Maria Aurora Psychotherapy

Welcome to my practice and congratulations on taking this important step toward well-being. This document contains important information about my professional services and business policies. Please read it carefully and jot down any questions you might have so that we can discuss them at our next meeting. When you sign this document, it will represent an agreement between us.  

Psychotherapy Services
Psychotherapy is not easily described in general statements. It varies depending on the personalities of the psychotherapist and client, and the particular issues you bring forward. There are many different methods I may use to deal with the problems that you hope to address. Psychotherapy is not like a medical doctor visit. Instead, it calls for a very active effort on your part. In order for the therapy to be most successful, you will have to work on things we talk about both during our sessions and at home.  

Psychotherapy can have benefits and risks.  Since therapy often involves discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, psychotherapy has also been shown to have benefits for people who go through it.  Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress. But there are no guarantees of what you will experience.  

Therapy involves a large commitment of time, money, and energy, so you should be very careful about the therapist you select. If you have questions about my procedures, we should discuss them whenever they arise.  If your doubts persist, I will be happy to refer you to another therapist or mental health professional.

Sessions
I normally suggest coming once a week in the beginning, however you will decide what type of time and financial commitment you can manage.  Sessions are 1 hour in length, unless we have both agreed to extend or reduce the length. Once an appointment hour is scheduled, you will be expected to pay for it unless you provide 24 hours advance notice of cancellation.  This is waived in the event of your illness or poor weather/driving conditions.

Generally sessions are held at my office, however under specific conditions, we may agree to telephone sessions.  All the boundaries around confidentiality, documentation, cancellation and fees outlined below still apply.  I do not under any circumstances conduct therapy sessions via email.

 

Professional Fees
My hourly fee is $90.00 (plus 13% HST).  I also offer a student and senior discount fee of $60.00 (plus 13% HST) per session. In addition to weekly appointments, I charge this amount for other professional services you may need, though I will break down the hourly cost if I work for periods of less than one hour. Other services include report writing, telephone conversations lasting longer than 15 minutes, attendance at meetings with other professionals you have authorized, preparation of records or treatment summaries, and the time spent performing any other service you may request of me. You will be expected to pay for each session at the time it is held, unless we agree otherwise.  Payment schedules for other professional services will be agreed to when they are requested.

 

Contacting Me
I am often not immediately available by telephone since I do not answer my phone while in session. When I am unavailable, I do have confidential voicemail that I monitor frequently and you may leave a message for me.  I will make every effort to return your call on the same day you make it, with the exception of weekends and holidays. If you are difficult to reach, please inform me of some times when you will be available.  If you are unable to reach me and feel that you can’t wait for me to return your call, contact your family physician or the nearest emergency room and ask for the mental health professional on call. If I will be unavailable for an extended time, I will provide you with the name of a colleague to contact, if necessary.  

Electronic Communications and Social Media
Most of our interactions will be face-to-face, in session.  I have also outlined here the other possibilities and limitations of how we may interact.  I do not conduct sessions via email, however that may be one way in which you elect to contact me for an appointment.  There may be specific circumstances where we agree to do a telephone session.  In both cases, all the boundaries around confidentiality, documentation, cancellation and fees outlined in this document remain the same.  You are welcome, but not required, to join my Facebook Page however I will neither accept or request to be 'friends' via my personal Facebook account.  You may also find me on LinkedIn and Twitter.  If you elect to follow me on any social media that I may be involved in professionally, understand that doing so is separate from this consent to receive therapeutic treatment and you may equally elect not to participate or end your connection without any repercussions to our therapeutic relationship; and you understand that I will neither accept or request to follow or add you as a contact.  Please refer to my Privacy Statement for additional information on how electronic information is handled.

Professional Records
The laws and standards of my profession require that I keep treatment records. You are entitled to view your records, or I can prepare a summary for you instead.  The notes are simply a record of the date of our appointment and an account of what transpired in the session.  As a psychotherapist I do not diagnose or interpret your actions, I simply observe and record them.  These notes are handwritten or typed and double-locked in my office.

 

Minors
If you are under eighteen years of age, please be aware that the law may provide your parents the right to examine your treatment records. It is my policy to request an agreement from parents that they agree to give up access to your records.  If they agree, I will provide them only with general information about our work together if they request it.  It is my intention to always include/inform you of any interactions I may have with your parent(s).  The only exception to this is if I feel there is a high risk that you will seriously harm yourself or someone else. In this case, I will notify them of my concern.

Confidentiality
In general, all communication between a client and a psychotherapist is confidential and I will only release information about our work to others at your request and with your written permission.  There are certain situations, however, where I am required by law to reveal information obtained during therapy to other persons/ agencies even if you do not give permission.  These are the situations:   If you threaten grave bodily harm or death to yourself or another I may inform medical or law enforcement personnel.  If you report to me knowledge of physical or sexual abuse of a minor child by an adult, or of an elderly or disabled person I am required to inform the appropriate agencies.  If you report the sexual misconduct of a mental health professional I am required to report it to the appropriate College.  If you become involved in a legal case (child custody, civil suit, etc.) I may be required to produce records or testify.   I will do everything I can to keep your records confidential but sometimes it may be out of my control to do so.

These situations have rarely occurred in my practice. If such a situation occurs, I will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action, unless doing so puts yourself or someone else at risk .  I may occasionally find it helpful to consult other professionals about a case. During a consultation, I make every effort to avoid revealing the identity of my client. The consultant is also bound to keep the information confidential. If you don’t object, I will not tell you about these consultations unless I feel that it is important to our work together.  While this written summary of exceptions to confidentiality should prove helpful in informing you about potential problems, it is important that we discuss any questions or concerns that you may have at our next meeting.