Service policy

Counselling session

The standard duration for a counselling or client engagement session is 50 minutes + 10 minutes of admin (e.g. writing case notes, letters, book appointment, processing payment etc.). Although some sessions may be longer, there will be no extra charge at the client’s expense.

Late cancellation or no show

Your appointment time is reserved specifically for you. Once your appointment is confirmed if,  under any circumstances, you decide to cancel your appointment, please notifies us at least 24 hours in advance.
When you reschedule/cancel late, or do not attend your appointment, that appointment time slot may not be filled. This is a loss to the clinician who reserved time for you, and other clients who are on a waiting list.

If less than 24 hours notice is provided, a late cancellation/no show fee of AUD$100 will be charged. This is to ensure fairness to all parties including you as the client, the therapist, and those who may need a counselling session but they have to be on a waiting list due to limited availability. This cancellation fee can only be waived if you have a compassionate and compelling reason such as hospital emergency or under life-threatening circumstances.  

Professional service fees

As a client, you are expected to pay an additional fee (case to case basis) If you require extra professional services such as attendance at meetings with other professionals you have authorised, preparation of letters, records and/or treatment summaries and the time spent performing any other service you may request of your therapist. If you become involved in legal proceedings that require your therapist’s participation, you will also be expected to pay for his/her professional time even if he/she is called to testify by another party. Due to the difficulty of legal involvement, we will charge AUD$180 per hour for preparation and attendance at any legal proceeding or mediation session(s).

Insurance reimbursement and/or rebates

In order for us to set realistic treatment goals and priorities, it is important to evaluate what resources you have available to pay for your treatment. If you have a private health insurance policy, it will usually provide some coverage for mental health treatment. We will provide you with whatever assistance we can in helping you receive the benefits to which you are entitled; however, you (not your insurance company) are responsible for full payment of your consultation fees. It is very important that you find out exactly what mental health services your insurance policy covers and what the reimbursement procedure entails.

Professional records or case notes

The law requires your therapist to keep treatment records. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records, or the therapist can prepare a summary for you This will incur an additional service fee. Because these are professional records, they can be misinterpreted by untrained readers. If you wish to see your records, we recommend that you review them in the presence of your therapist so that he/she can discuss the contents together with you. Patients will be charged an appropriate fee for any professional time spent in responding to information requests

Termination

If at any time during the course of your treatment your therapist determines that he/she cannot continue, he/she will terminate treatment and explain why this is necessary. Ideally, therapy ends when the treatment goals have been achieved. Additional conditions of termination include that; you have the right to stop treatment at any time. If you make this choice, a referral to another therapist will be provided and you will be asked to attend a final ‘termination’ session.

Other legal or ethical circumstances may arise and compel your therapist to terminate treatment. In these cases, appropriate referral(s) will be offered. Also, your therapist does not diagnose, treat, or advise on problems outside the recognized boundaries of his/her competencies. Other situations that warrant termination include: regularly becoming enraged or threatening during the session; bringing a weapon onto the premises; persistent drug abuse; arriving under the influence of drugs or alcohol; disclosing illegal intentions or actions.

Payment

Full payment is expected at the end of each session. Medicare rebates will be processed by us on behalf of the client after the full payment has been made.

Disclaimer

The Live Your Story Counselling and Psychotherapy website is not intended as a replacement for psychological assessment and treatment. Live Your Story shall have no liability for claims by or damages of any kind whatsoever to users of this website. Furthermore this website is not an emergency services resource. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please dial 000 for emergency services or call Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

Although we endeavour to respond within one business day to the calls, emails and booking forms, we cannot guarantee this timeframe and take no responsibility for the safety or wellbeing of potential clients. 

This website includes links to other websites, resources and information. The content of these websites is not produced or monitored by Live Your Story and therefore no responsibility is taken for content accessed outside of this website. Your use of this website constitutes your agreement to the above disclaimer.

Effective Date

We review our policy every 6 months. The effective date of this latest policy was on the 27th of January 2022 until further notice.