Confidentiality:

There is no component of counseling more important than client confidentiality.  Without client confidentiality counseling can never achieve the trust required for optimal effectiveness.  This confidentiality is every client’s right and also a professional responsibility.  In the majority of cases this is an uncomplicated point of agreement, requiring no additional attention.  There are, however, legal limits to confidentiality and it is important to outline them at the beginning of our process.

Generally, client confidentiality must be suspended whenever corporal risks become evident.  If you communicate active plans to commit suicide it becomes my ethical responsibility to help insure for your safety.  In certain situations this may require the breaching of confidentiality.  In addition to suicide these risks can also involve instances of physical abuse, sexual abuse and risk of violence.   While such risks are primarily focused on you, they can also concern other individuals being discussed in our work.  For example, if you communicate intent to harm another person or make me aware of another person in physical jeopardy, it becomes my ethical responsibility to help insure for that person’s safety.  Again, in certain instances, this may require breaching confidentiality.

Cancellation of Scheduled Appointments:

I hope you will make your counseling appointments a priority and arrange your schedule to attend regularly and on time. It is the sustained effort of regular attendance, more than work in any one session that promotes the long term changes being pursued.

Please appreciate time has been set aside and reserved especially for your appointments. Once scheduled, I make no other plans for the use of this time. As such, cancellation without prior notice does not allow for an alternative use of my time. For this reason, any cancellation or rescheduling of an appointment requires 24 hours advanced notice. Without such notice, I have little opportunity to reschedule my work and thus charge half the sessional fee for the missed session.

Session Length:

Our counseling work will be based on the 50-minute session.  After many years of experience and some experimentation with session length, I believe the 50-minute session is optimal with respect to counseling discussions.  Please make every effort to be on time for your appointments since late arrivals cannot be accommodated with additional time at the end of the session.  Remember the same expectation is maintained with all my clients, so that no one is inconvenienced by a late start to their appointment.

In terms of psychoanalytic work, the session length is 45 minutes.

Payment:

My services are not covered by OHIP and fees will be clearly outlined at the beginning of our process. My clinical credentials (Doctorate in Psychology and Master of Social Work), however, are covered by many third party providers (i.e. health plans and insurance policies). These are often found under the headings of ‘psychological services’ or ‘psychotherapy services’ in insurance policies. It is the client’s responsibility to ascertain whether my credentials and affiliations meet the pre-requisites of the particular policy.

Payment for service is made at the end of each session by cheque, e-banking deposits or cash. I will provide receipts unless otherwise directed by the client. If receipts require special notations for the third party billing then it is the client’s responsibility to direct me as to what information should be included. On-going negligence with regard to payment – more than two consecutive missed payments – will require me to review our service agreement and discuss the appropriateness of our working arrangement.

Written Documentation (reports, letters, administrative forms and etc.).

While written documentation of our work is not a primary service, on some occasions clients require it.  In such circumstances, the client and I will discuss the specifics of the documentation to better appreciate if I can offer the required input.  If my written documentation is agreed upon, by both the client and myself, the production of the required documentation is viewed as a professional service and charges are incurred.  With this provision of service, I prorate the charges to the sessional rate.  In circumstances that require less time (eg. administrative forms), I prorate the charge to 15-minute increments.

Phone Consultations:

Though phone consultations and discussions are not encouraged, in some instances they are necessary and help to address specific client needs. In such circumstances phone consultations and discussions are understood as part of the provision of service and charges are incurred. Again, in these circumstances, charges are prorated to the sessional rate.

Communication Technologies and Correspondence with Clients:

In terms of corresponding with clients through communication technologies (eg. emailing and text messaging), my standard policy is to limit such engagement to the setting and arranging of appointments. This policy is directed to two values. First, as highlighted above, confidentiality is a paramount concern in counseling and, with respect to text messaging and emailing, neither form of communication is completely secure. As such, confidentiality is made vulnerable in the use of such technologies. Second, the value I place on the integrity of the counseling work can best be attended to and evaluated in our face-to-face meetings. Thereby, the policy also encourages the counseling work to take place in the physical setting so as to better control the quality of our process.