Our commitment to you
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is a vital part of our contract with you. We maintain high standards of security regarding any information about you and your treatment, ensuring that hardcopies are kept in locked cabinets and electronic information is held securely. We do not disclose any information about you without your permission and we do not routinely communicate with any other professionals involved in your care - if you would like us to become involved with any wider professional network that is currently supporting you, we are happy to discuss how this might be achieved.
Lisa Butler and Imogen Howse are HCPC Registered Clinical Psychologists and this means we follow the code of conduct set out by this regulatory body. As part of this code we adhere closely to our responsibility to ensure the safety of clients and the public at all times. If we become concerned about you or others close to you, then we have a duty to take steps to try to increase the level of safety observed. We always endeavour to do this with your full involvement. Julie Dickson is a Registered Psychological Therapist and complies with the code of conduct set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Missed appointments and cancellations
We require 24 hours’ notice to cancel an appointment without charge. Appointments cancelled within 24 hours of the start time or missed without notice will be charged at the full rate for that session. We understand that unexpected events happen and plans are disrupted however, we cannot guarantee to hold a specific appointment time for you if you have to cancel a number of appointments. If there are ongoing reasons that make regular attendance difficult then sometimes it is better to pause therapy and restart at a later date so that you can make best use of the sessions. This option can be discussed with your therapist if these circumstances arise.
Therapy session content and duration
Assessment sessions: During our first and sometimes second meeting your therapist will ask you questions about your current problems and your past life experiences, your goals and hopes for the future and other interventions you may have already tried. At the end they will share their initial understanding of your difficulties and discuss the possible treatment options, drawing upon the recommended treatments that might be appropriate and incorporating your own personal goals. After the meeting they can write a summary of the discussion and outline the treatment plan and send this to you for your records if this would be helpful. You may decide to embark on treatment immediately and book further sessions or you can take time to consider and explore your options.
Therapy session duration: These differ in length depending upon the type of therapy undertaken and the activity planned for each session. All trauma interventions generally include some longer sessions that are focused on the traumatic events themselves whilst other types of interventions are likely to last 50-60 minutes.
▪CBT, IPT, ACT and integrative therapy: 50 - 60 mins per session
▪Trauma focused CBT and EMDR: Preparation phase - 50 - 60 mins per session
▪Trauma focused CBT and EMDR: Active phase - up to 1 hr 20 mins per session
Length of therapy: The research suggests that most depression and anxiety problems can be treated within 12 to 16 sessions but it does depend on how long the problem has been experienced and the other demands and life events that you may be managing at the same time. Problems that started recently are usually treated quite quickly whilst recurrent problems or those that have been experienced for some time may require longer treatment or breaking down into manageable chunks that can be worked on separately. The number of sessions within your treatment plan will be discussed as part of the assessment session.
Fees:
The fee for each session will be discussed at your initial meeting but will fall within the range of £80 to £120 depending upon the services provided. We do offer a 30 minute initial telephone discussion free of charge to help decide what may be the most useful way forward in helping you to find ways of overcoming or better managing the difficulties you are facing.
Invoicing and fee payment: The first assessment session fee is due for payment within 7 days of completing the assessment and no further appointments will be arranged until this invoice is settled. Following this, you will be sent an invoice at the end of each calendar month for all sessions that have taken place during that month. This invoice must be paid within 7 days of receiving the invoice. If it remains unpaid after this date then therapy sessions will be temporarily put on hold until the invoice is cleared. If your fees are to be paid by medical insurance or another third party then we will discuss our payment terms directly with them and agree a schedule that suits both parties.
Contract
We ask you to sign this contract agreeing with these terms and conditions at the start of your work with us. Signing this contract also confirms that you have received, read and accepted the conditions contained within our Privacy Policy that will accompany the contract.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service then we hope that you will be able to raise this with us. You are welcome to speak with the psychologist or therapist who is not working directly with you if this would feel easier - you may contact Dr Imogen Howse by emailing her on clinpsych@hotmail.com.uk, Dr Lisa Butler on lisapsp1@gmail.com or Julie Dickson on julie@therapiesforwellbeing.com
If you are not happy with the outcome of any of these options, you can complain directly to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or to the NMC and there are instructions on each of their websites about how to make a complaint. Please see www.hcpc-uk.org/complaints/ or www.nmc.org.uk/concerns
If you believe there has been a data breach you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office – https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/report-a-breach/