Therapy Contract

Please be assured that I take each individual’s circumstances into careful consideration and exercise discretion whenever possible regarding missed appointments. Nonetheless, it is essential to uphold appropriate boundaries to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of therapy sessions 

• Therapy sessions are tailored to your unique needs and goals. I use evidence-based therapy models (EMDR, CBT and other integrative approaches) to treat psychological trauma, anxiety and depression.
• I will attend Clinical Supervision monthly in accordance with my Accreditation with the BABCP to ensure good clinical practice.
• Therapy sessions are 60 minutes. They may occasionally be longer (up to 90 minutes) but this will be planned into your treatment plan in advance to allow you to organise your time. These sessions would not incur any additional cost to you. 
• You can expect me to be on time.
• Should I need to cancel an appointment I will inform you as soon as I am able to. This cancelled appointment will incur no cost to you.
• You can contact me between appointments for questions and concerns. However, I am unable to offer an emergency service. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.
• If you experience any mental health difficulties between sessions and require urgent support, please contact your local 111 service and select the mental health option. You may also reach out to your GP or visit your nearest hospital Emergency Department (A+E) if you need immediate assistance. Additionally, please check whether your employer offers mental health support as part of your employee benefits, as this may provide you with further help and resources. 
• In person appointments will be at Cargo Fleet Offices in Middlesbrough. Online appointments via secure link.
• Online therapy appointments are to be paid in advance via bank transfer. In person can be paid via card reader on the day. I no longer accept cash payments.
• Online Appointments - If you do not attend on time, I will text/telephone you after 5 minutes in case you are having difficulty accessing the the secure link. If you do not answer and fail to attend the video call after a further 10 minutes (15 minutes after the appointment start time) then I will classify this as a missed appointment. If you wish to continue therapy then you will need to pay for this missed appointment as well as the next arranged appointment up front.
• If you do not attend in-person appointments within 15 minutes of start time then I will class this as a missed appointment. 
• A missed appointment is one not attended at all with no warning from you or an appointment attended 15 minutes late as I may not be able to provide a full appointment.
• If you miss an appointment  (as above) and you wish to arrange a further appointment I will require payment for the missed appointment and the next arranged appointment in full prior to the appointment. 
• If you cancel within 24 hours notice then this appointment will not be charged. If you cancel again within 24 hours then this appointment incurs half therapy payment (i.e. £40. If you wish to arrange a further appointment then payment in full is required at booking.
• If you cancel with more than 24 hours’ notice, then you will not be charged for this appointment. If you need to cancel a second time with more than 24 hours notice I will also not charge for this. 
• If you cancel a third time regardless of the amount of notice provided this appointment is chargeable and another appointment will not be booked until the missed appointment is paid for alongside payment for the next booked appointment.
• I reserve the right to increase fees. I will provide up to 2 months notice for this.

If you would like to use your insurance company to fund your sessions, or your insurance case manager has arranged your therapy through a third-party provider or intermediary, the same terms apply as well as:

• Your insurance case manager will require regular updates from me about your progress.
   
• If you do not join your appointment on time, I will attempt to call you after 5 minutes. If you do not answer and fail to attend the session, I am required to inform your insurer, and the missed session will be chargeable.
   
• When a session is missed, your insurance company may choose to pause further sessions. They will advise me when therapy can resume — this decision is made by your insurer, not by me.
   
• If you miss a second appointment, I will notify your insurer again. Both your insurer and I reserve the right to discontinue therapy.
   
• Persistent non-attendance may result in your insurer and I agreeing to end therapy.
   

If you have any questions about how therapy works through your insurer, please feel free to ask — I am always happy to clarify any part of this process.

Please see the GDPR section on the website for clarification on how I process, store and destroy information in line with this policy.