Fees and Policiess
It is important that we both agree on guidelines for our meetings before we start our work together. These guidelines pertain to confidentiality, structure of our appointments, response to emergencies and office policies with respect to payments and cancellations.
CRISES AND EMERGENCIES
Unfortunately I might not be able to respond to emergencies right when you call.
We will work hard to identify your difficulties and to develop crisis plans that would assist us with prevention of such emergencies.
If you are a person at risk of suicide, we need to involve someone close to you in our safety planning and conduct at least one joint appointment so that this person can have a better understanding of what type of assistance works the best for you and what is expected of them. In such situations, I also need to be in close communication with your doctor in order to ensure that we remain well coordinated to ensure your safety while we are working on some tough issues in therapy.
You can contact me by text, email or phone to request an urgent appointment. When you do so, please indicate that an urgent appointment is needed and give me an idea of your availability. Please note that if you leave me messages that might indicate that you might be at a high risk of suicide and fail to respond to my call, I will have to call the police to conduct a mental health check.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Your confidentiality and privacy are important. However, I have to keep records of our appointments. These records are kept locked and are released only to persons or service providers that you identify in a written consent form. Your records will not be released without your written consent unless they are subpoenaed by a court. You have the right to be given a copy of your records but in such circumstances I ask that you sign a form confirming that you have received a copy of your records and assume full responsibility for the manner in which these copies will be used.
Your confidentiality may be broken when there is a risk that you may cause physical harm to another person, you are at high risk of ending your life or there are reasons to suspect child abuse. The sharing of information in the above circumstances is limited to what is necessary in order to ensure safety.
FEES AND PAYMENTS
My fee is $150 per appointment that usually lasts about one hour. This fee should be paid at the end of each appointment. At the office, you can pay by cash, cheque, credit or debit. Persons accessing online appointments will be billed by e-mail using a Square Up system. Square Up allows you to pay using your credit or debit card as you would for any online purchase. It also generates an immediate proof of payment.
Please check the extent of your insurance coverage. You can use this form letter to help you with your inquiry. In some circumstances, we can defer the payment for up to a month until you receive your reimbursement.
It is understood that you will be responsible for any outstanding fees that may not be covered your insurance. This is an important consideration as many insurance companies cap the amount for which you are eligible. In order to keep my fees relatively low, I have to assign the job of dealing with your insurance to you. If you hope to be reimbursed by them, please ensure that you are covered for psychotherapy or counselling that is delivered by a registered social worker with a master’s degree.
I generally do not charge cancellation fees but please keep in mind that I need at least 2 days notice to be able to offer the appointment time to someone else. A person who cancels more than three appointments will be asked to pay for an appointment before a booking is made and this payment will not be reimbursed if they fail to show up. There is no penalty for emergency cancellations provided that this is not a frequent occurrence. Unjustified late same day cancellations and unjustified no shows will be charged at a full rate.