Frequently asked questions.
What is your cancellation policy?
Cancellation policy: Your session time is reserved just for you. A late cancellation or missed visit leaves an empty session in the therapists’ day that could have been filled by another client. Clients who provide less than 24 hours’ notice for a cancellation will be charged 50% of the session fee. Clients who miss their appointment (after 15 minutes has passed it is considered a missed session), will be charged the full fee.
Do you offer a sliding scale?
No. At this time I am unable to offer a sliding scale. It can be tricky to find someone who offers a sliding scale. I would suggest looking at larger practices that may have students offering low-fee sessions, or have a greater capacity to offer a sliding scale in general. Your local GP office may also know.
What happens in a 15-minute consultation?
Consultations are not a therapy session. During this time I will ask you to briefly explain what has led you to seek counselling. I may also ask a few other questions to determine if my skills are the right fit. I’ll provide you with important information about my practice to help you decide if I AM the right fit for YOU. You will also have an opportunity to ask me some questions. Basically, we will get to know each other, I will give you an overview of my practice, and we will decide together if we’re the right fit.
What does an initial session look like?
Before I meet with a new client, I will send out a new client intake which takes about 10-20 minutes to complete. The intake includes a wide variety of questions about your medical and psychological history, as well as our clinic’s policies and an informed consent form. At the beginning of our initial session together, I’ll go over informed consent with you, and ask any questions I may have about the information in your intake. You’ll also have an opportunity to clarify anything from your intake and ask me any questions you might have. When we get into the “therapy” part of the session, I will mostly listen and ask clarifying questions during this session as I get to know you. After all, you are the expert in your life. We will end our session with an “action plan”, a mini goal to complete between sessions.
I heard CBT counsellors make you do homework…
We call this an “action plan”! To get the most out of your investment in therapy, CBT counsellors will often work collaboratively with you to create an action plan at the end of each session. We then start each session by reviewing the previous action plan. Action plans are mini goals that help you get closer to your preferred future. When action plans don’t work, we review them together, determine what went wrong, and come up with proactive strategies to overcome those challenges next time.
Are your emails/texts secure?
We use Hushmail to encrypt all emails that we send to you. To learn more about Hushmail, click here. Anything sent to you (via text or email) through our practice management system, Jane App, such as appointment reminders, is not encrypted.
Text messaging is never encrypted.