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Email templates · Mental health clinic

Email template to request your mental health records

You want a copy of your records from a therapist, psychiatrist, or counseling clinic. Maybe you are moving to a new provider, you need documentation for a disability claim, school accommodation, or court matter, or you simply want to see what is in your file. Under HIPAA, the federal health privacy law, you have the right to a copy of your medical record, which includes diagnoses, medication lists, treatment plans, and session summaries. One exception: a therapist's private "psychotherapy notes," kept separate from the main record, are not covered by that right. Asking by email dates your request and lets you say exactly what you need and where it should go.

Before you send

  • Your full name, date of birth, and the dates you were seen. If you saw more than one clinician at the clinic, name them.
  • What you want: the full record, a treatment summary, a specific letter (for example confirming a diagnosis), or the medication history. A summary is often faster and enough for schools and employers.
  • Where the records should go. If they go to another provider or a lawyer, have that person's name and secure fax or email.
  • How you want them delivered. Many clinics will not email records unencrypted; a patient portal or mailed copy may be offered instead.
  • Any deadline, and the reason for it, so the clinic can prioritize.
Subject Request for a copy of my records 
Hi [clinic name or therapist name],

My name is [full name], date of birth [date of birth]. I was seen at your practice from [start month and year] to [end month and year], by [clinician name].

I'd like a copy of my records. Specifically, I'm asking for [my complete medical record / a treatment summary including diagnosis, dates of service, and treatment plan / my medication history]. I understand that separately kept psychotherapy notes are not part of this request.

Please send the records [to me through your patient portal or by mail at my address / directly to the named person or organization, with their secure fax or email]. If you need a signed release form, please send it and I'll return it right away. Let me know in advance if there is a copying fee.

I need these by [date] for [reason, for example a new provider intake or a school accommodation request]. Please confirm once they have been sent.

Thank you,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Expect a release form, then the records within a couple of weeks. HIPAA allows up to 30 days, with one 30-day extension if the clinic explains the delay in writing.
  • If you asked for a summary and the clinic offers only the full record, or the other way around, say which you prefer; you are entitled to the record itself, and a summary requires your agreement.
  • A clinic may decline to release a portion if it believes doing so could endanger you or someone else. If that happens, you can ask for the denial in writing and request a review.
  • If nothing arrives after 30 days, send one follow-up that quotes the date of your first email. After that, a complaint to the HHS Office for Civil Rights is the next step.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get my mental health records released 
Hi StandIn,

Please request a copy of my mental health records and see it through until they arrive.

The practice: [clinic or therapist name, city, and contact info].
My details: [full name, date of birth].
Dates and clinician: [when I was seen, who I saw].
What I need: [full record / treatment summary / specific letter].
Where it should go: [to me / to a named provider or organization with contact info].
Deadline and reason: [date, reason].

Handle the release form with me, ask about any fee before it is charged, and follow up with the practice until the records are confirmed delivered.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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