Welcome to Online Therapy Company.

Please read this document carefully as it forms a legally binding contract between you, as our patient, and your practitioner.

Contract of service between you and your therapist

When you attend sessions with us, our relationship will be legally governed by the terms set out in this document. This constitutes a binding agreement between you and your therapist and we recommend you read it before attending your first session.
If you have any queries about the agreement, your therapist will be happy to discuss this with you.
To revoke this contract, just write to us (by post or email) at any time.

Our treatment and consultations

At your initial consultation, we will start to discuss your issues and consider a possible diagnosis and treatment plan, however, to complete this process may take a couple of sessions. Your therapist will explain the benefits and risks associated with any treatment plan, as well as discussing any alternatives with you, including what is likely to occur without treatment.
Please ask if you have questions at any time about the information your therapist gives you.

Confidentiality

Therapy sessions rely on your ability to open up, in confidence, to share intimate and sensitive information with your therapist. To ensure this confidence, your therapist will never discuss you or
your case with any third party without your consent.

Written records and audio recordings

It is useful for you and your therapist to have some written record of your sessions to refer to. In some cases, audio recordings are also helpful. These are taken for the purpose of treatment
planning and clinical supervision.
All such information is kept securely, either under lock and key, or password protected. Audio recordings are destroyed when your treatment is complete. Other data, such as diagnoses, and
records of payment, are kept in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Exceptions to our confidentiality rules

Some circumstances may be excluded from normal confidentiality rules. These are:

1. If you threaten to harm another person, your therapist has a legal and ethical obligation to protect anyone they feel may be at risk. Subsequently, this may involve making contact with the person or people who are at threat. There may be situations that your therapist would be required to contact the police. For cases related to clients under the age of 16,
parental consent would be required first. If parental consent cannot be obtained, and your therapist believes it is in the child’s best interests, the appropriate child safeguarding services will be contacted to ensure that the correct procedures are carried out.
2. If you threaten to harm or pose a risk to yourself which leads your clinician to believe your threat to be serious that endangers you, then they are legally and ethically required to take the most appropriate course of action to protect you however they see fit. This may involve talking to you about going to A&E or accessing help from your GP, or if you are a severe risk then it might mean that the best course of action to protect you would be to have you placed in a hospital which may be without your consent or permission. It is likely that your clinician may need to contact and refer you to the crisis team or the police to keep you safe.
3. If your therapist suspects safeguarding issues whereby a child, elderly person, or incompetent person is at risk from abuse of a physical, emotional, financial, mental nature
or neglect, your clinicians has a legal obligation to report this to the appropriate organisation, for example, the safeguarding team, social services or the police. Your Practitioner has a duty of care to protect any dependable persons from being physically hurt.
4. If you have a court order to have psychotherapy or referred for an evaluation of your mental
state, the court may require a report from your therapist. You should provide us with any
court letters or orders so that we can determine exactly what the court wants to know. You
have the right to only disclose information you feel necessary; however, in some cases, we
will be required to share specific information with the court pertaining to your treatment
plan, progress and results reports.
5. In the event of court proceedings you may wish to tell the court about your psychological
issues if you are involved in a lawsuit or administrative procedure, such as an Employment
Tribunal. However, you should be aware that we may be required to share your records or
other information about your therapy in court.
6. We are legally required to provide any relevant information if Harley Therapy Clinic receives
a subpoena or a court order requesting your records.
7. If you want your health insurance to cover the costs of your psychotherapy treatment, it is
required that you sign a consent form giving Harley Therapy Clinic the right to disclose
certain information to the insurance company. Insurers will typically require a diagnosis,
treatment plan, and treatment summary to continue covering costs. They may also ask for
progress reports. Once an insurance company requests this information, it is no longer in
your therapist’s control who sees it. Insurance companies state that they will keep the
information confidential, but your therapist cannot guarantee this. Before sending any
information to third parties, your therapist will let you know what has been provided. We
will not release in-depth personal information regarding your treatment but if you do not
give the information required your treatment is unlikely to be funded.
8. To provide you with the most effective treatments, as part of their professionalism your
therapist may need to discuss your case with other mental health professionals, such as
their clinical supervisor. Practitioners meet with their clinical supervisor on a regular basis
throughout their career to maintain best prescribe procedures. If your clinician needs to
discuss your case with their clinical supervisor, or colleagues, this will be done solely with
your best interests in mind in order to provide the utmost treatment to you. Your identity
will always remain anonymous and the content of what is discussed will be treated with the
same level of confidentiality and respect. This will apply to all mental healthcare
professionals.
9. For family or couples’ therapy, your practitioner will request that everyone involved in this
process endeavours to ensure that what is discussed in sessions is kept confidential. We
request that anyone who takes part in the therapy process should not discuss what has been
said or done in their sessions with anyone who is not involved in this process. The only
exemption would be their own individual therapist if they have one. Although we ask for
everyone’s discretion, we cannot guarantee it.
10. If you book an appointment with more than one of our therapists, we will share your
information with the new therapist/s to ensure you receive the best care. If you do not want
us to share your information, please let your therapists know.

For psychological therapy and psychiatry sessions, our fees will be stated in your appointment
confirmation email. This fee will be for your initial 50-minute assessment. Other appointments will
be charged at the same rate, which may be applied on a pro-rata basis for longer or shorter sessions.
Family and couple sessions are charged at a higher rate.
Fees for other services, (such as reading or writing reports, phone calls exceeding 15 minutes,
attending meetings, consultations with other professionals upon your request, and preparation of
treatments or records), will incur the same rate as your therapy sessions.
Fees for litigation are £150 per hour for preparation and attendance at legal proceedings for
psychologists and psychotherapists. Psychiatrist fees will be quoted separately.

Making payments

Initial appointments must be paid for when you book, unless alternative arrangements are agreed
prior to this.
We will store your card details securely, and other appointments will be charged to the card details
on file on the morning of the appointment.
Any outstanding payments will be referred to our debt collection agents. This will incur a 15%
surcharge plus VAT. You will be legally liable to pay the surcharge and VAT, in accordance with the
Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. Interest will continue to accrue until
payment is made.

Insurance

Please check with your insurance provider prior to entering this contract if you wish to file a claim
for your sessions. If you attend sessions that are not covered by your insurance, you will be legally
responsible for paying.
Some insurers require pre-authorisation from us before they will help cover the cost of any
treatment.
It is your responsibility to check and monitor the terms of your insurance.
If your coverage runs out before your treatment is finished, we will endeavour to make other
arrangements with you. We may be able to offer reduced session fees in some cases, or we may try
to match you with another therapist who can complete your treatment.
Insurance companies do not cover missed sessions or late cancellations (i.e. less than 48 hours’
notice). In these circumstances, you will be billed directly. To prepare for this scenario, we ask clients
to pay 50p to pre-authorise their card, in case there are sessions that the insurance company will not
cover.

Missed appointments

Any appointment that is agreed, either verbally or in writing, is considered confirmed. If you cannot
attend any of your appointments, please notify us as soon as possible, either by telephone or email.
If you do not provide 48 hours’ notice, the full fee will still apply, and your card will be charged for
the appointment.
Remember that insurers do not provide cover for missed or cancelled appointments.

Contacting you

If we need to contact you for any reason, this will normally be by telephone. Your therapist or a
member of our clinical admin team will call you and leave a voice message if you are not available. If
not we may also email you.
We will not speak to anyone else about your treatment unless you have given permission.

Sharing information with your GP

In some cases, it is helpful to keep your GP informed of your treatment and for us to be able to
contact them if we need to. However, this is a private service and you have the right to decline
information sharing with your GP.
If medication is prescribed, it’s best we update your GP about this unless you can come up with an
alternative plan with your psychiatrist. To do this we will require your consent as set out below (in
the acknowledgement and consent section).
If you agree, a letter may be sent by email or fax to your GP or another referring specialist with an
outline of your condition, diagnosis, and recommended treatment. We may also update your GP
about changes in your mental health during your treatment.
It may also be necessary for the consultant to get details of your medical history from your GP. In
these cases, the consultant will ask for your permission again before doing so.

Complaints

In the first instance, please make your complaints in writing to help@online-therapy.company. We
will ensure your complaint is dealt with promptly and efficiently.
If, for any reason, we are unable to resolve your complaint, the next step would be to contact your
therapist’s professional body which will be one of the following:
• British Psychological Society (BPS)
• Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP)
• Royal College of Psychiatrists (RC Psych)

You will be made aware prior to commencing treatment, which professional body or bodies your
therapist belongs to.

Acknowledgement and consent

By signing this form or attending your sessions, you acknowledge that:
• We have discussed and clarified any questions you may have about this document.
• You understand and agree to abide by the policies detailed in this contract.
• You are aware that you can choose whether to share details of your sessions with us with
your GP.
• By attending appointments, you accept the client contract terms, as laid out in this
document.
Please complete the form below, including your signature and today’s date, to show that you
understand and accept the terms and conditions laid out in this contract. This forms a legally binding
agreement between you and Online Therapy Company.
You can save or print a copy of this document for your records.