Terms & Conditions

Professional Information

Your therapist is a Clinical Psychologist and registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and adheres to the codes of ethics and conduct of these regulatory bodies. Copies of these codes are available to you online and include information about procedures for making a complaint.

Appointments & Payment

Therapy works best when there is a commitment to regularity in the sessions. We will normally meet once a week, although it can be appropriate for sessions to be held at a different frequency. It is usual to begin with an initial contract of up to six sessions after which point we will evaluate and decide whether to extend the therapeutic contract. Therapy will usually be conducted in pre-agreed blocks of sessions. Therapy sessions are generally 50 minutes unless we agree otherwise.

Payment in full is due on the day of the session (by cash or cheque at the time of the session, or bank transfer in advance of the session) unless you hold private medical insurance which is paying for your therapy*. Failure to pay may unfortunately lead to sessions being cancelled until any outstanding invoice has been settled.

*If you hold private medical insurance, you must check that the reimbursement level available for psychological therapy from the policy provider will cover the session in full. If it does not, it will be your responsibility to pay the difference between the insurance reimbursement rate and the fee. 

Cancellation Policy

If you are able to give 48 hours notice, there is no cancellation fee. Cancellations made the day before your appointment will be charged at 50% of the session rate. Cancellations made on the day of your appointment will be charged the full rate.

Your therapist will inform you in advance of any planned absence for holiday or professional engagements, and will endeavour to give you at least 48 hours’ notice of any cancelled session wherever possible. We aim to minimise any disruption or inconvenience to you due to missed appointments and will only cancel a session if this is completely unavoidable and as a last resort. Any appointments cancelled by your therapist will of course not be charged.

Confidentiality

What we talk about is confidential; your therapist will not be sharing any information without your permission except under circumstances where there is a serious concern for your safety or the safety of others. As part of good clinical practice, all of our Clinical Psychologists attend clinical supervision regularly, which includes discussions of what is happening in therapy. Clinical supervision is bound by the same confidentiality guidelines as therapy sessions and discussions will always be anonymised, respectful and with the aim of supporting our clinicians to provide the best care.

At our first session I will discuss with you whether you would like me to write to any other professionals, such as your GP, to let them know that you are currently in treatment.

Ethical and Collaborative Practice

As clinical psychologists, we use several different therapeutic models and approaches in our work. During the initial assessment, we will reach an agreement about which way of working is most likely to meet your needs and suit your preferences. This choice will be reviewed regularly and can of course be modified as necessary.

At the beginning of treatment we will agree on a number of specific goals for therapy. Together, we will review progress towards these goals at regular intervals (no less frequently than every six sessions) in order to ensure that therapy is helping you to address these, and to identify any obstacles to change. “Progress” means different things to different people, and we use a range of measures to guage it, including some standardised questionnaires, which provide an indication of change.

All of our therapists work part-time and will not usually be able to respond to emails or telephone calls immediately. We will reply to any communication at our earliest convenience and will notify you in advance of any periods during which your therapist will be completely unavailable. We are unable to provide regular support in between contracted sessions (by telephone, email or text message). Please note that we do not provide a multidisciplinary or crisis service. The needs of some clients exceed what we are able to work with safely in private practice, and we will let you know if we believe that you require the input of a specialist time. Should this happen during the course of our work together, we will facilitate your referral to the most appropriate service wherever possible or communicate with your GP so that they can arrange this for you.

Ending is an important part of therapy and it should be planned and expected. The final few sessions of any contract of therapy will focus on preparing for the ending and on working to develop a personal ‘staying well’ plan. We will reach a collaborative decision during treatment about when is the right time to end therapy and will work together to accomplish this. If an onward referral to another practitioner is appropriate (for example, if therapy has not led to the desired change and you wish to try another approach to your difficulties), we will facilitate this as part of the process of ending.