Practice Policies

SOME IMPORTANT INFO

My Responsibilities to You as Your Therapist

• With the exception of certain specific exclusions described below, you have the absolute right to the confidentiality
of your therapy. I cannot and will not tell anyone else what you have told me, or even that you are in therapy with
me without your prior written permission. I may legally speak to another health care provider or a member of your
family about you without your prior consent, but I will not do so unless the situation is an emergency. I will always
act so as to protect your privacy. You may direct me to share information with whomever you choose, and you can
change your mind and revoke that permission at any time. You may request anyone you wish to attend a therapy
session with you.
• If you decide to communicate with me by email at some point in our work together, please be aware that email is
not completely confidential. All emails are retained in the logs of your or my internet service provider. While under
normal circumstances no one looks at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system
administrator(s) of the internet service provider.
• Please note: My administrative team and Medical Practice Billing Solutions (3rd party responsible for my practice’s
accounts) will have access to some of your personal information for administrative purposes only. My administrative
team and Medical Practice Billing Solutions have both signed a confidentiality agreement binding them to only use
this information for the purpose it was meant for.

The following are legal exceptions to your right to confidentiality. I would inform you of any time when I
think I will have to put these into effect.

• If I have good reason to believe that you will harm another person, I must attempt to inform that person and warn
them of your intentions. I must also contact the police and ask them to protect your intended victim.
• If I have good reason to believe that you are abusing or neglecting a child or vulnerable adult, or if you give me
information about someone else who is doing this, I must inform Child Protective Services within 48 hours and Adult
Protective Services immediately.
• If I believe that you are in imminent danger of harming yourself, I may legally break confidentiality and call the police
or the police crisis team. I am not obligated to do this, and will explore all other options with you before I take this
step. If at that point you are unwilling to take steps to guarantee your safety, I will call the crisis team. I keep very brief records, noting only that you have been here, what interventions happened in session, and the
topics we discussed. You have the right to request that I correct any errors in your file in terms of personal
information. I am not, by law, allowed to give you the notes made in your file. You however, have the right to request
that I make a copy of your file available to any other health care provider who is able to interpret the notes in the
correct way, at your written request. I maintain your records in a secure location that cannot be accessed by anyone
else.
• You have the right to ask questions about anything that happens in therapy. I’m always willing to discuss how and
why I’ve decided to do what I’m doing, and to look at alternatives that might work better.

Appointments and accounts

• Please note: If an appointment is not confirmed before 12:00 the day before the scheduled appointment, the
appointment will be cancelled.
• If an appointment is not cancelled and the patient did not show up or make arrangements, the patient will receive
a cash account for which they will be personally responsible.
• Accounts older than 90 days overdue will be handed over for collection.
• If you are a private patient, payments can be made via card or cash before the consultation takes place.
• Medical aid is accepted. When funds are depleted, you will personally be liable for any amount the medical aid did
not cover.
• If you are on a medical aid, you will be charged the medical aid tariff. If you are a private patient, you will be charged
at the rate agreed upon by the practice.
• You are responsible for coming to your session on time and at the time we have scheduled. If you are late, we will
end on time and not run over into the next person’s session.
• If a patient misses three consecutive sessions, any time slots allocated to them thereafter will be reallocated to
other patients.
Please note: The person who is allocated as the main member or as the person responsible for the account will be
personally liable for the accounts if the account was not paid by the patient or medical aid.

Emergencies

• For emergencies between 07:30 – 16:00 please call the office. After hours please call Vista Clinic: 012 664 0222
or Denmar Psychiatric Hospital: 012 998 6062/3/4/5.
• Messages will be retrieved at regular intervals.
• Always leave all your contact details when leaving a message.
• Should the assessment be that you are a danger to yourself, hospitalization may be considered.
• The Psychologist bears no responsibility should you follow a course of action that may harm you.
• By signing this contract you give full consent for this practice to communicate appropriately with other professionals
or with yourself via electronic media, i.e.: E-mail, sms, voicemail.

For remote sessions [skype, telephonic, instant messaging, e-mail]:

• Clients should complete and send back all the required paperwork, including this contract, prior to the session to
prepare the therapist and the client for the session.
• All payments are to be made prior to the session at the rate agreed with by the practice.
• Clients are responsible for making the call for the session. If unable to, the cost will be added to the invoice as per
service provider rates.
• This practice will ensure confidentiality as far as possible, however the client takes note that electronic media is
NOT a confidential medium.
• This practice does not invite or respond to invitations to participate in profile-based networks [Link IN, Twitter,
Facebook, MySpace, MXiT, WhatsApp] for confidentiality reasons.
• Where possible the Psychologist would like an established relationship with an individual before electronic sessions
take place.
• This practice will attempt as far as possible to check mails at least every second day.
• When the therapist is on leave – alternate arrangements will be made.
• Where possible please ensure an undisturbed space where you will be able to reflect and concentrate while taking
part in an electronic session.
• Please be aware that connectivity issues are rife – please have an alternative option available while in session
should the connection break.
• This practice does not respond to ‘please call me’ sms’s.
• By signing this contract, you give full consent for this practice to communicate appropriately with other professionals
or with yourself via electronic media, i.e.: E-mail, sms, voicemail.
I am fully aware of the contractual agreement between the Psychologist and myself. As such I agree to pay all costs on
the Attorney and client scale in the event of it becoming necessary to institute legal proceedings against me, due to the
failure to abide by the terms of this agreement. I also agree to undertake to pay all and any collection commissions and all
value added tax, should it become necessary to institute action against me for said non-payment. 

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– These posts were drafted by the practice of Dr Lieuwkje van der Merwe Counselling Psychologist and the content is based on selected information on numerous mental health topics. These posts have limitations as they were not designed for diagnostic or professional advice purposes, but rather with the objective to inform followers about certain aspects of mental health topics.

– Posts on this page should not be used to replace the specialized training and professional judgment of a health care or mental health care professional.

– Posts on this page may only be seen and used as information on numerous mental health topics and may not be used for any diagnostic or treatment purposes.

– Please always consult a physician or a trained mental health professional before making any decision regarding diagnosis or treatment of yourself or others.

– The views expressed on this page is of Dr Lieuwkje van der Merwe and not those of the Health Profession Counsel of South Africa (HPCSA).