Terms & Conditions
Psychological Therapy – Terms and Conditions
1 Duty of care to you
It is of utmost importance to Calm Together Ltd that you receive the best support possible & we will do everything that we can to ensure that you do.
In our experience, the key to successful therapy is the relationship that you will form with your therapist. We provide an initial free telephone consultation which is a chance for us to discuss the issues that you (and your family) are facing and to see if we can find a good relational fit.
Due to the complexity of the psyche and family dynamics it is not possible to draw absolute conclusions about the issues facing or the best course of action for families in a one hour consultation. The assessment process in therapy is always ongoing & together will continually review progress throughout therapy to ensure that I am providing you / your family with the best service possible.
Where you are considering Play therapy we offer no less than 6 sessions, please see Play therapy further information.
2. Confidentiality
All confidential information is held by Calm Together Ltd in accordance with the GDPR, 2018.
Everything that you discuss with us is confidential. Confidentiality will only be broken if there is concern about your safety or the safety of someone else or where we maybe instructed to do so by a Court of Law. We will always endeavour to speak to you about any breaches of confidentiality that we have to make as a result of “safeguarding first”.
We are required to discuss some of our clinical work with a supervisor this is in accordance with a number of regulatory bodies, such as UCKP etc. This is to ensure that we are offering you the best service possible. These conversations are bound by confidentiality & should we discuss your case in supervision any details will be anonymised.
Limited notes are also kept of each session. These are anonymised & are stored securely. These notes are for therapist use only & help us to keep a track of themes that are discussed in sessions. We are required by GDPR to keep these notes securely for seven years after your therapy comes to an end, after which they will be confidentially destroyed.
In line with GDPR you have the right to request sight of your session notes. Should you wish to view your notes while you are still in therapy please discuss this with us. If you would like to receive a copy of your notes at any time during the seven years that they will be held after your therapy comes to an end, please email info@CalmTogether.co.uk to make the request.
Please see also our Confidentiality, Data protection and Record Keeping Policy which can be found online at www.calmtogether.co.uk/our policies.
3. Appointments
Individual therapy sessions usually last for 50 mins/one hour, with the frequency being discussed and reviewed regularly by yourself and your therapist.
Longer sessions can be arranged but please speak with your therapist if you feel that this is something that may be of interest.
We try to stagger appointments by at least ten minutes, where appointments are in person, to try to ensure that you do not bump into anyone else in the building. We understand how essential discretion can be, we ask that you arrive for your appointments as close to your allocated time as possible. However should you be early or be waiting for a family member or child who is attending a session then you are welcome to use of reception area.
We ask that any parent or relative remain in the waiting room for the duration of the child’s appointment and that you do not wander about the therapy corridors. Privacy and confidentiality is of upmost importance to us.
We do not expect to have contact with you or your family outside of your therapy sessions, unless you need to reschedule / cancel appointments. If you think that you may need additional support the please speak with your therapist during sessions and we can think together about where you can find additional support.
In the case of systemic psychotherapy we may from time to time follow up sessions with an email offering our own reflections from our session together. You will be invited to reflect on these reflections, should there be something that resonates with you. You can also choose to ignore these reflections if they do not resonate. You are not expected to reply / respond outside of session times, or in fact at all.
Reflections are offered to help you to continue to consider issues or to make changes outside of the therapy session.
4. Low Cost Therapy – Student Placement
If you are accessing our low cost therapy, your therapist will be a trainee advertised on the Calm Together website and discussed during your initial free consultation.
It is important to note that any charges taken for low-cost therapy with trainees go towards supporting the trainees in their learning journey, maintaining their placement and paying for time for their case management supervision and oversight.
Many organisations may offer free therapy from trainees, usually this is through a public commissioned service. We do not as yet have any commissioned services through public sector funding, but recognise that there is a gap in privately funded therapy organisations for the option of a lower cost therapy opportunity and we strive to provide this through supporting trainees in their learning journey.
A part of their learning requirements students as asked to write about cases in order to demonstrate their continued learning and development and part of what we ask if you are accessing this service is that you are able to provide consent for the trainee counsellor/therapist to use anonymised information to support them in their studies. This will be discussed further at you initial assessment appointment.
In signing this agreement you understand the following;
-that your session will be held by a trainee under supervision
-that your trainee counsellor/therapist may use aspects of your anonymous case information in order contribute to their learning and development in written assignment, case studies.
-that they will discuss your anonymised case information in a supervisory context.
5 . Payment
Payment for your session should be made 48 hours prior to the session.
Session fees are charged at the rates posted on our booking portal;
- We offer a concession for furloughed, low income, foster carers, please ask for more details.
Payment are required 48 hours in advance of the planned session, in order to secure your appointment. Where funds have not cleared by this time the client should assume that the session will not go ahead and the appointment will be cancelled.
Appointment times cannot be kept open for you in the absence of payment.
All payments must be made through the online payment portal using the links provided by Calm Together and/or your therapist which will be sent directly to the provided primary email address.
6. Online Therapy
Security and Confidentiality – Online
Security and confidentiality is very important.In order to keep both of our information safe and confidential it is important that we take precautions with both physical and electronic Intrusions.
Physical Intrusion
We agree to manage any physical intrusion into our session by ensuring that we both use a private space where we will not be disturbed. Only those contracted to attend sessions should be present during our online time together.
Electronic Intrusion
We agree to using the most secure methods of communication including protected Wi-Fi, firewalls and virus protection being used by both parties.
Agree that NO sessions will be recorded either via video or sound. Either by the PC, laptop tablet or phone.
Should any client record sessions without express written permission then therapy will be terminated immediately. Client will be liable to pay for that session.
Therapist will not record any session in line with GDPR regulations, without express consent from the client.
Wewill use TEAMS as our primary method for the delivery of online therapy. We will agree to revert to telephone should these online platforms become unavailable or are unstable and pose challenges to communication.
Iwe ask that client remain aware of technologies such as Siri or Alexa, they are often “listening” and could likely cause a breach in confidentiality. I ask that client remove all devises such as this from the space where you would access therapy. Where you may have a listening devise on your phone I ask that this is disabled during sessions.
7. Code of Ethics and Professional Practice
Any therapy delivered in person or online is bound by the appropriate governing body ethics and standards.
As per Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (UKCP , BACP, BABCP) should your therapist become unable to continue to offer your therapy (due to ill health or significant changes in in circumstances). Calm Together will discuss this with you in order to explore possible alternative arrangements which might include the recommendation of another therapist.
You should note that this will be avoided where practical.
DBS – Al therapist working on behalf Calm Together have been through a safer recruitment process which include reference, qualification and police checking. We are committed to delivering high standards of safe ethical practice.
All of our therapist are also engaged in regular clinical supervision which is external to the organisation.
8. Making changes to your appointment
Amendments to booking can be managed through the online portal using the links provided when booking. Should you require any support with this you can contact us;
8. Cancellations
If you are unable to attend your appointment please let us know as soon as possible or use the booking portal to cancel your session.
We reserve the right to charge the full session fee for cancelled sessions, where two working days notice has not been given & for non-attended sessions, where no prior notice has been given.
Please note that for therapy to work, regular attendance is essential.
Where 48 hours notice has been provided the full session fee can either be refunded or transferred to your next booking.
We will endeavour to give you as much advance notice as possible should we for any reason need to cancel or amend any appointment.
9. Breaks in Therapy
For therapy to be effective regular & consistent attendance is essential. It is also important that we agree upon any planned therapeutic breaks. Breaks can often be needed in therapy to try out new skills or ideas gleaned from the therapeutic process.
We will endeavour to give you notice of any holidays that your therapist plan to take and ask that you try to do the same.
Please note as parents we try to work in conjunction with the school term and we are likely to take breaks or have reduced availability in school holidays.
10. Raising Concerns
We hope that your experience with CalmTogether Therapies & Wellness (Calm Together ltd) will be really positive.
Should you ever have any problems at all with the service that you receive from us, please let us know so that we can work together toward a solution.
Please also see our complaints policy online.
If you have any questions, with regards to our Terms and Conditions, please do not hesitate to contact me at Info@calmtogether.
Any complaints / disputes will be heard in the UK and be governed by the civil law of England and Wales.
11. Therapy Bundles
Any Therapy bundle purchased will provide you with a 10% discount on regular session fees. Bundles must be paid for “up front” and must used within a 10 week period.
Refunds– Should treatment be terminated prior to all sessions in the bundle being used, the standard session rate will be charged for sessions used in the bundle, any refunds will be the remainder of the amount paid.
As with all session times and dates of the session are to be arrange with your therapist after purchasing the bundle.