ABOUT APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING AND TIME MANAGEMENT
Everyone’s time is valuable. I appreciate that the demand for therapy is far greater than the number of therapists available and that it is far from ideal to have to wait for an appointment. As such, I work very hard to be as efficient as possible in managing my available appointment times in order to reduce the waiting times for all of my clients and potential clients. As one therapist, I am limited in the number of appointments I can offer in a week. As such, I kindly ask for your cooperation and understanding about the value of each appointment scheduled and how important it is for everyone to make good use of all available appointment times. When you book an appointment, I am dedicating the space and time just for you, which means that I will routinely be unavailable for anyone else who may also be seeking help. Please do your absolute best to attend every scheduled appointment and to let me know if you are unable to attend with as much notice as possible. I have created the following policies regarding appointments.
5 DAY MINIMUM CANCELLATION POLICY
If for any reason you need to cancel or change a scheduled appointment, please give me a minimum of 5 business days notice. Less than 5 business days notice will result in you being charged fully for the session. Additionally, insurance companies will not pay for unattended, canceled or forgotten sessions. As such, you will be responsible for the full session fee if 5 days notice is not given. Since your time is equally valuable, in the unlikely event that I forget a session or cancel with less than 5 days notice, you will get one complimentary session. Please note that no exceptions will be made to this policy under any circumstances.
NO SHOW POLICY
If you are a ‘no show’ for an appointment and don’t reach out to me within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment time, I will assume that you have decided to terminate therapy and will discharge you. You of course you would be welcome to return to therapy and be placed on my waiting list.
LATENESS POLICY
Please do your best to attend every session on time. If running late, please let me know as soon as possible via email – justin@cbtgym.com AND by message: USA: +1 (808) 638-3870 | UK: +44 7806565386. If I don’t hear from you, I will reach out to you 10 minutes after the scheduled appointment start time by phone, text or email. If I don’t hear from you by 15 minutes of the scheduled start time, I will assume you are not attending the session, the session will be considered a no-show appointment and forfeited. You will be personally responsible for the full fee of the session and I will not be able to invoice your insurance company. Please note that if you are late to an appointment we will still need to finish on time. Please also note that if you are frequently late to appointments, I will discharge you. You of course would be welcome to return to therapy and be placed on my waiting list.
CONSISTENCY OF ATTENDANCE POLICY
Therapy works best when sessions are attended regularly. This creates momentum and accountability. We will agree a regular day and time to meet and this space will then be dedicated just for you. My expectation here is that if you are offered a regular space, you will then attend at least 90% of scheduled appointments. If you think that this will be difficult for you to do, please let me know and we can schedule appointments on an ad hoc basis based on what availability I have. Although I cannot guarantee that a space will be available, I will do my best. If I notice that in the course of therapy, there are multiple requests to ‘skip weeks’ I will need to offer the space to another person, and we would then schedule appointments on an ad hoc basis.
MULTIPLE APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION OR EXCESSIVE RESCHEDULING POLICY
If you cancel or reschedule appointments more than 3 times during the course of therapy, I will discharge you. You of course would be welcome to return to therapy and be placed on my waiting list.
ONGOING SESSION SCHEDULING POLICY
It is your responsibility to book yourself in for appointments. You can schedule up to 60 days in advance. I suggest you make a note once a month in your calendar to remind yourself to schedule additional appointments. If you prefer for us to schedule appointments together, please let me know.
FAILURE TO SCHEDULE REGULAR APPOINTMENTS POLICY
Therapy works best when clients attend regularly. If 4 weeks go by without you scheduling yourself for an appointment, I will assume that you have decided to terminate therapy and will discharge you. Of course you would be welcome to return to therapy and be placed on my waiting list.
INSURANCE AND CANCELLATIONS POLICY
If I take your insurance, I am happy to submit claims directly on your behalf. Please bear in mind that If you cancel with less than 5 days notice or don’t show up to an appointment, you will be directly responsible for the full payment as insurance companies do not pay for cancelled or missed appointments and I cannot invoice for cancelled or missed appointments.
