Cancelling your therapy session.

Read all about the impacts of cancelling your upcoming appointment, and what it means for my services when you cancel multiple appointments, cancel within 48 hours of your upcoming appointment, or do not attend your appointment.

The impacts of cancelling

There are a number of impacts associated with cancelling our scheduled therapy sessions, which are related to you, us, me, and other clients.

You.

Committing to therapy is tough work. And there are days when making an ongoing appointment may be tougher than others. Many things can feel like they get in the way – work, children, lack of sleep, traffic, sickness… the list goes on. But in order to gain the benefits of therapy, attendance is necessary and must be consistent, and a priority.

Us.

Not attending your scheduled appointments can lead to a negative impact on our therapeutic relationship, which may mean that I am unable to provide you with ongoing services.

Me.

As a small business owner, a session that is not attended has a direct impact on me as I do not get paid if a session is not paid for. As such, my business model protects me from the impact of late cancellations or non-attendance through a cancellation fee charged if you cancel within 48 hours, to ensure that running my own business is feasible.

Providing me with more notice than 48 hours does not always mean that I will be able to fill that spot, and so multiple cancellations - despite the amount of notice provided - means that it becomes unfeasible for me to continue holding space for you.

Other clients.

Most people that enquire about my services will be placed on a waitlist. When you do not attend a session, this represents a session that could have been offered to another client. If you do not attend multiple sessions, this may mean that your timeslot may have been better placed with another client who is waiting to see me on an ongoing basis. A non-attended appointment means a missed opportunity for someone who may be in need of support.

Cancelling multiple upcoming appointments

When you make a commitment to attend an ongoing appointment time with me, my commitment to you is that I reserve this time specifically and only for you, with the expectation that you will attend this appointment time on an ongoing basis as per your commitment to therapy.

If you cancel multiple sessions despite the amount of notice provided, this may mean that we need to revisit your commitment to therapy (with the exception of planned leave due to holidays).

If you wish to continue to use my services but are unable to attend your ongoing timeslot, let’s have a discussion about what you are able to commit to and create a new plan moving forward.

Cancelling within 48 hours (or not attending your scheduled appointment)

Charging cancellation fees is a common practice for a lot of businesses that provide services, and it is a fairly common practice when booking in to see a psychologist. I charge a cancellation fee equivalent to the session fee if you do not attend a scheduled session, and if you cancel within the 48 hours preceding the scheduled appointment time.

I do understand that life does truly get in the way sometimes, and so I offer a couple of options for last minute cancellations: the ability to change our appointment to telehealth, and if a mutually suitable time can be found within the same calendar week, I am happy to move you to that time.

In summary

My cancellation policy ultimately aims to protect and benefit you, our therapeutic relationship, me, and other clients. If you would like to discuss my cancellation policy in more detail, please raise this with me in our next session together.