CLIENT – THERAPIST AGREEMENT
THE NATURE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP
I want to commit myself to help you work diligently on getting over the situation you have come to resolve.
APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
When you make an appointment, I will do my very best to be there for you. I will expect you to also make the time with me of highest priority. When my schedule is busy, top priority will be given to clients who do not change their appointments often or without at least two working days’ notice.
If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so with as much advance warning as possible. I understand that last-minute emergencies make it impossible to cancel in a timely fashion. But in all other cases, please give me time to schedule someone else into the time slot you are vacating.
In counseling and psychotherapy it is customary to pay for reserved time. This is different than with a doctor or a dentist where you do not reserve a whole hour that someone else can use. Your reserved time is what you pay for, no matter how you use it. If you do not come, or if you cancel with less than 24 hour’s notice, it is not likely than anyone else can use the time. Unlike doctors and dentists, psychotherapists cannot keep clients in the waiting room to squeeze into any open minute or two. Unlike lawyers, we cannot do paperwork for which we can bill somebody.
So you will have to pay for the time unless someone else needs an emergency appointment and can come in at the time you vacated. This is only if you fail to come for your appointment or cancel with less than 24 hour’s notice. And keep in mind that insurance policies and HMO’s do not contribute to the cost of failed or cancelled appointments.
The exception to this cancellation rule is an emergency or illness. Those things prohibit advance cancellation. However, you still need to cancel if at all possible.
If you miss two appointments without canceling within the 24-hour limit, I schedule appointments only with advance payment.
Dick
Wulf, MSW, LCSW
Colorado
Springs, Colorado
(719) 520-8191
(Southern Colorado residents only please)