What can you expect from Online Treatment?
Participation in therapy can result in several benefits to you, including improving interpersonal relationships and resolution of the specific concerns that led you to seek therapy. Working toward these benefits requires effort on your part. Psychological Therapy requires very active involvement, honesty, and openness to change your thoughts, feelings, and/or behavior. I will ask for your feedback and views on your therapy, its progress, and other aspects of the therapy and I will expect you to respond openly and honestly.
Sometimes more than one approach can help deal with a certain situation. During evaluation or therapy, remembering or talking about unpleasant events, feelings, or thoughts can result in you experiencing considerable discomfort or strong feelings of anger, sadness, worry, fear, etc. or experiencing anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc. I may challenge some of your assumptions or perceptions or propose different ways of looking at, thinking about, or handling situations that can cause you to feel upset, angry, depressed, challenged, or disappointed.
Attempting to resolve issues that brought you to therapy in the first place, such as personal or interpersonal relationships, may result in changes that were not originally intended. Psychological Therapy may result in decisions about changing behaviors, employment, substance use, schooling, housing, or relationships. Sometimes a decision that is positive for one family member is viewed quite negatively by another family member. Change will sometimes happen quickly, but more often it will take time and patience on your part. There is no guarantee that Psychological Therapy will yield positive or intended results however with a proper assessment and collaboration from both of us there is much scientific evidence to suggest that change is possible.
During therapy, I will utilize various psychological and motivational approaches according, in part, to the problem that is being treated and my assessment of what will best benefit you. These approaches include but are not limited to Psychometrics, Cognitive-behavioural Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy, NLP, Psychodynamic Schema Therapy, Existential, System/family, Developmental (adult, child, family), Psycho-educational, Mindfulness and Meditation and Energy Psychology.
DISCUSSION OF TREATMENT PLAN
During the first session and throughout this process, I will discuss with you your understanding of the problem, treatment plan, therapeutic objectives, and your view of the possible outcomes of treatment. If you have any unanswered questions about any of the procedures used in the course of your therapy, their possible risks, my expertise in employing them, or the treatment plan, please ask and you will be answered fully. You also have the right to ask about other treatments for your condition and their risks and benefits. If you could benefit from any treatment that your therapist I do not provide, I have an ethical obligation to assist you in obtaining those treatments.
DUAL RELATIONSHIPS
Not all dual relationships are unethical or avoidable. However, sexual involvement between therapist and client is never part of the therapy process as well as other actions or dual relationship situations that might impair your therapist’s objectivity, clinical judgment, or therapeutic effectiveness or that could be exploitative. In addition, I will never acknowledge working therapeutically with anyone without his/her written permission. In some instances, even with permission, I will preserve the integrity of our working relationship. For this reason, I will not accept any invitations via social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest, nor will I respond to blogs written by clients or accept comments on my blog from clients.
TERMINATION AND REFERRAL
During the initial intake process and the first couple of sessions, I will assess if I can be of benefit to you. If you have requested online counseling, my assessment will include your suitability for psychotherapy delivered via technology. I do not accept clients who, in my opinion, I cannot help. In such a case, I will give you several referrals that you may contact. If at any point during Therapy, I assess that I am not effective in helping you reach your therapeutic goals, I am obliged to discuss this with you up to and including termination of treatment. In such a case, I would give you several referrals that may be of help to you. If you request and authorize it in writing, I will talk to the psychotherapist of your choice to help with the transition. Suppose at any time you want another professional’s opinion or wish to consult with another therapist. In that case, I will assist you in finding someone qualified, and, if I have your written consent, I will provide her or him with the essential information needed. You have the right to terminate therapy at any time. If you choose to do so, I will offer to provide you with names of other qualified professionals whose services you might prefer.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY
All information disclosed within sessions and the written records about those sessions are confidential and may not be revealed to anyone without your written permission, except where disclosure is required by law. Likewise, you are expected to keep our communications confidential, and you understand that all records of communication between client and therapist remain the property of Tanya Thomas. Verbal material from therapy sessions remains in the client's record and should never be revealed publicly unless both client and therapist agree.
Most of the provisions explaining when the law requires disclosure were described to you in the Notice of Privacy Practices that you received with this form.
When Disclosure Is Required by Law?
Some of the circumstances where disclosure is required by the law are where there is a reasonable suspicion of child, dependent, or elder, abuse or neglect; and where a client presents a danger to self, to others, to property, or is gravely disabled (for more details see also Information Governance Policies and Procedures).
When Disclosure May be Required?
Disclosure may be required under a legal proceeding. If you are involved in a custody dispute or if you place your mental status at issue in litigation initiated by you, the defendant may have the right to obtain the psychotherapy records and/or testimony by me. In couple and family therapy, or when different family members are seen individually, confidentiality and privilege do not apply between the couple or among family members. I will use my clinical judgment when revealing such information. I will not release records to any outside party unless I am authorized to do so by all adult family members who were part of the treatment.
Harm to Self or Others
Suppose there is an emergency during our work together, or in the future after termination, in which I become concerned about your safety, the possibility of you injuring someone else, or about you receiving proper psychiatric care. In that case, I will do whatever I can within the limits of the law, to prevent you from injuring yourself or others and to ensure that you receive the proper medical care. For this purpose, I may also contact the police, hospital, or an emergency contact whose name you have provided.
Litigation limitation:
Due to the nature of the therapeutic process and the fact that it often involves making a full disclosure with regard to many matters which may be of a confidential nature, it is agreed that should there be legal proceedings (such as, but not limited to divorce and custody disputes, injuries, lawsuits, etc.), neither you (client) nor your attorney, nor anyone else acting on your behalf will call on me to testify in court or at any other proceeding, nor will a disclosure of the psychotherapy records be requested.
Consultation and peer supervision:
I consult regularly with other professionals regarding my clients; however, the client’s name or other identifying information is never disclosed. The client’s identity remains completely anonymous, and confidentiality is fully maintained.
Considering all of the above exclusions, if it is still appropriate, upon your request, I will release information to any agency/person you specify unless I conclude that releasing such information might be harmful in any way.
Telephone & emergency procedures:
If you need to speak with me between sessions to alert me of an emergency, please call 07773097809 Your call will be returned as soon as possible. Messages are checked daily (but never during the nighttime). Messages are checked less frequently on weekends and holidays. If an emergency arises that requires immediate attention, you may call the emergency National Suicide Hotline at National Suicide Helpline UK 0800 689 5652 or dial 999. You may also check the crisis hotline page on my website for additional resources. If a life-threatening crisis should occur, you agree to contact a crisis hotline, call 999, or go to a hospital emergency room.
Fee for service and cancellation policy:
Current rates for therapeutic services are posted on my website. My practice is “service fee” and that means that fees are due 24 hours before your appointment. An invoice will be sent to you before each session unless you have paid for a package of sessions. I do not participate in insurance panels as either a preferred or out-of-network provider. Due to unreasonable administrative costs and time involved, to keep your fee as low as possible, I will not communicate with clients’ insurance companies at any time for any reason therefore I will not issue receipts with diagnostic criteria and other information necessary for my services to be reimbursable.
Session payments via credit or debit card can be processed through Google Checkout, PayPal, or Professional Charges.com. Sessions are generally purchased in 45 minutes for Psychotherapy.
Since scheduling an appointment involves the reservation of time specifically for you, a minimum of 24-hour notice is required for rescheduling or canceling an appointment. Unless we reach a different agreement, the full fee will be charged for sessions missed without such notification. If you are more than 15 minutes late the full service fee will be due and you will need to reschedule the session.
If we are scheduled for an online video conference and we are unable to connect or are disconnected during a session due to a technological breakdown on your side, please try to reconnect within 10 minutes. If reconnection is not possible, we will complete the session by phone. If the connection issue is on my side you will have the option to complete the session by phone or to reschedule the session with no charge.
Disputes, complaints, and ratings:
You may find my practice on sites such as Yelp, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places that list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is not a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client. Asking for a testimonial from you is unethical practice on my part.
If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your privacy and protection. Please be aware that if you have a complaint that you want me to know about, I may not see your post on a review site. I hope you will discuss your concerns with me. If you do have a complaint or concern about my services and you are not comfortable discussing the matter with me, you may inquire about my license/certification boards - https://www.bacp.co.uk/
All disputes arising out of or about this agreement to provide psychological services shall first be referred to mediation, before, and as a pre-condition of the initiation of arbitration. The mediator shall be a neutral third party chosen by agreement of Tanya Thomas Therapy and the client(s). The cost of such mediation, if any, shall be split equally, unless otherwise agreed. If mediation is unsuccessful, any unresolved controversy related to this agreement should be submitted to and settled by binding arbitration by the rules of the UK Courts Jurisdiction which are in effect at the time the demand for arbitration is filed. Notwithstanding the preceding, if your account is overdue (unpaid) and there is no agreement on a payment plan, I can use legal means (court, collection agency, etc.) to obtain payment. The prevailing party in arbitration or collection proceedings shall be entitled to recover a reasonable sum for lawyer's fees. In the case of arbitration, the arbitrator will determine that sum.
Limitations regarding online therapy:
Online therapy is proving to be as successful as face-to-face therapy. However, for severe Psychiatric disorders, I recommend that face to face services. understand that telephone/online psychotherapy is not a substitute for medication under the care of a psychiatrist or doctor and the pros and cons of both will always be discussed. You understand that online and telephone therapy is not appropriate if you are experiencing a crisis or having suicidal or homicidal thoughts.
