Terms and Conditions:
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​Counselling Approach:
At Discovery Family Therapy, we believe that our clients have the desire and the capacity to grow towards fulfilling their true potential and that they are the experts in their lives. As such, we will not give you solutions but work with you to help you understand yourself more fully and find your ideas and answers. We will also help you develop skills and strategies to help you make positive changes. With greater self-awareness and trust in yourself, we hope you can make constructive changes, leading to a more satisfying and meaningful life. If you have needs beyond our practice scope, we will endeavour to help you identify appropriate referral options.
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Fees & Payment
The standard face-to-face or online consultation fee is $140.00 + GST per 50 minutes or $210.00 + GST per 70 minutes.
The couple or Family fee is $160.00 + GST per 50 minutes or $240.00 per 70 minutes.
NDIS fees are charged as per the current NDIS price guide.
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Discovery Family Therapy is not a psychology practice and does not offer bulk billing. Clients will not be eligible for partial Medicare or private health rebates.
Online, school and telehealth consultations must be paid for in advance using a major credit card or online debit card. Payment details will be included in your invoice.
Payment Options:
EFTPOS or Credit card is preferred. No cash is held on the premises; if you settle your account in cash, please ensure you have the correct amount.
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Sessions
The duration of a standard consultation is 50 minutes*. Time is allocated at the end of each session to complete your client notes. If you arrive late, the consultation will still end at the scheduled time to ensure other clients receive their allotted time allowance. The frequency of consultations is something you can negotiate with Discovery Family Therapy. However, weekly consultations are generally recommended at the outset.
*Unless an extended session has been booked.
Confidentiality:
Everything you share during therapy will be treated as highly confidential. However, there are a few circumstances in which it may be required to break confidentiality.
These include:
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If you are at risk of serious harm or seriously harming yourself or someone else
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If your counselling records have been requested by a court of law
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If another party or agency has requested your information, you have agreed to provide written consent.
Your counsellor will take notes during or after each session to help keep track of our progress. These notes will be stored in a private and secure location and may be viewed by you. The service will keep your counselling records for seven years from the date of your last contact with the service.
Record-Keeping:
All relevant information to your counselling services, including the forms you have filled in and notes for each session, are kept. These are critical to keeping track of your progress together and for accountability. These notes are stored securely for seven (7) years. You have the right to view the records kept upon request.
Contact Between Sessions:
Email or telephone contact will only be limited to practical arrangements, such as booking or altering session times or scheduled follow-up calls. Counsellors will not use telephone, online, or email counselling except by prior arrangement. If you face an emergency between sessions, don't hesitate to contact the appropriate emergency service. In a life-threatening situation, call 000 without delay.
Reviewing progress:
Goals will be defined for counselling and continuously reviewed to ensure our clients move towards accomplishing them.
If you wish to review your progress earlier or feel that you are not yet on track, please let me know, and we can change our strategy.
We will use a range of evidence-based therapies that suit your individual needs. However, if you feel that one style of therapy is not beneficial, we can discuss this further.
Parent Sessions:
If your child is receiving therapeutic sessions, we reserve the first session as a parent session and every six weeks thereafter. Parent sessions are full-paying and can occur face-to-face, online, or by telephone. To ensure confidentiality is not breached, parent sessions are used to create supportive strategies that can be used at home and school.
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Ending Counselling:
In general, the counselling relationship ends by mutual agreement. However, you can end your counselling service at any time. If you wish to cancel or change your appointment, please allow for at least 24 hours notice before your appointment. If you feel that our counselling is no longer appropriate, we can discuss and suggest discontinuation or a referral to a more appropriate service.
No-Show and Cancellation Fees:
Our counsellors have scheduled their day to ensure they are available for their clients. Please note that non-attendance fees and late cancellation fees will apply. Cancellation fees are now included to discourage last-minute cancellations and non-attendance.
·Cancellations with more than 24h notice have no cancellation fee.
·Cancellations with less than 24h notice will incur a 100% cancellation fee.
·Non-Attendance: Failure to cancel your appointment will result in a 100% no-show fee
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