Terms and Conditions

All therapy and assessments will be carried out in a professional and ethical manner complying with British Psychological Society guidelines.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will comply with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies recommendations and will be based on empirical guidelines.

Medico-Legal Assessments

All assessments and reports will be conducted for the benefit of the court, rather than the Individual or the engaging solicitor.

All assessments and reports will be based on the expert knowledge of the Consultant Clinical Psychologists.

The Consultant will only base their expert opinion on information provided by the engaging party, the court and the Individual. The Consultant will not be liable for information not received or misrepresented.

Fees are based on the time taken to assess the Individual, to form an expert opinion and present that in written or oral form, rather than the opinion its self.

Upon engagement the engaging party, as in the solicitor from whom the instructions come, will be liable for all fees, although it is understood that these fees in most cases will be claimed by the engaging party from some other source.

Fees will be agreed by the engaging party and the Consultant Clinical Psychologist prior to the assessment being carried out. Once the assessment has been carried out it will be assumed that a contract has been agreed between the Consultant and the engaging party.

Fees agreed must be paid within a reasonable amount of time, given the original agreement between the engaging party and the Consultant. Reasonable is defined as no more than six months after agreed time scale, following submission of the invoice to the engaging party. Where cases take considerable time to reach settlement the engaging party will be expected to make interim payment to the Consultant.

Unless the engaging party makes it clear from the outset that settlement of fees will take longer than six months, it will be assumed that payment of fees will be recieved within six months of invoice date.

Pilgrim Psychology Services claims the right to pursue all payments not made within a reasonable time through the courts.

Instructions for the Consultant must be accompanied by copies of relevant medical records,  and relevant reports by other experts.  Instructions must clearly state the reason for the assessment and the time scale in which the consultant’s opinion needs to be received.

After receipt of instructions the Consultant will make an appointment for assessment with the Individual, and send a copy of this to the engaging party.  The Consultant will also send the engaging party a copy of these terms and conditions and an estimate of fees likely to be incurred.  If the Consultant does not hear further from the engaging party it will be assumed that a contract is in place and that the fees will be met.

Should the Individual fail to attend their assessment appointment, the Consultant will charge the engaging party for the time allowed for that assessment, at the current hourly rate, in most cases this will be an hour and a half. If the Individual cancels within 48 hours, the fee charged will be 50% of this rate. Cancellations prior to 48 hours of the appointment date will not be charged.

Court appearances required by the consultant will be charged at a daily rate based on 6 hours of the Consultants time, charged at the current hourly rate. Travel time will be charged at 50% of this rate and mileage will be charged at the current Inland Revenue rate. Any expenses incurred in order to attend the court, such as hotel accommodation, will also be charged to the engaging party.

Once the Consultant has confirmed availability for Court dates, in writing, it will be assumed that the fees charged will be incurred by the engaging party. If the Court dates are cancelled or the Consultant is no longer required the fees will still be charged, minus the travel time and travel related expenses, unless the Consultant is notified prior to one week before the scheduled dates, in which case no fees will be charged.

Therapy

All therapy will be delivered to the best of the Consultants expertise and ability, and the Consultant will enter into a commitment to help the Individual to overcome the agreed difficulties.

Therapy will be discreet and confidential.  However, where the outcome of therapy is relevant to the interests of a third party, for example the courts, information on progress may be released to that third party with the Individuals consent. In some instances the Consultant may feel that other parties involved in the Individuals health need to be aware of current problems, again with the Individual’s consent the Consultant may then share this information.

All therapy sessions will be last for approximately one hour, allowing for the occasional need to overrun by 5 to 10 minutes, or alternatively under run due to the stage reached by the individual during the session.  However, where it is agreed during the session that the session need to continue for longer than one hour, it could be extended to a total of two hours.

Therapy sessions will be charged at the current hourly rate for therapy, and in cases where the session is extended by agreement this extra time will be charged by the half hour.

Individuals funding their own therapy will be expected to make payment prior to or at the beginning of each session, or to provide credit/debit card details so payment can be taken, unless it has been agreed that the Individual will be invoiced afterwards.   In these cases the Individual forms a contract with the Consultant to pay the therapy fees.

Individuals being funded by a third party, will need to provide evidence that the third party will cover the therapy fees, or be referred by the third party.  The third party will then be invoiced at regular intervals during the therapy and the Consultant’s contract will be with the third party and Terms and Conditions, as stated for medico legal payments relating to payment within a reasonable time will apply. 

In most instances a deposit of  £50 will be required for Individuals, when an appointment is booked.  This deposit will be claimed by the Consultant should the Individual  cancel an appointment within 48 hours.

Individuals who fail to keep an appointment without prior notice will lose their deposit and be liable to pay the remainder of the full hourly rate.

Individuals who cancel an appointment with 48 hours notice or more will not lose their deposit and will be entitled to make a new appointment, leaving the deposit in place, or may have a refund if desired.

Where Individuals are being funded by a third party this deposit may be wavered on agreement with the third party, however failed appointments will be charged at the hourly rate and appointments cancelled within 48 hours will be charged at £50.

For face to face therapy, Individuals may make payment by cash, cheque, credit/debit card or bank transfer. 

For online or phone therapy Individuals must make payment by credit/debit card unless otherwise agreed.

Individuals may withdraw from therapy at any time and are under no commitment to complete the agreed course of therapy. 

The first therapy session will be an assessment of the Individuals difficulties and background.  At the end of this session the Consultant will discuss with the Individual the desired outcomes from therapy, setting measurable goals which the Individual wants to achieve.  The Consultant will also give the Individual an estimate of the number of therapy sessions likely to be required to achieve their goals.

Should a report be required from this assessment then this report will be charged at the hourly rate which will depend on the length of report agreed, e.g a two page report may take one hour to complete.  An invoice will be sent with the report and again must be paid within a reasonable amount of time.

Therapy will then proceed, unless a third party is involved, in which case therapy may be delayed until agreed funding is in place.

Therapy will mostly be based on Cognitive Behavioural Principles.  Sessions will be for the most part at weekly intervals, certainly initially, unless otherwise agreed with the Individual.  As therapy progresses the length of time between therapy sessions may be extended.

The Individual will be expected to make a commitment to be involved in the process of therapy, to apply principles learnt and to work hard at achieving their goals, with the Consultant’s guidance.  Cognitive Behavioural Therapy involves Individuals  in completing written and practical exercises in between sessions.  This forms a valuable part of the therapy process and Individuals will be expected to try to complete all agreed exercises.  These exercises and their outcome will be discussed at the following session.

Therapy will finish when the Individual has achieved their goals, or if the Individual decides to end therapy before then.

At all times the therapy process is negotiated with the Individual and it is the Individual’s responsibility to make the Consultant aware of any concerns or difficulties they have with the process.  It is expected that the Individual will be as honest and open as possible with the Consultant, in order to achieve maximum benefit.

The Consultant retains the right to end any therapy session, without loss of fees, should the Individual be intoxicated, under the influence of mind altering substances; be abusive, violent, engage in inappropriate behaviour or use offensive or inappropriate language.  It will then be at the Consultant’s discretion whether a further appointment is offered.

The Consultant retains the right to refuse to engage in therapy with any Individual, or to assess any Individual where that Individual’s difficulties are outside the Consultant’s area of expertise or ability to deliver that therapy.

Generally these are the same as those for therapy, and differences are due mainly to the packages agreed rather than any intent.

Agreed packages must be paid for weekly, prior to the start of that week’s package.  Once a weeks package has been agreed it will be assumed that the package operates as a whole, and refunds will not be given on the basis of only half a package being received, unless this is caused by the Consultant.  In this case the Consultant will offer the remaining aspects of the package to be carried forward, or agree a partial refund.

As with therapy a deposit of £50 will be taken when the initial consultation is booked, and the same considerations will apply to non attendance or cancellation.

Terms:

Individual refers to the person or persons recieving the assessment or therapy.

Engaging party refers to the person or organisation which provides instructions to the Consultant and thereby enters a contract with the Consultant.

Consultant refers to the Consultant Clinical Psychologist.

Third party refers to the person or organisation with an interest in the outcome of either assessment or therapy, or a responsibility to provide the funding for the Consultant’s fees.