Policies
Policies
Clear, Professional & Ethical Boundaries
For You Psychology is committed to providing psychological services within clear professional, ethical and administrative boundaries. The following information outlines key practice policies that apply when accessing our services. Further information regarding consent, confidentiality and the collection and management of personal information is provided during the intake process.
- Appointments
Standard psychological therapy appointments are approximately 50 minutes. Appointments are scheduled for a specific time and ordinarily cannot be extended where a client arrives late. Where possible, we encourage clients to arrive a few minutes before their appointment. Telehealth appointments may be available where clinically appropriate.
- Cancellations & Missed Appointments
A minimum of 48 hours’ notice is required to cancel or reschedule an appointment. Late cancellations and missed appointments may incur a cancellation fee, as the appointment time has been reserved specifically for you and often cannot be offered to another client at short notice. Where there are repeated late cancellations or missed appointments, ongoing appointment arrangements may need to be reviewed.
- Illness & Face-to-Face Appointments
Please do not attend the clinic if you or your child have a contagious illness or are significantly unwell. Where appropriate, a scheduled face-to-face appointment may be changed to telehealth. If you are unsure whether you should attend in person, please contact the practice prior to your appointment.
- Communication Between Appointments
Email, text messaging and telephone communication with the practice are primarily intended for administrative purposes, including appointments, referrals and relevant documentation.
Clinical concerns, therapeutic discussions, case updates and requests for clinical advice should ordinarily be addressed within a scheduled consultation so that they can be considered appropriately and documented as part of clinical care.
Where substantial clinical communication, consultation or document review is required outside an appointment, a consultation may need to be scheduled and an additional fee may apply.
- Children & Adolescents
When psychological services are provided to a child or adolescent, clinical decisions are guided by the young person’s wellbeing, developmental needs and the purpose of treatment.
Parents and caregivers are important participants in a young person’s care and may be involved in assessment, treatment planning, review appointments and parent consultation where clinically appropriate.
At the same time, an effective therapeutic relationship often requires children and adolescents to have an appropriate level of privacy within sessions.
The nature and extent of parent involvement will therefore vary according to the young person’s
age, developmental capacity, clinical presentation and treatment needs.
- Confidentiality for Adolescents
As young people mature, they may develop greater capacity to participate in decisions regarding their own healthcare.
The psychologist will consider the young person’s developmental maturity, understanding of treatment and individual circumstances when determining appropriate consent and confidentiality arrangements.
Parents will generally be involved in important aspects of care where appropriate; however, the details of individual therapy conversations will not automatically be disclosed.
Confidentiality may need to be limited where there are significant safety concerns, mandatory reporting obligations or other circumstances in which disclosure is required or authorised by law.
- Separated Parents and Parental Responsibility
For You Psychology works with many children whose parents are separated, divorced or living across different households.
Our role is to provide psychological care to the child or young person. The practice does not take a position within parental disputes or act on behalf of one parent against another.
Before services commence, parents will be asked to advise the practice of relevant parental responsibility arrangements and to provide copies of any Parenting Orders, Court Orders or other legal documents that may affect consent, communication or treatment.
Depending on the legal arrangements and clinical circumstances, consent from more than one person with parental responsibility may be requested before services commence or continue.
- Communication Between Separated Parents
For You Psychology does not act as an intermediary between parents.
Parents are responsible for managing routine communication with each other regarding their child’s appointments and care unless alternative arrangements have been agreed with the practice or are required by Court Orders.
Where clinically or legally appropriate, significant information relating to a child’s care may be communicated directly to relevant persons with parental responsibility.
The psychologist will not participate in communications whose primary purpose is to advance one parent’s position in a parenting dispute
- Family Law and Parenting Proceedings
For You Psychology provides therapeutic psychological services, not Family Court or forensic assessment services.
Unless specifically agreed as a separate service within the psychologist’s scope of practice, the practice does not provide:
- custody or parenting assessments;
- recommendations regarding who a child should live with;
- recommendations regarding parenting arrangements or parental responsibility;
- opinions regarding the relative parenting capacity of either parent; or
- reports prepared for the purpose of advocating for one party in family law proceedings.
Where information is required pursuant to a subpoena, Court Order or other legal requirement, it will be managed in accordance with the psychologist’s professional and legal obligations.
- Reports, Letters and Third-Party Requests
Routine psychological treatment does not automatically include preparation of reports, support letters, forms or responses to third-party requests.
Requests from schools, employers, insurers, government agencies or other third parties will be considered individually according to:
- the purpose of the request;
- the psychologist’s clinical role;
- the information available;
- client consent;
- confidentiality and privacy obligations; and
- whether the requested opinion falls within the psychologist’s scope of practice.
Additional fees may apply for preparation of reports, letters, file review, professional consultation or other work undertaken outside scheduled appointments.
Where a request falls outside the psychologist’s role or scope of practice, the psychologist may decline the request.
- Privacy and Confidentiality
Personal and health information is collected, stored, used and disclosed in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and professional obligations.
Information disclosed during psychological services is treated confidentially. There are, however, circumstances in which confidentiality may be limited, including where:
- there is a serious concern regarding the safety of the client or another person;
- reporting is required under applicable child protection legislation;
- records or information are lawfully required by a Court or other authorised process; or
- disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
Clients will receive further information regarding confidentiality and its limits as part of the consent process.
- Telehealth
For You Psychology provides psychological services both in person and via Telehealth. Telehealth appointments are conducted using a secure video consultation platform and are
subject to the same professional, privacy and confidentiality requirements as face-to-face psychological services.
Clients attending by telehealth are asked to:
- participate from a private and appropriate location;
- use a suitable device and reliable internet connection; and
- advise the psychologist of their location at the beginning of the consultation where required for safety purposes.
The suitability of Telehealth is considered according to the client’s age, presentation, clinical needs and circumstances. Where Telehealth is not considered clinically appropriate, an alternative arrangement may be recommended.
- Respectful Communication and Conduct
For You Psychology is committed to providing a professional and respectful environment for clients, families and those working within the practice.
We ask that all communication with the psychologist, administrative staff and other professionals associated with the practice remains respectful. Threatening, abusive, intimidating, discriminatory or aggressive behaviour will not be accepted.
Where communication becomes inappropriate, the interaction may be ended and future service arrangements may be reviewed.
- Safety and Crisis Support
For You Psychology is an appointment-based private psychology practice and does not provide an emergency or crisis response service.
Email, voicemail and other practice communication channels are not continuously monitored and should not be used for urgent mental health concerns.
If immediate assistance is required, please contact emergency services or attend your nearest hospital emergency department.
- Feedback and Concerns
We welcome respectful feedback about your experience with For You Psychology.
If you have a concern regarding your care or any aspect of the service provided, we encourage you to raise this with your psychologist so that the matter can be discussed and, where possible, resolved appropriately.
- Use of AI-Assisted Scribing
For You Psychology may use an AI-assisted scribing service during consultations solely to support the preparation of clinical notes.
The technology is used for documentation purposes only and does not replace the psychologist’s clinical judgement, assessment or responsibility for the accuracy of the clinical record.
No audio recordings of consultations are made, retained or saved. The scribing service is not used to create or store an audio recording of the session, and no audio recording forms part of the client’s clinical file.
Any information generated for the purpose of clinical documentation is reviewed by the psychologist before being incorporated into the clinical record and is managed in accordance with applicable privacy, confidentiality and professional obligations.
Clients may raise any questions or concerns about the use of AI-assisted scribing with their psychologist.
- Changes to Practice Policies
Practice policies may be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect changes in professional standards, legislation, funding requirements or practice procedures. The version published on the For You Psychology website represents the current practice policy
Ask About Our Policies
We are happy to clarify anything above before your first appointment.