects ppl in unpalatable and ugly ways. Victims aren't always going 2 be uwu fragile softkids with only ~holy~ and ~unproblematic~ symptoms.

Im a victim @ the hands of my father. I was four when it first happened and he continued 2 treat me like eyecandy up until I cut him out of my life.

I formed 2 not only hold that trauma but cope w/ it. I was given psuedomems of having a ""healthy"" (in quotes bc inc*st is never healthy lmao) relationship w/ my in source brother bc my brain craved a way 2 feel control over how we were abused. And oh my god, shock and horror, it's something I think fondly of!

But you know what?

Not only did we NOT turn into some consang freak who thinks that inc*st is "ok with consent" -- The moment I (and a handful of other alters w/ similar situations) formed, we started healing. We stopped comparing ourselves to our father. We stopped having nauseating intrusive thoughts abt other family members. We stopped wanting 2 end our life over how dirty we felt. Our trauma couldn't hurt us anymore because our brain had found a way to turn it into something we could grasp and shrink into a miniscule bug.

But people aren't going 2 think of that when they hear this. I can assure u the majority of internet losers entrenched in fakeass "mental health positivity" movements would hear about my experience and assume I'm some paraphilic predator lmao.

Bc it doesnt matter if a victim is healing! All that matters is if they're silent abt their suffering and only coping in ~pure~ and ~acceptable~ ways.

It's a victims job to provide accurate warnings before talking about not only their trauma, but the ways it has shaped them as a person. It is NOT their job to make it palatable for you. It is not their job to conform to what you think is healthy.

It is not YOUR job to play therapist and pretend like u know what is best 4 them. If you had even an inch of the PhD required 2 become a therapist u would understand tht brains r complex and weird. That not everyone is going to heal in the same way, and tht not everyone is going to heal in conventional ways.

♡ And I know the ppl I'm talking abt will come out of the woodworks 2 be nasty, if this actually gains traction. I love attention, so u'll just be fueling me. Thank u and Thx 4 proving my point. ♡

[thekidthesuperkid]

Actually I'm not done talking about the Damian grew up in a cult thing. You see, the thing you might not get if you're relying on a pop-culture understanding of cults, is that they are very very good at brainwashing people and they dont let you know theyre doing it. It is their entire purpose in fact. Their entire purpose is to strip you of every bit of personality and individuality you have, take away your will to object, take away your ability to think and reason critically about what they're telling you, and then selectively feed you only what they want you to believe, and all of it without you even noticing its happening, like boiling a crab. They are very good at isolating you so you have nobody to snap you out of it. They are very good at making you distrusting and even afraid of the outside world so that you never willingly leave. They are very good at stripping away your self esteem and your confidence and your ability to trust yourself and your decisions so that you never make decisions contrary to their goals.

Let me make this clear: cults do not let you think. Cults do not let you use your own moral compass. Cults do not let you be opposed to anything they do.

Now imagine someone didn't just end up in a cult later in life, imagine they weren't trusting of the wrong person and that led to their being stuck in a cult, imagine instead that they were born in it. Imagine they didn't just have their personhood and individuality stripped away, imagine they were never allowed to develop it in the first place. Imagine they have never in their lives experienced a world outside that group, they can't even picture what it would be like. Imagine they never learned critical thinking skills, imagine they don't know how to just THINK about what they believe beyond what's been fed to them.

Imagine you are that person and you've just been forced to leave your entire world. Everything you believe is no longer true and you cant tell what IS true. Now that you're forced outside the cult, you're now in a situation you've been conditioned to be more afraid of than any other situation, even death. Now imagine yourself at ten years old and think of the scariest thing you experienced at that age and how lost and confused you felt and how little context and coping skills you had, and then think of the difference between how well you would be able to handle that same thing now versus when you were ten. And then take that difference and apply it to how you imagined it might feel like leaving a cult for you now at your current age.

Do you get it? Do you understand why Damian would've at first fallen back on familiar patterns of behaviour instead of immediately and perfectly molding to his new environment? Do you see why Damian needed a bit of time to adapt, let alone start forming a better moral compass?

Grown adults have fallen into much worse behaviors after leaving even milder cults than Damian did. Grown adults have come out the other side of cults that look like nothing in comparison to the League of Assassins, and never had the strength of will to grow or learn or improve. And Damian was a kid, even more vulnerable and impressionable and with even less maturity and mental and emotional strength. And he's LEARNING. He's growing and changing and improving and becoming a better person and developing his own ideals and standing by them. He's only four years out from leaving the League and he's already done so much. Some people leave cults much tamer than that and take their entire lives to make the progress he did. He's doing fucking incredible. And that's not even getting into the whole "being forced to kill as a child" thing.

Also here's some reading you can do on the mental effects of cults on children whove grown up in them:

EDIT: adding a basic model for understanding how cults function:

[unwelcome-ozian]

"Groups vary in degree of isolation from mainstream society. Some groups limit all interaction with outside society: They live in isolated communities; homeschool their children; refuse outside medical care; and eliminate access to mainstream news, television, books, music, and so on. Other groups allow members to live, work, and go to school in mainstream society; however, these groups also tend to exhibit such high levels of control that children are pressured to project an approved persona, so that even when they do come into contact with outsiders, their behavior is often scripted and dishonest."~icsa

[cultsurvivorsafe]

i feel so guilty for coping in unhealthy ways. it seems like i can only stay sane by sexualizing my trauma

I’m happy you reached out. Sooo many cult survivors struggle with guilt, and it’s often such a difficult burden to carry. Now, I understand reassurances are hit-or-miss. Guilt–especially when brought on by abuse–can be . . . weedy. Pervasive and deep-rooted. It takes time to shake self-blame. 

Still, I want you to know that:

1. Both consciously and otherwise, you’re working extremely hard to manage trauma. A lot of energy goes toward it, in fact. This constant, sometimes overwhelming process may not manifest how you desire. Be patient with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Recognition is an amazing first step.

2. You’re not wrong for coping this way. You’re not a bad person, either. There is absolutely nothing to feel ashamed of. 

3. Only your abuser(s) is/are at fault. No thoughts, feelings, or fantasies will ever justify what you endured. 

And for the record, I’m glad you’re staying sane! Zero judgment here. An unhealthy coping mechanism can turn destructive fast, though, so here are some of my favorite resources:

Writing to Reckon – workshops (plus more recently, a journal!) for writing through cult abuse. 

#igotout – share your story, read about other survivors, and find empowerment. So many great books, podcasts, documentaries, and hotlines are recommended here! 

People Leave Cults – individual consultation as well as support groups (including a minority exclusive one, if interested).

ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) Arts – some truly astounding work (visual, literary, and musical) from a diverse range of survivors. You can even submit your own! 

I really hope you find peace, anon. Please take care of yourself, and feel free to message me again whenever. 

[waluigis-biggest-fan]

Jesus fucking Christ, what kind of indecency do these people think they’ve averted with this hurtful hatred?

I swear to god I am so sorry for everything these fuckers have said to you. They’re not worth listening to. Just keep anons off at this rate. If these wretched diarrhea spawns are gonna be like this, they don’t deserve the privilege of anonymity.

And to anyone who reads this and feels joy at the pain they’ve caused this person, this fellow human being, I hope you are repaid a thousandfold what you have said to them. I hope people see you for the hateful ignorant fools that you are.

They did it again, they sent me a similar ask on another one of my blogs, this time being even more graphic and overall disgusting.

I genuinely feel sick... They're actively sexualizing and ridiculing my trauma and making me blame myself for what happened.

The disgusting pictures he took of me are still probably somewhere on the internet and it genuinely breaks my heart to have people like this think that I'm the same as him.

Try to stop being a coward if you wanna talk so much shit and project your fucked up mentality in my inboxes, you fucking monster.

Anon asks will be disabled for a while. As usual, here's the proof:

[digitalmarketingwithakhlas]

Computer Secretarial Ramadan Special Offer | Benefit of Computer secretarial Course

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Post-Cult Problems: An Exit Counselor's Perspective

Carol Giambalvo

Classification of Ex-Members

...

Tools for Recovery

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Common Issues in Post-Cult Recovery

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[labbaik-ya-hussain-as]

PRESS STATEMENT: Halal certification body moves on Israel, major implications

25 October 2023

Earlier today the South African Halal certification body, MJCHT, made a groundbreaking announcement that will have an irreversible ripple effect across the muslim world.

The human rights organization #Africa4Palestine welcomes the historic resolution that has been announced by the Muslim Judicial Council’s Halal Trust (MJCHT). The MJCHT has adopted a policy position to decline, refuse and not certify any goods or services emanating from Israel - to boycott all such Israeli companies and products (see attached). This has major domestic and international implications as well as wide ranging financial and economic impact.

A statement released by the MJCHT reads:

"The Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust (MJCHT) commits itself to ethical business practices in line with international law and human rights. As part of this commitment, the MJCHT declines the certification of any goods or services emanating from Israel. The MJCHT, furthermore, declines the certification of any Israeli based companies or their directly controlled foreign subsidiaries."

MJCHT is a certification body that provides compliance certificates to companies that manufacture food and drink products as well as to restaurants and other similar establishments who meet certain strict criteria. Certificates are voluntary, however, in practice, Muslims will not purchase a product that does not have a certificate from an authorised certification or compliance body (such as the MJCHT). Similarly, Muslims will also not eat at a restaurant that does not have a certificate from a compliance/certification body (such as the MJCHT).

Consequently, companies seek such certification before selling their products locally or exporting their goods to other countries, especially those that are Muslim-majority. Countries and economies with significant Muslim populations include Egypt, Mauritania, Algeria, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Tanzania, Senegal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh, Qatar, Pakistan, etc.

Today’s announcement and decision follows MJCHT’s engagements with #Africa4Palestine. We thank the MJCHT for these discussions and commend the body for the position that it has adopted after our consultations. We also thank Chief Mandla Mandela for his support both in this MJCHT decision as well as his unwavering commitment to the Palestinian struggle against Israeli Apartheid.

The MJCHT decision, which is the first such decision in the world, should and will set an example for other such compliance and certification bodies. We call on all other halal certification bodies to adopt a similar position to that of the MJCHT. #Africa4Palestine has written to such bodies both in South Africa as well as internationally. We have written to SANHA, NIHT, ICSA among others and will publish their responses in due course.

Israeli companies and products not receiving such certification going forward will isolate them from major markets across the globe with colossal financial consequences. The message is clear - no normal trade with an abnormal country. Israel is paying for its violence, its violations of international law and abuse of the Palestinians people.

--------------------

Muslims - who make up 2 billion of the world’s population - do not consume pork or alcohol. In addition, the foods that they do consume must follow certain dietary and preparation requirements. Once these requirements are met, a company or restaurant seeks a certificate from an authorised Halal Certification Body, such as the MJCHT, stating that the product of restaurant is "halal". A company or restaurant with such a certificate can then market their product or restaurant as halal.

A halal certification body (that provides a certificate stating that a product or restaurant is halal) can be compared, with some limitation, to other certification bodies, such as bodies that provide compliance certificates confirming that a product is Kosher, free from nuts, free from animal cruelty, or free from gluten. In this vein, Africa4Palestine will also be engaging with such bodies to also adopt a position of withdrawing and not certifying Israeli companies.

ISSUED BY TISETSO MAGAMA ON BEHALF OF AFRICA4PALESTINE

Africa4Palestine Media Liaison, Alie Komape: +27 (0) 76 979 8801

Africa4Palestine Director, Muhammed Desai: +27 (0) 84 211 9988

AFRICA 4 PALESTINE

Suite 3 | Park Center | 75 12th Street | Parkhurst | Johannesburg

PO Box 2318 | Houghton | 2041 | Johannesburg

Africa4Palestine is a registered Non-Profit Company. Registration Number: 2020/549404/08

[dirty-graves]

Srry, can someone remind me why... (looks at my hand) Me at 10 years old encouraging my friend 2 act on their incstuous crush is the fault of. (rolls up my sleeve 2 reveal more hastily scribbled ink)

.....A homestuck ship?

Shouldn't my pdo father and the 3 other neglectful adults in my life be at fault? Yknow. Bc one was teaching me tht incst was ok and the others never fucking taught me that it wasnt?

[adiariomx]

Participará CAM móvil del JuárezBus en la Feria Intergeneracional de ICSA

#Juárez El Paso | ¡Este viernes 30, el CAM móvil de JuárezBus estará en la Feria Intergeneracional en ICSA! 🚍✨ Tramita tu tarjeta preferencial y disfruta de tarifas reducidas. 🛣️💖 #JuárezBus #MovilidadJuárez

[nursingwriter]

Policy Communication: HITECH ACT Health policy communication: HITECH Act Policy description Part of the 2009 U.S. Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) are the provisions of HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health), a major overhaul of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Under HITECH, monetary incentives are delivered to healthcare providers and schemes, for employing electronic health records (EHRs); the target is to ensure EHR implementation in every single U.S. health facility by the year 2014. Further, HITECH adds stricter privacy rules, which include overseeing business partners for healthcare plans, clearinghouses and providers, notification prerequisites and further penalties for noncompliance. The requirements take effect on different dates, further complicating the process of compliance (HITECH, 2009). HITECH laid down civil financial penalties, criminal penalties, and mandatory federal reporting requirements for security breach that caused patient privacy loss. Additionally, it offered financial support to compliance audits. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is in charge of handling security breach cases; more than 500 cases are reported on OCR's website. At one time, confidentiality dealt with therapeutic relationship under state supervision, but now, the concept is associated with federal supervision and rules. This affects all written, oral, and electronic interactions between clients and marriage and family therapists (MFTs), as well as discussions about clients (Hecker & Edwards, 2014). Health-related information, under HIPAA cannot be divulged without acquiring patient permission/agreement, unless information release is imperative to administering healthcare, benefits or payment. Moreover, healthcare providers should explain privacy systems to patients on a regular basis; information should also be disclosed by patients/clients to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (Horowitz, 2011). Privacy breach penalties are now harsher than ever, under HITECH: companies may be fined no less than 250,000 dollars for patient information breach. Health program manager at Verizon's ICSA Labs, Amit Trivedi states that HITECH broadened privacy protection's scope under HIPAA, following criticisms about strict adherence to the privacy regulations. ICSA analyses EHRs for compliance with federal rules on meaningful usage. Business confederates (i.e., third-party cloud providers or billing companies) have to abide by HIPAA privacy rules, through patient information protection and reporting of any breach (Horowitz, 2011). Role of state in policy development and implementation HITECH posed numerous ramifications for states; it calls for leadership in two chief areas, namely, supervision of health information exchange (HIE) planning and execution, which encompasses application for and management of grant funds (which may, in part, be assigned to any state-chosen agency) and Medicaid incentive-pay management, to entitled recipients (such as providers). State governors are responsible for appointing an agency/individual in their respective states for the purpose of receiving HIE development and execution grants. HIE execution grants can only be given to state-assigned entities having a set, DHHS-approved plan; guidelines with regard to state plan's minimum requirements, and procedure of application for HIE planning grants, are available (Ellis, 2009). HITECH's enactment integrated state government technology policies into health policy; state chief information officers (CIOs) have a central part to play in development and execution of HIE. States are bringing stakeholders together, establishing a base for implementation plan, as well as carrying out resource-connected environmental scans. The CIOs need to prove themselves as important stakeholders, for enabling them to facilitate with creation of policies, which will impact their offices. State CIOs may have direct and longstanding influence (in relation to HIE) in four broad fields: Design, Governance, Policy and Funding/Sustainability. Each of these fields is accompanied by its own distinct challenges; however, the four are correlated and dependent upon each other when it comes to deciding their individual outcomes. This major undertaking implies that the CIOs at state level need to cope with persisting critical questions, which are tricky and have complex solutions that may not be apparent (Ellis, 2009; Vinson, 2011). The state planning phase of health information technology (HIT) after HITECH's promulgation has begun despite wide variations in individual states' HIE/HIT planning progress. Rapidly advancing states owe their progress to pioneers who started early efforts for laying the foundation of HIT/HIE, with an aim to propel their state towards the forefront of the HIT domain. A number of states are reviewing original HIE plans and evaluating their HITECH grant eligibility independently. HITECH delegated a considerable number of new duties to states, in terms of HIE supervision and HIE planning and execution grants. In the initial phase of planning, state CIOs have to secure a place for themselves as major stakeholders, in addition to identifying strengths and ascertaining weaknesses which need to be resolved in their respective offices, in relation to HIE/HIT planning across the state. CIOs should look into their own competences to judge their capabilities to assist and contribute personally to the aforementioned areas, in light of their peculiar enterprise perspective (Nicholls, 2010). State CIOs have been entrenched in current HIT efforts in multiple ways. HITECH's enactment has aborted some such efforts, or they may potentially alter or get restructured for suiting the new, mandated frameworks and upcoming standards. State-level CIOs can participate in statewide HIE planning and assist their states in becoming eligible for grants in following ways (Vinson, 2011; Hecker & Edwards, 2014): Organize and participate in environmental scanning of current enterprise-wide health legacy structures, which may require replacement or upgrading. Investigate state's HIT assets to help decide which assets must be leveraged upon reaching competitive grant stage. Team up with organizational stakeholders and get in touch with Medicaid leaders, healthcare policy, and public health counselors to state governors. Identify the HIT spokesperson, as well as the individual (if any) selected as overall state leader for HIT/HIE. State CIOs should comprehend the scale of participating stakeholders and determine the main parties with whom relationships need to be cultivated. Recognize and ascertain the different federal agencies, chiefly via the DHHS (Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for HIT, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), AHRQ, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), IHS, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)), which will finance state-HIT. Furthermore, HIT-financing streams will affect the federal Veteran Affairs Department (VA), Defense, Agricultural and Commercial Departments, Social Security Administration (SSA), and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), and percolate to states. Detect and get involved with currently available opportunities. Different state-level work groups and agencies may develop, brought into existence by the state-governor-assigned HIE/HIT leader. Involvement of state CIOs in the right places is crucial (Heckerr & Edwards, 2014; Vinson, 2011; Horowitz, 2011). Role of the legislative committee President Barack Obama signed HITECH on the 17th of February, 2009, under the ARRA. HITECH is overseen by Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), and includes specific incentives devised for hastening HIT implementation by the healthcare sector, providers, patients, and consumers. HITECH aims at facilitating care quality enhancements, fostering affordability, and improving U.S. healthcare outcomes. The chief federal authority responsible for managing countrywide HIT/HIE adoption efforts is the ONC. One of the provisions of the ARRA was institution of HIT Standards and HIT Policy Committees, under FACA-patronage (Federal Advisory Committee Act) (Nicholls, 2010; Hecker & Edwards, 2014). The aforementioned bodies were assigned the following roles and functions: a) The HIT Policy Committee was made responsible for advising the National HIT Coordinator with regards to a policy structure for formulating and executing a countrywide HIT infrastructure, including HIE standards, and b) The HIT Standards Committee was allotted the duty of advising the National HIT Coordinator on standards, HIE certification criteria and HIT implementation stipulations; in the early stages, this body would concentrate on the HIT Policy Committee's framed policies. Both committees would, at the outset, concentrate their efforts on outlining parameters dealing with defining "meaningful use" about EHR utilization by physician. The HIT Standards Committee builds upon earlier works of the HIT-SP (Standards Panel); a preliminary collection of privacy and security standards in line with ARRA prerequisites was approved in July 2009 (Vinson, 2011; Nicholls, 2010). The HIT Policy Committee was made responsible for advising the National HIT Coordinator with regards to a policy structure for formulating and executing a countrywide HIT infrastructure, including HIE standards. ARRA stipulates that the HIT Policy Committee must, at any rate, advice the National HIT Coordinator on fields wherein standards, certification conditions, and implementation stipulations are required in 8 distinct domains. The HIT Standards Committee was allotted the duty of advising the National HIT Coordinator on standards, HIE certification criteria, and HIT implementation stipulations. Initially, the emphasis of HIT Standards Committee will be on policies developed in the above eight domains. In three months of ARRA's enactment, the HIT Standards Committee is required to create an agenda for policy-recommendation assessment (formulated by the HIT Policy Committee); this requires updating on a yearly basis. Moreover, the HIT Standards Committee, while creating, standardizing, or acknowledging implementation conditions and standards, will provide for NIST-administered testing for the above conditions and standards (Nicholls, 2010; Horowitz, 2011). Affected population Health schemes, healthcare providers, or clearinghouses can be covered entities (CEs). Healthcare providers can only be categorized as CEs if they pass-on electronic healthcare data in relation to DHHS-standardized transactions. These encompass providers like healthcare centers or clinics, physicians, pharmacies, dentists, mental health therapists, etc. The chief condition for qualifying as a CE is: transmission of individually distinguishable electronic health-related information. Health schemes form another CE, and incorporate health maintenance organizations (HMOs), health insurance firms, organizational health plans, veteran/military healthcare initiatives, or other government-sponsored health programs like Medicaid or Medicare. Healthcare clearinghouses are little-known CEs that process primary (unprocessed) data obtained into EH transactions, and electronic transactions into data, based on requirements (Hecker & Edwards, 2014; HITECH, 2009). Additionally, business associates (BAs) refer to individuals or companies to which patients' health information (PHI) is divulged by CEs, for carrying out, facilitating accomplishment of, or performing any activity or task for CEs; BAs are governed by the same HIPAA rules, and are also subject to penalties. BAs include "partners" providing actuarial, legal, consulting, accounting, management, data aggregation, financial services or administrative services (the services must deal with release of individually distinguishable health-related information. Parties whose services or tasks do not entail release or utilization of PHI (and any potential PHI-access by them is incidental), are not regarded as BAs (Hecker & Edwards, 2014; Horowitz, 2011). If a marriage and family therapist's (MFT's) services make use of third-party support (e.g. for billing or transcription purposes), a "BA Contract" has to be established. Finally, "hybrid" CE's also exist, wherein certain divisions of the entity require HIPAA compliance, while others do not (45 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) section 164.105 ((a) (2) (iii) (C)). For instance, certain divisions of universities may require HIPAA compliance because of the kind of work carried out therein (such as university health facilities), while other departments, (such as Engineering) having nothing to do with PHI, don't require HIPAA compliance (Hecker & Edwards, 2014). References Ellis, E. M. (2009). Should a psychotherapist be compelled to release an adolescent's treatment records to a parent in a contested custody case? Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(6), 557-563. Hecker, L. L., & Edwards, A. B. (2014). The Impact of HIPAA and HITECH: New Standards for Confidentiality, Security, and Documentation for Marriage and Family Therapists. American Journal Of Family Therapy, 42(2), 95-113. HITECH: HIPAA Gets a Facelift. (2009). Benefits Quarterly, 25(4), 60. Horowitz, B. T. (2011). HIPAA at 15: HITECH Tightens Health Care Privacy Laws. Eweek, 28(15), 12-13. Nicholls, S. (2010). HITECH Highlights. PT In Motion, 2(6), 40-43. Vinson, D. D. (2011). No more paper tiger: Promise and peril as HIPAA goes HITECH. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 30(3), 28-37. https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/hitech-act-policy-communication-2157181#:~:text=Logout-,HITECHActpolicycommunication,-Length6pages Read the full article