Terms and Conditions:
1. Aim of Therapy: Therapy and coaching aims to provide you, the client, with a confidential opportunity to explore personal and relational issues. In therapy, we set goals and the role of your therapist is to help you through this process. Your active engagement is vital for the effectiveness of the therapy. It helps if you can clearly communicate your goals and actively participate in the goal-setting process. Be open and honest about your thoughts and emotions. Transparency is essential for your therapist to offer the best support possible. If you can, engage in self-reflection and actively participate in the therapeutic exercises and discussions provided. Practice the coping strategies learned in sessions. Be open to guidance, share your concerns, and actively engage in the therapeutic dialogue. Collaborative efforts enhance the effectiveness of the therapy.
These goals can be renegotiated as necessary. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about the approach in therapy or your progress. It is your responsibility to choose the therapist and therapeutic modality which best suits your treatment. It is important that you work together with your therapist to meet your needs. If you believe that you are not being helped, please let your therapist know so that they can work through the difficulty together. If they are unable to do so to your satisfaction, they can assist you in finding an alternative therapist.
2. Confidentiality Policy: Our sessions are held in the strictest confidence, and information cannot be released about you, without your written permission. There are exceptions to this privacy such as if there is a serious danger in the immediate or foreseeable future to the client or others, including a child. If someone else has referred you to me, I may liaise with that referrer. It is usually in the clients best interests that we work in a multi-disciplinary team to coordinate your care. In all cases, I will normally ask your permission. If someone else paying for the session, for example, Employee Assistance Program, ACC or similar, there may be an obligation to report to them some information. All counsellors are required to undertake professional supervision regularly. A supervisor acts in a mentoring role, providing emotional support as well as information and guidance. I may sometimes take relevant issues from the therapeutic relationship into supervision. In these consultations, I take care to preserve clients’ anonymity. I will not disclose your name or anything that would enable you to be identified in any training, research or audit. There may be extreme cases where I am legally compelled by a court of law. I will always try to seek written permission from the client when writing reports for third parties. I keep brief notes after a session, which will be securely stored on a password-protected system
Should we ever accidentally meet in public, to protect your confidentiality, I will not say hello unless you make the first approach. It is perfectly normal for us to ignore each other. I am happy to review any celebrity confidentiality requirements you may have.
3. Sessions: Individual Sessions last 55-60 minutes. Couples sessions 80-90 minutes. Intensive coaching workshops and psychoeducational sessions are 3.5 hours + .
4. Availability between sessions: In instances where you need to contact me between sessions, please give a text to 021-0322563 or email margotoregan @gmail.com. I will endeavour to get back to you within 48 working hours. If you need urgent crisis care, please contact Crisis Team Emergency Team 0800 800 717.
5. Cancellations and Appointment Charges: If for any reason, I have to cancel a session, I will aim to give you 48 hours notice and you will not be charged for the session. Should you need to cancel an appointment, please also give at least 48 hours. That way, I have the opportunity to schedule another client in that time slot. If I have to cancel less than 24 hours, your next session will be free of charge. Please note that if you are late for a session, we still need to finish on time to be fair to the next client. Repeated last-minute cancellations may incur a charge.
6. Method of Payment: Session fees and payment rates are available on my website. To secure your session, payment is made at the time of booking. For intensives, payment is made, Margo will contact you for an initial discovery call. In this call, we may discover that a different type of therapy or therapist is required. If this is the case, then a full refund will be given. Clients can pay online by card or internet banking. Non-paid invoices may be subject to debt collection and incur associated costs
7. Frequency of sessions: The initial session includes an assessment to ensure we are a fit for each other. There are some instances where it is not appropriate to do couples or individual therapy. There are benefits of committing to at least 4/6 regular sessions before realistically evaluating the effectiveness of therapy. At the end of 4/6 weeks, we can review the goals or frequency of further sessions. Part of the review process is to determine if more sessions are necessary to reach your goals. When someone wants to progress in something new, say a sport, consistent practice is important to ingrain new information. Weekly sessions are ideal as they provide the impetus necessary to create lasting change and new ways of communicating. However, in reality, life is busy with family and work and bi-weekly sessions work well for many. Intensive sessions in a workshop format well to gain alot of new information in a limited period of time. The length of therapy deeply depends on clients individuals needs, goals and resources. If you are a couple that has been struggling for several years, or there has been a betrayal of trust, it is likely to require a number of sessions to regain connection.
Please communicate with your therapist if you become dissatisfied with your treatment. This is really useful information to treatment and can be utilised to work together to discover what might be preventing progress, modify goals, or refer you to another therapist.
8. Temporary distress: Counselling can be difficult at times and discussing therapeutic material may leave you feeling worse. Even though this is often normal, please do not be alarmed and please keep me updated with how you are feeling. In couples therapy, individuals have spent years brushing resentments under the carpet. Margo’s job is to look under the carpet and talk about what is under there. There may be temporary emotional discomfort. It may be helpful to have self-care planned for after the session.
9. Telehealth/Video Conferencing: I practice therapy through video conferencing. This allows me to assist clients who would not otherwise seek services. The modern-day convenience of this medium allows clients to maintain continuity of sessions, despite the stress of conflicting work schedules, childcare, and traffic. There are risks if sessions take place outside of the therapist’s office such as the potential for other people to overhear sessions. Please ensure you have a confidential space from which you can call me. There may be times when an internet connection does not work well. Should this happen, then you will not be charged for the session. Most research shows that teletherapy is about as effective as in-person therapy. Teletherapy is primarily conducted through Zoom Meetings. If Zoom connection fails, then we will use Skype and if that fails, then we will use the telephone. Telehealth records will be maintained in the same manner as in-person records.
Please read this carefully and feel free to as any questions.