Because our practice aims to preserve our high treatment success rates, the policy outlined below facilitates service user involvement in the treatment process and ensures satisfaction with the intervention outcome

We offer two types of services:

1. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (requires attendance of regular weekly sessions or more)

2. Psychodynamic Counselling (no regular frequency of sessions)

Cancelling a session

• Service users for either counselling or psychotherapy are expected to notify the therapist one calendar week before the session is due

• When the service user provides one week’s notice, the therapist will offer them an alternative time to replace that session within the same week. If the service user chooses not to use the proposed time, they will be charged the session fee (still, their session time will remain available for them to use)

• If there is less than a week's notice, the service user will be charged the session fee (still, their session time will remain available for them to use)

• When the service user did not manage to attend their initial/first session, and they want to book another session, they need to book it online here 

Holidays for psychotherapy patients

• The Practice does not operate during public holidays

• The therapist takes his vacation in the summer (starting with Christmas Day). Service users are not charged if they have their holidays up to the end of January

• If the service user chooses to travel (interstate or overseas) outside holiday or summer vacation periods, they will be offered an alternative online Zoom session. If they decide not to use the proposed session, they will be charged the session fee (while their session time will remain available for them to use)

Online/ Telehealth sessions

• The Zoom software is used to ensure confidentiality. A Zoom weblink and a password (both of which are always the same) are emailed/ smsed in advance, allowing the service user to connect online at the scheduled session time. To avoid connectivity issues, it is proposed that the service user’s video-conferencing device is ideally connected to a modem through a network cable

• The therapist assesses and approves the use of an online Zoom session as an alternative to the face-to-face session. The request for an online session needs to be submitted at least 24 hours before the session is due

• The online session requires the service user to (1) use headphones/ earphones, (2) place their device on a stable place, i.e., a table, (3) video-capture the upper half of their body, and (4) be in a space that ensures privacy and confidentiality [i.e. ensure that there is no possibility for distraction or interruption during the session time] 

Fees 

• The HICAPS terminal is used to facilitate payments. For psychotherapy service users, the therapist emails them an invoice at the end of the month, allowing two weeks for payment of the fees

• When the service user encounters financial strain, they are welcome to discuss the matter in advance, for a solution to be explored and agreed upon

• Because Medicare does not provide rebates for missed or cancelled sessions, the service user pays the full session fee for these sessions (partly funded by Medicare).

Your agreement to engage in psychotherapy or counselling with this Practice implies your consent to the Policy described above.

Dr George Karpetis 

Psychotherapist & Counsellor

 Renewed 2 June 2024