THERAPY TERMS AND CONDITIONS

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Dr Danielle Crane LTD is a Limited Company (referred to as ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ in this information form), established by Dr Danielle Crane in 2024. This document is to help you understand the services that we provide, so that you can make an informed decision about starting therapy with us.

 

What is the difference between a Clinical Psychologist and other therapists?

 

Clinical Psychologists are trained to support individuals and families across the lifespan, with a range of difficulties. They provide structured, time-limited talking therapies that focus on changing unhelpful patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving and working towards specific goals. They are not medical doctors and therefore cannot prescribe medication. They have completed a minimum of 6 years formal training, in addition to experience working in mental health services. By comparison, most counsellors and CBT therapists only complete a couple of years training in one form of therapy.

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Clinical Psychologists are registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and abide by their code of conduct and ethics. They are committed to regularly updating their skills through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and also have professional indemnity insurance, so you can rest assured that you are in safe hands.

 

What should I expect from therapy?

 

Starting therapy can feel overwhelming and at the same time can be the first step towards a better quality of life. This information sheet will help you understand what to expect.

 

Free initial call: When you make an enquiry, we usually offer a free 15 minute telephone call to discuss your difficulties, potential therapy and any questions you have.

 

Registration: If you decide you are interested in therapy, we will send you a contact form to complete with your details. You will then be invited to register on Imatta (previously known as Clinix), which is a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant electronic record system; this allows us to securely store your information, send you video links for therapy and take payments. Once you have registered, you will have log in details that you can use to view your upcoming sessions and contact us.

 

Booking in an assessment: We will then send you an appointment link for a time to suit you. If you are self-funding then you will be prompted to pay online when you accept the appointment. If you have health insurance (eg BUPA) then we can sometimes claim your session fee directly from them on your behalf. Alternatively, we can provide a receipt if you need to claim money from your insurer.

 

Attending the assessment: You will be sent an email reminder before the appointment. When it’s time to attend, you can click the email link to join the appointment. You may be prompted to allow access to your camera and microphone when joining the videolink. If you are having issues joining the session then please email us and we can call you to help you connect.

 

Please try to let us know if you are running late. We will do our best to still see you if you attend late; however, we will not be able to extend the session length to compensate for the time that you missed. In the unlikely event that we are running late, we will attempt to contact you and will reduce the cost of the session to compensate for this.

 

The first appointment will be an assessment, where your Psychologist will ask you about your relevant past experiences, previous therapy, current difficulties and goals for therapy. It’s up to you how much you feel comfortable sharing. It’s ok to say if you prefer not to answer something. Together you and your Psychologist will then develop a ‘formulation’, which is an understanding of your difficulties, and a plan for therapy. They will then explain what type of therapy is most likely to suit your needs and goals and how long this intervention is expected to take.

 

Following the assessment: The outcome of the assessment might be that we can offer therapy. However, if we feel that another Psychologist or service is more suited to your needs, we can signpost you to them and provide you with a copy of your assessment report.

 

Types of therapy: We tend to work integratively, drawing on the following approaches:

 

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

• Trauma-focused CBT

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

• Compassion Focused Therapy

• Motivational Interviewing

• Narrative Therapy

• Systemic Family Therapy

• Mindfulness training

• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

 

Starting therapy: When you are ready to start therapy, we will select a weekly session time that suits you. The sessions will be tailored to your needs, so you can work through things at your own pace. In the sessions, your Psychologist will help you understand your difficulties and learn alternative coping skills. Therapy can be hard work at times and you need to be committed to practising skills between sessions in order for it to be effective. It’s not a passive process, where your Psychologist is here to ‘fix’ you.

 

We have a professional responsibility to maintain confidentiality, work ethically, use evidence-based interventions, help you achieve sustainable change as quickly as possible and treat you with dignity and respect.

 

Length of therapy: This varies depending on a number of factors, and will be discussed as part of your assessment. Most therapies range between 8 - 24 sessions, but this will be tailored to your needs.

 

Ending therapy: You are not tied into any long-term commitment and may end therapy sessions at any point. However, if you are finding therapy difficult, we recommend discussing this in sessions rather than just stopping treatment.

 

If we review sessions and feel that you need a different therapist or therapy, we reserve the right to stop treatment and provide recommendations for alternatives. We also reserve the right to end the therapeutic agreement with you in the event of unforeseen circumstances. If this happens, we will try to give you as much advance notice as possible.

 

Outcome of therapy: Whilst we will do everything possible to support you in therapy, we cannot guarantee that you will reach your desired therapy goals.

 

Behaviour in sessions: We always treat clients with respect and do not discriminate on the grounds of age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, race, colour, national origin, disability, heritage or political belief. We reserve the right to terminate sessions in the event of threatening or abusive behaviour towards us.

 

Therapist working hours: We are available 9am-3pm and 8pm-9pm on Thursdays and Fridays and aim to reply to emails within 2 working days, although this may vary depending on annual leave.

 

Therapy materials: Any materials created or used in your therapy sessions are the Psychologist’s intellectual property and copyright. You are not permitted to sell or share these materials. You are also not permitted to record the session without written consent from your Psychologist.

 

Social Media: We post informational videos about mental health on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook and Tiktok. You are welcome to subscribe if you find these helpful but there is no obligation to. You can also unfollow at any time. Please note that we don’t respond to direct messages from clients on social media. Instead please email us and we will respond in due course. We also don’t follow clients on social media as we feel that it is important not to intrude on your space.

 

We also sell downloadable mental health resources online. There is no need for you to purchase these if you are attending therapy with us as they will be included in your sessions at no extra cost.

 

Overseas clients: We can sometimes provide online therapy for clients living outside of the UK. This is decided on a case-by-case basis. Any overseas clients will need to be aware that we are a UK based company and therefore any complaints or claims will have to go through the UK regulatory system. Also, clients must be willing to pay any transfer fees or conversation rates. This involves transferring the therapy fee in GBP and accepting the charges. We can provide our IBAN number for this.

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How much do therapy sessions cost?

 

Self-funded assessments and therapy sessions are 60 minutes and cost £120.00. Online payment is required at the time of booking. If you prefer to pay by BACS transfer then you can do so using the following details:

 

Dr Danielle Crane Ltd

Account number: 16566552

Sort code: 60-83-71

 

Health Insurer funded sessions vary in length and fee depending on the agreement with the insurer. We are a registered provider with AXA, WPA, BUPA (adult sessions) and CIGNA. If your health insurer has approved your treatment, we can usually claim your session fees directly from them. Alternatively, we can provide a receipt so that you can claim the fee back from them yourself.

 

All additional liaison and professional meetings will be charged at our hourly rate e.g. a 30 minute telephone call will be charged at £60.

 

We do not offer refunds for sessions or work that has already been completed.

 

What is your cancellation or non-attendance policy?

 

We understand that sometimes things don’t go as planned and it may result in your needing to cancel or reschedule your appointment. If you cancel a session with at least 48 hours’ notice then you will receive a full refund. If you cancel the session with less than 48 hours’ notice or fail to attend without notice, then you may be liable for the full cost of the session.

 

If a health or insurance company is paying for your treatment, they may make you liable for the charge of any missed or cancelled session, and your treatment sessions could be suspended dependant on their policy.

 

If you fail to attend your appointment without warning, we will do our best to contact you via telephone or email. If we cannot reach you and are concerned about your safety, we may need to contact your next of kin, GP or other professionals to check you are ok.

 

How will you manage my personal information?

 

Dr Danielle Crane is a member of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and adheres to their ethical frameworks, policies, and guidelines. We also comply with the UK Data Protection Act (1998) EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016 and the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) guidelines. For full details of your rights, please see our Privacy Policy.

 

Data collection: We need to collect your personal information so that we can know who you are and communicate with you; the legal basis for this is a legitimate interest. It also allows us to provide you with services and process payment for these services; the legal basis for this is the contract with you.

 

Data is initially collected through our contact details form. Further information is collected during any telephone calls, assessment appointments and therapy sessions.

 

Data storage: We use Protonmail and Imatta, which are GDPR compliant email and electronic records systems. These accounts are accessed on a password protected laptop, which has antivirus software and is stored in a locked office. Only Dr Danielle Crane has access to this office and these accounts.

 

Your contact details, session notes and any messages you send will be recorded as part of your client record on Imatta. If you email us on Protonmail, your emails will be stored in our inbox until we have responded to them and recorded them on Imatta. They will then be deleted on Protonmail.

 

A copy of your records will be stored on an encrypted hard drive inside a locked filing cabinet that only Dr Danielle Crane has access to.

 

We will not store any of your bank details.

 

Confidentiality: Your information will remain confidential. The only person Dr Danielle Crane will discuss your case with is her Clinical Supervisor, who is an experienced Clinical Psychologist and bound by the same confidentiality rules. Supervision is a requirement of our profession and an important part of maintaining good practice. Your full name will not be disclosed and only clinically relevant information will be shared.

 

We will not contact your GP as a matter of course; however, we can provide a letter for them if you request this. All letters will be sent as encrypted and password protected documents by protonmail.

 

The only occasion where we will breach confidentiality is if we have safeguarding concerns that you or someone else is at the risk of significant harm. In that instance, we may have to talk to social care, police, ambulance services or other relevant agencies to protect you or others; wherever possible, we will try to discuss this with you first.

 

Data Retention: Any email enquiries will be deleted after 6 months if you do not become a client. If you do become a client, your information will be stored securely for the duration of your therapy. Upon completion of therapy, your details and session notes will be stored securely for 7 years to fulfil our legal, regulatory and accounting requirements. Following this, your records will be securely deleted.

 

​In the case of a child under the age of 13, records will be kept for 7 years after they reach 18 years of age. After this date, all data will be securely deleted.

 

Your rights: You have the right to request a copy of your records so that you can check the accuracy of the information we hold about you. You can also request to have your records corrected, deleted or transferred to another individual or company. It’s important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current so please keep us informed if your personal details change.

 

If you would like a copy of some or all your personal information, please make a Subject Access Request (SAR) by emailing drdaniellecrane@protonmail.com. Once we have confirmed your identity, we will process your request and provide a copy of your information within one month without any charge. This can be extended to 2 months if the information requested is complex or there are multiple requests. There may be a small processing fee if you make repetitive or excessive requests. Please note that we are legally permitted to withhold aspects of your personal information if we feel that providing this information will violate your vital interests.

 

If you want to withdraw your consent, have your personal information transferred to a third party or removed then we will do our best to help with this in a timely manner. There may be some occasions where we need to keep the data, such as for HM Revenue & Customs reviews; however we will discuss this with you.

 

Who will care for me if you die or become critically unwell?

 

In the unlikely event of my death or critical illness, there is a ‘Clinical Will’ in place to ensure that you are informed and receive appropriate support. The Therapeutic Executor, who is a qualified Clinical Psychologist, will access your clinical records in order to contact you. They would then either offer sessions themselves or would signpost you to an appropriate therapist.

 

Who do I contact in an emergency?

 

We are not a crisis service. If you require emergency support please consider contacting:

• Your GP

• The Crisis Team (111 option 2)

• Emergency services 999

• The Samaritans (24hr): 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org

• Saneline: 0845 767 8000 (6pm – 11pm)

• Rethink: 0845 456 0455 (Mon – Fri, 10am – 2pm)

• CALM: 0800 58 58 58 (Everyday, 5pm – midnight)