Policies

Payment Policies

We ask that all session fees are paid while in session with your therapist if you are paying by etransfer. The exception would be if you are directed billed for insurance at 100% coverage and/or if you have put your credit card number on file for us to bill you after your sessions are completed. If you are unsure what your co-pay (the remainder of your session fee that is not covered by your insurance is), you can reach out to Reagan (reagan@diverserootstherapy.com) to make sure.

Further, if two sessions in a row go unpaid, your therapist will have to pause sessions with you until you can make your payments unless you’ve already reached out to us and we’ve made a plan for payment going forward. This simplifies things on an administrative level for us and it also ensures that you’re paying for the services you receive in a timely way! I’m sure we’re all in agreement that we want our wonderful therapists to get paid for the fantastic work they’re providing for their clients. As always, we’re happy to accommodate if clients communicate with us about difficulties with paying on time – please send an email to admin@diverserootstherapy.com if this is the case for you at any point.

COVID 19/Illness Policy

We have a lot of clients and staff who are immunocompromised so we’re asking everyone who’s tested positive for covid to not come into the Diverse Roots office space for either:

-7 days after your symptoms began or

-you have a negative covid test, whichever comes first.

If you’ve got cold, flu or stomach symptoms but no positive covid test result, meaning that you presumably have another type of bug, please mask up in the space until your symptoms go away. All of this applies to both clients and therapists. We’ve got masks at the reception desk – please let us know if our supply is running low and we’ll get more!

24 Hour Cancellation Policy

We have a 24 hour cancellation policy whereby we ask for your full session fee if we do not receive at least 24 hours of notice before you cancel your scheduled session.

Substance Use

We believe in a harm reduction policy across the board at Diverse Roots but we ask that you not come into the space or to your virtual therapy session while under the influence of substances (alcohol, cannabis, etc). The lines get blurry around you being able to provide informed consent, which is one of the essential basic tenets of therapy, if you are under the influence of substances and your judgment may be impaired. Your therapist reserves the right to refuse service, end the session and resume sessions when you are no longer under the influence. You will still be charged for your session if this occurs.

Frequency of Sessions

We see most clients on an every other week basis to start but are sometimes able to accommodate weekly or monthly sessions. We find that therapy works best when there is consistency in the frequency. Ideally, this happens with enough of a break between sessions to process and put what we have started in therapy to work outside of the therapy room but not too long of a break that therapy begins to feel like we are catching up on what has happened in your life in the last two or more weeks. Of course, we understand that it is not always possible to have the means to attend therapy every week or every other week and are open to other arrangements, especially once we have seen each other on some type of regular basis to start with to establish trust and get to know each other. It is normal for the frequency of therapy to decrease over time, as your needs for support decrease in intensity.

Confidentiality

Anything that you tell us in therapy stays with us, with a few notable exceptions. The first is that our students are supervised by Erica directly on a weekly basis. They need to tell Erica anything that is relevant to them supporting the students so that your student therapist can best support you. All of our therapists who have a “C” attached to their license number are candidates and have supervision with an external clinical supervisor at least once a month. They receive support with their cases as well but do not divulge any identifying information to their supervisors.

The only times we would be legally and ethically obligated to report something you’ve told us, possibly but hopefully not without your consent and knowledge, would be:

1. If you have a real and imminent plan to hurt yourself
2. If you have a real and imminent plan to hurt someone else
3. If you inform us that you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected
4.If you inform us that you suspect that an elder is being abused or neglected

The only other time that we would release information about you would be if your records were subpoenaed by a court but we should be able to discuss that well beforehand.

Complaints Process

All therapists at our practice follow the CCPA (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association) Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics (links below). Please feel free to discuss any potential complaints with Erica or Sarah or by contacting the NSCCT (Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists) directly.

Adapted from the NSCCT Complaint Infographic (NSCCT, 2023):

A complaint is an expression of concern about the conduct or actions of a Registered Counselling Therapist (or Registered Counselling Therapist – Candidate or student seeing clients under the license of a Registered Counselling Therapist) related to the care provided or other aspects of the professional counselling relationship. Complaints allege that the counselling therapist did not meet the standards expected by the NSCCT, other members of the profession or the public.

The Complaints Committee reviews complaints about:

– Professional Misconduct (e.g., not acting according to the CCPA Code of Ethics or Standards of Practice)

– Incapacity (e.g., counselling while under the influence of drugs or alcohol)

– Incompetence (e.g., failing to provide proper care)

– Conduct Unbecoming the Profession (e.g., behaving unprofessionally outside of their place of work)

If you have or believe that you may have a complaint to make, please follow these links for more information:

NSCCT Complaint Infographic

Filing a Complaint

CCPA Code of Ethics

CCPA Standards of Practice