Policies & Procedures

Therapy can often involve very sensitive & confidential information.

Dr Adlem believes that client confidence in their therapist is one of, if not, the most important aspect of Therapy.

Without that, there cannot be trust. The trust developed during therapy is often one of the contributing elements of achieving the client’s goals in their journey.

Other things that can get in the way of a client’s relationship with their therapist is finances and admin matters. Things are always more complicated when money is involved. To reduce these complications; expectations and assumptions should be addressed.

As such, the following policies and procedures have been put into place for transparency and to strengthen the client/therapist relationship.

1-Confidentiality Policy

All Counsellors/Therapists go to Clinical Supervision with a Specialist Counsellor and clients can be discussed there, but will only be known by a code and not anything client identifiable. This is to ensure that the client receives the best quality of care and therapy to benefit their journey.
Other people within Relink Therapy may need certain information i.e admin team to book the appointments for the Client but they will not have any knowledge of the contents of your therapy sessions/journey.
Communications are often made using email or whatsapp. These are received by Relink Therapy on devices secured by security measures such as PINs, passwords, biometric protocols and encryptions. It is suggested not to put anything too personal in messages however they are treated in the strictest of confidence.
Virtual appointments are sometimes offered and basic measures will be taken to ensure no one else can hear what the client is saying. Appropriate steps are taken to try and ensure no one can hear what the therapist is saying. There might be times when the session needs to pause for a few moments to prevent a breach in confidentiality. Unfortunately this is part of the disadvantages of virtual appointments. Relink Therapy can not compensate for time lost ensuring confidentiality is kept intact. You can see more in the Payments Policy.
INFORMATION IS NEVER GIVEN TO ANYONE OUTSIDE OF OUR SESSIONS UNLESS:
1. The client requests (via email) that we make contact with a third party, for example, a Solicitor, GP or other NHS service.
2. There is the risk of harm to self and/or to others.
3. Serious crime has been (and/or about to be) committed.
4. If we receive a court order.
We refer to any of the above as a Best Interest Disclosure (BID) and not a breach. If the Therapist believes action is needed that may result in a BID or a breach in Confidentiality has happened, it will be discussed with the client as soon as reasonably possible following.
Relink Therapy will always follow the guidance of the authorities.
All breaches will be documented and securely stored.

2-Booking Policy & The Booking process:

All bookings follow the same process.

This ensures there is a consistent process for all clients and avoids unfilled appointments which otherwise could have been offered to others.

To make it a fair and streamline process, the following points have been created to offer transparency and gives each client the same information.

To create a booking please get in contact. (WhatsApp preferred).
Once a time and date are agreed, the appointment is penciled in and an invoice is generated. Payment is due on receipt.
A pencilled in appointment does not reserve the slot and should not be assumed the booking is secured.
The appointment booking is secured only when the payment for the invoice is received.

NOTE: Should another client enquire about availability, pencilled in slots show as available to be booked to others. To make the slot appear as unavailable, it is essential invoices are settled and paid ASAP to avoid disappointment.

Initial assessments are only offered to clients that have completed the new client form.
Therapy Appointments are only offered to clients that have had an initial assessment.
Initial Assessments and Appointments will not go ahead unless payment has been received in advance.
Relink Therapy offers appointments on a ‘first come first served’ basis.
As per the Payments Policy & the Booking Process, Appointments should only be considered “confirmed” if payment has been received. If appointments are not confirmed; the therapist’s availability may change, and/or the appointment may be given to someone else.
As per the Payments Policy, bookings for your appointments are not confirmed until payment is received.
Any discounts are subject to the terms set out on the invoice. Failure to meet the terms may result in the discount being withdrawn.

3-Payments Policy

You will receive an invoice when you make an appointment.
Payments are usually only accepted via Bank Transfer.
All payments must be paid for in advance.
The booking for your appointment is not confirmed until Payment is received.
Payments must be received to secure your booking. This is for two reasons:
1. Session availability is essential for clients. Therefore the booking policy was created to make it as fair as possible to everyone. If a booking was made and agreed without payment in advance, the appointment could be cancelled or not attended and that would mean that slot was empty which could have go to someone else which affects other clients and the running of the business.
2. The sessions are to focus on your journey. Bank transfers are encouraged to avoid any barrier to the session flowing freely. Card payments via contactless are accepted for regular customers. See below: 3.6
Contactless bank card payments can be made if you are a regular customer under the agreement of the following four points:
1. Chip & Pin is not available.
2. You MUST express that you want to do card payment when you are booking the appointment. This is because the usual process is ‘payment secures booking’ and if the payment has not been received, then the session will not go ahead. This is what is assumed by default so you absolutely must state that you wish to make card payment when you book.
3. Payment will be required at the start of the session. It may seem a bit forward, but the point of the appointment is to focus on the journey, not worry about navigating the payments during the session. Please arrive with plenty of time as we will not be able to overrun if technical issues mean we cannot start on time.
4. In the event of the session being cancelled within 3 working days. Please refer to 4.1.2 of the cancellation policy. If this happens, the next booking will require the invoice be settled via bank transfer only.
Late payment may result in losing the availability of the appointment. In the event of a late payment which has resulted in the appointment no longer being available, the payment will become a credit towards your next invoice and you will have to rearrange for another appointment time/date.
If there is any credit, it is applied to your next invoice. Refunds are not available*.
*In exceptional circumstances Relink Therapy may refund payments (or part payments) but it is at the discretion of Relink Therapy and should not be assumed. Block booking discounts are automatically removed if applicable. Refunds are only ever returned via the the same method payment was received.
A screenshot of the received payment is usually sent over to you after it is received. Receipts are available if required but are not routinely issued unless requested. This is due to the paper trail bank transfers offer which usually suffices.
If you require a receipt please email requesting one after payment is made.

4-Cancellation Policy

Changes to your appointment, (i.e. cancellations/rebooking) can be actioned with no charge if the change is at least 3 working days before the appointment.
1. If the terms set in 4-1 are met, another date will be mutually agreed, a confirmation email will be sent out and this will be booked. The cancellation policy will then reapply to that booking.
2. If the terms set in 4-1 are not met, an additional fee of £20 will be charged for changes to appointments inside the 3 day period. This will be reflected on your next invoice.
Last minute bookings – In the event of making an appointment within the next 3 days, as per policy 3-3, please pay ASAP as bookings will not go ahead if payment has not been received.
Bookings are not interchangeable with other people. Circumstances where a couple are already on their therapy journey with Relink Therapy may pass an individual session onto their partner if the intended client is unable to attend without a cancellation fee being applied (within the 72 hour cancellation period) however the booking time will remain the same.
In the rare event that the venue is closed for reasons outside Relink Therapy’s control AND you have an appointment already confirmed, Dr Adlem can do a home visit at no additional charge. Alternatively the appointment and be rearranged for a date the venue has resumed operating normally.

4-Data Handling

All clients are required to complete the new client form. I will not be able to move forward until it has been done. No exceptions.
All data is treated in accordance with UK GDPR.
Removal of details can be done two ways:
1. At Client’s request via email to info@relinktherapy.co.uk
2. Inactivity of longer than 3 months*. After which your personal details will be removed from the system. You can recommence sessions at any time. All you will need to do is simply complete the new client form again.
If you wish not to be included in ‘update emails’, Please do inform me and I will honour your requests.
Communication via WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted. The app is also locked with Biometrics. Not even the lock screen shows who is messaging until unlocked. You can request that your whats app chat history is erased from my end by simply asking and a screenshot of empty chat will be sent to evidence this.

* (unless you have requested that you wish to remain on file because of a break, change in circumstances etc)

5-WhatsApp

WhatsApp is my main method of communication after email. I find it incredibly useful to have that line of communication with my clients.
To make sure it is as effective as it can be and to eliminate any issues or potential misunderstandings I have created this policy to make it fair across the board and all involved knows what to expect.

Clients may message via WhatsApp anytime. Just like email.
The number used for WhatsApp is a separate number to my personal one.
As such, you will not disturb me if you message in the evenings, night, weekends etc.
Please do not expect a reply right away. The face to face sessions are a minimum of 50 minutes. This can mean a delay in getting a response as I may be in session.
The Blue Ticks & ‘Online’ – I have many clients and they all have different reasons for messaging me. Some use WhatsApp as a journal between sessions and we go through it in the next session. This may mean you will see me ‘online’ but that does not mean I am available.
WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted. This means even if intercepted, the content can not be read without the encryption key. As such, it is very secure. My end is locked with Biometric Face ID which needs to be authorised every time I open it. The device also locks after 30 seconds of inactivity. I take no responsibility for the content on whatsapp being accessed from your device. There are methods you can use to secure your device from unauthorised access. Relink Therapy will not be liable for any breach in data resulting in the data being accessed via your device.
Messages are not readable from my lock screen. They show who the message is from (if lock screen sees my face) but does not contain any preview of the message. I have to open the App to read it. You can rest assured that your messages are not accessed by anyone other than me.
I periodically wipe the conversation history. I am also happy to do this on request.
I will often make a group chat for couples and use that as a hub for arranging sessions, answering questions and generally being transparent to the therapeutic triangle. This is not a place to bash each other, humiliate or argue. I will also communicate with the members of the couple individually as appropriate.
All communications via WhatsApp are covered by my confidentiality policy.
I suggest ALL clients wipe and clear the conversation regularly. It should not be considered suspicious doing so.
I reserve the right to request that communications are kept to email should WhatsApp become disruptive.
Ultimately, you can message anytime of day or night. 7 days a week 365 days a year but please don’t expect a reply right away and even if you have seen that I have read the message or that I am online and have not read your message, dont think too much into it as I have many clients and I use WhatsApp for many different reasons including video calls so sometimes I can be unavailable even if it may seem I should be responding.
I aim to reply as quick as possible but within 24 hours.