Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions of Service at Beo Clinical Psychology

Professional information

I am a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, registered with and the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI). I have regular supervision with a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and I abide by the PSI codes of practice. Copies of these codes are available to the client online and include procedures for making a complaint. Hopefully you won’t need to complain but if you do, please speak to me first.

Confidentiality

All sessions will be carried out in strict confidence. This confidentiality will be maintained for all our appointments and records except in the following instances:

Where the client consents for information to be shared with other agencies or health professionals involved in their care
Where the therapist is compelled by a court of law
Where the therapist is concerned about the safety of the client or others being at risk of significant harm.

In all instances please be assured that I would always seek to speak to you first before sharing anything about you. Where relevant I may share a copy of your reports and/or letters sent to your GP or other parties involved in your care. Any notes taken are stored in a GDPR compliant online practice management system. Any letters or other correspondence between us or with third parties will be encrypted with a password to protect your privacy and sent through an encrypted email server. Any emails sent to me are held on internet servers so I am unable to guarantee their confidentiality online. This means any sensitive information should be discussed in person, unless you decide otherwise. Full details of our data protection policy is provided for your information here.

Details of your next of kin and other professionals

It is a requirement for us working together that I have the name and contact details of your next of kin. I am also required to have the details of your GP and any other professionals working to support you e.g. social worker, psychiatrist. If you would like me to, I can send a brief assessment summary to your GP stating that we are meeting for sessions, copying you into this correspondence.

School or Education Details

If you or your child are attending education, I will ask for the name of the school or institution. It can sometimes be helpful for school to be aware of the support you/they are receiving. I will not contact school/university without your consent, however, if you wish me to inform school that you are receiving treatment at Beo Clinical Psychology, this can be arranged. My attendance at school meetings can be requested and will be charged at the therapy hourly rate.

Consent from parents/guardians

For children and teen engaging in therapy at Beo Clinical Psychology, it is best practice to have informed consent from both parents where both parents have parental rights. Acknowledging that every family situation is different, if this is not possible to get or request informed consent from both parents, we will work together to best manage such difficult circumstances. Of note, while parental involvement often boosts the efficacy of treatment for children, careful consideration of treatment planning will be supported where involvement of both parents in the treatment phases is not possible or is not in the best interests of the child.

Assessment Sessions

Assessment session take part in two individual 1.5 hours appointments (3 hours in total). Assessments include standardized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Questionnaires will be sent to you online for completion before we meet in person. A detailed assessment phase is important as it provides us with a unique opportunity to explore the challenges you’re currently facing, your history and your hopes for the future. I value difference and believe that understanding and reflecting on your own contexts is an important part of the work. These contexts include (but are not limited to) gender, race, sexuality, spirituality and religion. I recognize that people may have experienced oppression and discrimination, and these experiences could also be important for us to think about together. The format of the assessment phase is slightly different depending on whether you are seeking therapy with your child, teen or individually as an adult. The process is explained below.

Adult Assessments (individuals over 18 years):

If you are an adult seeking individual therapy, the assessment will explore your life so far, challenges you have faced and your strengths, how you cope and your general attachment style. We will explore the nature of the trauma/s that you wish to resolve in therapy. You will also be sent questionnaires to complete, which provide a “snap shot” of some of the difficulties you may be experiencing and their impact. Typically, the assessment is spread over two sessions. We will meet for two 90 minute sessions. The assessment and the initial questionnaires help develop and inform a detailed therapy plan for you.

Child Assessments

Child assessments take place over two 90 minute sessions. Parent/s or carer/s will be asked to attend the initial session alone without their child. This will give us a chance to explore dynamics within your family and explore your child and your own history. You will also be sent questionnaires to complete, which provide a “snap shot” of some of the difficulties your child may be experiencing and their impact. Your child will be invited to the 2nd assessment appointment. He or she will attend with you and you will be present in the interview. During this session we will give space to your child to share their experience of the life so far, games and art are used to help you child reflect. The assessment and the initial questionnaires help develop and inform a detailed therapy plan for your family.

Teen Assessments

Child assessments take place over two 90 minute sessions. Parent/s or carer/s will be asked to attend the initial session alone without their child. This will give us a chance to explore dynamics within your family and explore your child and your own history. You and your teen will also be sent questionnaires to complete, which provide a “snap shot” of some of the difficulties your child may be experiencing and their impact. Your teen will be invited to the 2nd assessment appointment. He or she will attend alone, unless they request that you are present with them. The assessment and the initial questionnaires help develop and inform a detailed therapy plan for your teen.

Therapy sessions

Following the assessment phase, we will discuss steps. If I can provide a service for you, we will develop a therapy plan. EMDR sessions are offered as 90-minute sessions to support effective processing and safe completion of each session. Therapy works best when there is a commitment to regularity in session, typically weekly. I usually meet clients at the same time each week. In some cases, I can offer flexibility around this depending on your needs.

On agreeing that we will work together therapeutically, we will decide on a specific time, such as 8 – 10 sessions, six months, a year, and so on. For some clearly defined difficulties (such as single-incident trauma), EMDR is often effective within six sessions on average. An approximation of session will be discussed following your assessment.

However, if you are limited by personal funding please let me know so we can priorities what to address in treatment. We will have regular reviews, usually every 8 – 10 sessions to check in on progress and direction of the sessions.

If following the assessment phase, therapy is not indicated or you or your child’s needs will not be best met by the services on offer at Beo Clinical Psychology, recommendations for other appropriate services will be provided. If it is thought that your needs might be better supported by another mental health professional, I will sign post you to other suitable services. If support with your physical health or medication is a priority I will write to your GP with your consent. If therapy provided by Beo Clinical Psychology is not indicated or suitable, you will be discharged from our service.

Payments

The fees are as follows:

Initial Consultation (30 minutes) = free

Assessment (3 hours) = €440

Therapy (90 minutes) = €220

Payment must be made by bank transfer prior to the session to the practice account, (please put your name and session date as reference). Payment details will be sent to you ahead of your assessment appointment.

Medical Insurance Holders

If you hold private medical insurance, please check the reimbursement level available for therapy from your policy provider. I can provide invoice receipts for you to send to your policy provider for reimbursement.

Cancellation Policy

If you wish to cancel or change your booked appointment, please do so by email. Appointment can be rescheduled at no additional cost if at least 48hrs notice is given. Cancellations within 24 hours incur half the fee and those cancelled with less than 24 hours notice or on the day will incur the full fee.

Late Policy

If you are running late, please let me know by text or email. Your time slot will not be given to anyone else so once you attend, we can work together for the remain time available in the session. Your session time won’t be extended as it is likely that there will be another person waiting after you and it is important for me to run a timely service. If you are late for your session, you will still be charged the full rate. Full details of charges are explained in the cancellation policy above.

Holidays

Beo Clinical Psychology operates on a primary school term-time calendar. I will give you advanced notice of any dates I am on holiday or otherwise absent, and will give at least 48 hours notice of any canceled sessions where possible.

Ending Therapy

When you want to end therapy, please do to let me know and we can then mutually agree a number of sessions to address and honour the ending of the relationship. An onward referral can be arranged where appropriate. When you end therapy, your file will be closed and your mental health care will no longer be the responsibility of Beo Clinical Psychology. If you terminate therapy before the agreed ending and/or you become uncontactable with phone or email, your file will be closed and therapy assumed terminate after a period of 30 days since the last contact.

Remote working

If we are meeting for an online call, please log on 5 minutes before our session, to check access to the link and that the signal is working. Find a safe place for our sessions where you won’t be disturbed (or will be relatively undisturbed). Please only take emergency calls during sessions.

We also agree that I will not record you, so please do not record me.

Contact outside of therapy

I do not engage socially with clients. Telephone, E-mail, text or WhatsApp communication is to be used to set up/cancel/notify about sudden changes to appointments only. These channels are not be used to discuss therapy content.

Mental Health Emergency Policy

What to do in a mental health crisis or emergency?

Beo Clinical Psychology does not provide an emergency service. Please be aware I do not offer advice or a crisis service outside our session time. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency during your appointment the following will be actioned

In your appointment, we will explore and seek to understand what may lead to a crisis and work to reduce distress to alleviate the emergency and prevent this in the future.
Your next of kin and if necessary your GP or emergency services will be contacted.

If you or your child are in need of urgent help with your/their mental health, by signing this contract you are agreeing to action the following:

Call emergency service 112 or 999 to request assistance
Call your GP or psychiatrist or Kdoc out of hours service +35345848701
Go to your nearest A&E department for a mental health assessment
If you or your child one has a safety plan please implement the plan