Therapy and Wellness Coaching Agreement and Terms and Conditions
Please read the contract carefully as it provides practical information about attending therapy and coaching sessions.
Please note the following key points:
- Payment in advance of sessions is required. Details about fees can be found at https://composurepsychology.com/fees/
- Our therapists/coaches are recognised healthcare providers with most health insurance companies.
- We advise you confirm coverage of clinical psychology fees with your insurer prior to your first session.
- Our process is to accept your payment and provide an invoice for you to submit to your insurer.
- Some insurers require regular progress reports or form completion. Fees for these can be found here https://composurepsychology.com/fees/
- Therapy and coaching appointments (sessions) are usually 50 minutes in length
- Please contact us as soon as possible to advise if you need to rearrange or cancel an appointment so the appointment may be offered to someone else in need of support.
- Appointments cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled appointment time and non-attended appointments will be charged at the full price.
- Your sessions remain confidential between you and your clinical psychologist/coach
- ComposurePsychology takes all reasonable steps to hold your information securely within General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ISO compliant systems.
Client Agreement
The therapy and wellness coaching contract is between you, Composure PS Ltd (T/A ComposurePsychology) and your therapist/coach who is a fully accredited and appropriately qualified psychology practitioner.
Please read the contract carefully as it provides practical information about attending therapy and coaching sessions.
By submitting this agreement online through our secure system, ticking the box stating you accept this agreement, emailing acceptance of the therapy and coaching agreement, signing the therapy and coaching agreement or attending sessions, the document will constitute a binding agreement between you, ComposurePsychology and your therapist/coach.
Confidentiality
Psychological therapy and coaching often involves talking about sensitive and personal information relating to your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Your right to privacy is paramount and anything you do share with your therapist/coach will remain confidential between you and them.
Usually, the more open and honest you are during therapy and coaching, the more the therapist/coach will be to be able to help you, though we do understand that some people take longer than others to feel safe and ready to disclose important information.
All psychology practitioners are bound by their professional codes of conduct as defined by their accrediting organisation.
Exceptions
There are some exceptional situations in which your therapist/coach can break confidentiality without your consent though they would normally always attempt to speak to you beforehand. The exceptional circumstances are;
- Where there are serious concerns for your safety.
- Where there are serious concerns for the safety of others.
- Where there are serious concerns for the health, welfare or safety of children or vulnerable adults.
- Where a therapist/coach is compelled by a court of law.
Other situations for which you will be asked if you wish to grant consent for disclosure of information about you and your therapy or coaching.
When referred
If you have been referred to our practice by a third party such as a psychiatrist or your employer our therapist/coach may provide brief reports to the referrer about your treatment or coaching plan. This would usually involve a minimum of an update acknowledging acceptance of the client, and where therapy rather than wellness coaching is being contracted, a short summary of assessment and a treatment plan near the beginning of therapy and a summary of outcome and progress once the therapy has concluded. Please advise if there is any specific information you do not wish to be disclosed. We will always endeavour to gain your approval of any correspondence for sending it to a referrer.
Sharing information with your GP and Psychiatrist
For some clients, it is helpful to keep their GP and or Psychiatrist informed of the treatment they are receiving. For instance, your therapist may wish to gain your medical history or liaise with you GP/Psychiatrist so that you are supported by a multi-disciplinary team approach. However this is a private psychology and coaching service and you have the right to decline information sharing with your GP/Psychiatrist. We will always ask for your permission before contacting your GP/Psychiatrist.
Sharing information with your healthcare insurer
If you plan to use health insurance to cover the costs of therapy or coaching sessions please note that insurers generally require us to submit a diagnosis, treatment plan and treatment summary. They may also request progress reports. Please remember that once an insurance company requests this information, it is no longer in your therapist/coach’s control, who views the information. The therapist/coach will discuss the contents of the reports with you prior to their release. Please note that if you do not consent to release the information the insurer has requested, they are unlikely to fund your treatment. For more details regarding paying for therapy or coaching through insurance please see the payment and insurance section below.
Online Therapy/Coaching and Internet
You should do all you can to find a private and undisturbed place for your sessions. If you feel confident that you cannot be overheard, you are more likely to be able to fully engage in the session. You may need to be creative about finding confidential space, perhaps even sitting outside in the car, if you have one. Please ensure that any vulnerable and child members of your household have adequate care and supervision for this time. If this is not possible, we may need to review the suitability of the service we are able to offer though we will always endeavour to help you find a solution.
You are responsible for the security of your devices, including using password-protection and regularly updating any virus-checkers and firewalls installed. Please discuss any concerns with your therapist. As far as is possible, your therapist/coach will ensure that the devices used are safe and secure.
If connection is lost due to technological difficulties, your therapist will always attempt to re-establish the connection. If this is not possible, your therapist/coach will contact you by an alternative method (such as email or phone) to either continue the session or reschedule.
You agree not to make any kind of recording of sessions conducted by phone or video-link.
Therapy/coaching sessions may feel more informal when you are in your home environment. To prepare for and ensure an optimum experience the following steps are recommended:
- Turn off other devices (such as phones, TV) during our session to minimise distractions.
- Set up a space where you can sit comfortably for the entire length of the session. Ideally you should set up your device so you can use it hands-free while you remain clearly visible, with adequate lighting, without having to make adjustments as you talk.
- Where possible, keep all sensitive and personal material for the session itself.
Social Media
Your therapist/coach is unable to accept invitations from you on any form of social media.
Alcohol or Drugs
Clients are required to be sober when they attend therapy/coaching. A session will not start or will be stopped part way through if you are believed to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This is for both youh and your therapist/coach’s protection and concerns matters relating to client risk, disclosure (later unwanted), confidentiality breach (unwittingly), maintaining boundaries and therapy/coaching effectiveness. Full fee for that session will be charged.
Dress Code
Clients are required to be fully dressed when they attend therapy/coaching sessions including during online therapy. A session will not start or will be stopped part way through if you are believed to be naked or in underclothing only. This is for both your and your therapist/coach’s protection and concerns matters relating to client risk, disclosure (later unwanted), maintaining boundaries and therapy/coaching effectiveness. Full fee for that session will be charged.
Supervision
Clinical psychology practitioners are required by their profession to have regular supervision sessions where they reflect on and discuss aspects of their clinical work so that they maintain a high standard of service. Your therapist/coach does not reveal their clients’ identities during these sessions and the supervision sessions are also bound by confidentiality standards; the supervision is confidential between the therapist/coach and supervisor.
Clinical Will
In the event of your therapist’s unlikely death or sudden illness, leaving them unable to contact you, the therapist/coach has appointed the founder of ComposurePsychology, Dr Janine Hayward as Therapeutic Executor who will take care of contacting you. Janine is a qualified clinical psychologist who adheres to the same HCPC and BPS ethical framework as your therapist/coach. Janine will access your contact details in an emergency, and discuss with you, appropriate onward arrangements. In the event Janine is your therapist/coach and unlikely death or sudden illness befalls her, she has appointed a Therapeutic Executor who will contact you on her behalf.
Record keeping and your data
Psychology practitioners keep brief notes on your sessions that include the dates you met, topics covered, your goals and the difficulties you may be experiencing. We may also ask you to complete questionnaires specifically relating to your difficulties, at intervals during your therapy/coaching and to provide feedback about the effectiveness of our services. These allow us to together monitor how the therapy/coaching is progressing and to ensure we are continuously improving our service.
Please refer to Composure Psychology’s privacy policy (available on our website https://composurepsychology.com/privacy-policy/ for details about how we look after your data.
In summary:
We hold the contact information you or referrer provides, the information you provide about factors that can influence the difficulty you are seeking support for (often collected initially through a form and then during sessions), brief session notes, relevant completed questionnaires, feedback we receive from you and brief related supervision notes.
This data helps us to work with you safely and effectively, communicate with you to arrange therapy/coaching, enable effective treatment options to be agreed and delivered, process payment and liaise with relevant third parties to manage risks and support your treatment.
ComposurePsychology takes all reasonable steps to hold your information securely within General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ISO compliant systems. When you stop being a client with us, usually after your last treatment or last contact, we will keep your data for at least seven years and up to a maximum period of ten years in accordance with General Medical Council guidelines. We will not use, sell or disclose your information for any other purpose than those stated in this and the privacy policy without your consent unless required to by law.
Length and frequency of appointments.
Therapy and coaching appointments (sessions) are usually 50 minutes in length (some 30, 90 and 120 minute sessions are available for specific appointment types such as pre surgery assessments, child assessments or follow up). Appointments, typically take place on a weekly basis and where possible occur at the same time each week. Protecting and prioritising the time you have set aside to attend appointments and being on time is a commitment; a commitment that creates time for you to focus on you and your therapeutic and coaching needs.
At the beginning of therapy or coaching, following an assessment (usually completed over the first one to three sessions) and once a treatment or coaching approach is agreed with your therapist/coach, it is helpful to agree a regular attendance time and identify any times when you will not be able to attend. Your therapist/coach will also let you know of any dates when they will not be available.
Duration of therapy/coaching
Duration of therapy/coaching varies in line with the individual clients’ needs, the treatment/coaching plan and the evidence-based treatment approach that the client and therapist/coach agree to apply. The duration also depends on whether the client wishes to gain help with one or more main difficulty or goal, whether these need to be addressed in parallel or if you wish to continue with a second set of sessions to focus on another difficulty / goal once a first is no longer causing significant distress or has been achieved.
Short term therapy/coaching often has a specific focus and allows you a safe space to gather your thoughts, bring factors you may not have considered into your awareness so that you can move forward with an activity or decision, or lower your distress and better manage an uncomfortable situation.
Longer term therapy/coaching can also have a specific goal to provide support through a complex or lengthy difficult event or enable a safe space to explore your life as a whole. This usually involves growing your sense of identity, new perspectives and understanding of past experiences and their influence, and developing self-awareness of beliefs, feelings, and habits that may be getting in the way of you experiencing wellbeing or what you would like to achieve. Longer term therapy/coaching can help you learn and practice new mental health strategies such that you lower distress, increase your function, better manage physical and emotional pain and increasingly live a life in line with what is important to you.
Most evidenced based treatments involve between 6 and 24 sessions (following an assessment of one to three sessions) depending on the difficulty they are designed to treat. Some clients prefer regular sessions beyond the initial treatment period to boost or refresh the mental health skills and strategies previously learned during short term therapy/coaching or to strengthen a mental health skill such as resilience or compassion. While booster or skill development sessions may not be your preference, for others they are like having a tennis coach; except instead of improving tennis prowess you are improving your psychological flexibility and mental health skills.
Monitoring progress and ending therapy/coaching
For all treatment/coaching plans, our therapists/coaches will agree regular reviews with you, usually at every sixth session, where part of the session is focussed on discussing whether you are continuing to gain benefit from the therapy/coaching, if the treatment plan needs to be revised in any way and to confirm when the end of therapy/coaching is likely to be as discussed when you first agreed the treatment/coaching plan.
Therapy/coaching is a process and comes to an end naturally as an agreement between the client and the therapist/coach. The review approach helps you to always retain control and avoid becoming dependent on therapy/coaching. You are free to end therapy/coaching at any stage and we ask that two weeks notice is allowed so that the process of closure can take place.
Payment and Insurance
Payment in advance of sessions is required. Details about fees can be found at https://composurepsychology.com/fees/
Payment methods
We accept payment by online bank transfer BACS, debit or credit card (through Stripe). Links are provided on the invoices sent to you or the person paying for your sessions.
Alternatively, you may choose to pay for a set of sessions in advance to reserve your booking or take advantage of a promotional package.
Payment through Insurance
If you intend to use private healthcare insurance, our therapists/coaches are recognised healthcare providers for most insurance providers. Please check with us if the clinical psychologist you wish to work with is recognised with your insurer.
Our process is to accept your payment and provide an invoice for you to submit to your insurer.
Prior to your first session, we advise you to confirm with your insurer the details of your coverage for clinical psychology fees and secure your claim authorisation code.
Some insurers require regular progress reports or form completion. Fees for these can be found here https://composurepsychology.com/fees/
Cancellation and missed appointments
Please contact us as soon as possible to advise if you need to rearrange or cancel an appointment.
Appointments cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled appointment time and non-attended appointments will be charged at the full price.
Please note that if you are running late for your appointment, the full session fee will be charged and the session will not be extended beyond the original timeframe agreed as this would impact other clients.
In turn, we too will provide you with as much notice as possible if the therapist/coach you are scheduled to meet is unwell or we need to cancel/reschedule one of your appointments (usually a rare occurrence).
Complaints procedures
Please note that the work being undertaken is in accordance with UK laws and any disputes will be subject to it. The only exception to this is where your therapist/coach is based outside of the UK and as such the work undertaken will be subject to the law of the country in which they are based. If you are unhappy with the therapy/coaching you are receiving or with any other aspect of your contact with ComposurePsychology and its Associates, please endeavour to speak with your therapist/coach in the first instance. If you would prefer to discuss your concern with someone else, please let us know by contacting the Director of ComposurePsychology Dr Janine Hayward on janine@composurepsychology.com and using the Subject heading: CONCERN.
All of our therapists/coaches are subject to the complaints procedures of their respective professional governing organisations such as the British Psychological Society (BPS) and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Disclaimer
All content of Composure PS Ltd (T/A ComposurePsychology) websites is for general information only. ComposurePsychology will not be held liable for your use of the information and accepts no responsibility for any decisions made or for any loss, damage or injury caused based on or deriving from the use of any information found on our websites. The content of our websites is not to be used in the diagnosis or treatment of any psychological conditions, nor is the information to be used to replace the services of a trained and qualified mental health professional. The useful links to other websites are provided only as courtesy, resource or reference and do not imply ComposurePsychology’s approval of these websites, their services or products. The information contained on any linked website, does not reflect the opinions, policies or standards of ComposurePsychology. The copying, distributing and/or publishing of all or part of the content of our websites is prohibited.
