Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub
Terms & Conditions
Terms for therapy
1. These terms
1.1 These are the terms and conditions on which we provide Cognitive Analytic Therapy (the Services) to you.
1.2 Please read these terms carefully especially clause 8 (Cancellation) before
you book an appointment for the Services with us. These terms tell you who we are,
how we will provide Services to you, how you and we may change or end the
contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think
that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.
2. Information about us and how to contact us
2.1 We are Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub, founded by Dr Lydia Mariner, Consultant Psychiatrist and CAT practitioner.
2.2 Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub is not a service for people in crisis. If you
are contemplating suicide or believe you are at risk of harming yourself or
others please go to Accident & Emergency or contact your local emergency
services.
2.3 If you are under the age of 18, you must ask a parent or guardian to register
with us and both you and your parent/guardian must sign these Terms.
2.4 You can contact us by writing to lydia.mariner@gmail.com
2.5 If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at
the email address or postal address you provided to us.
2.6 When we use the words ‘writing’ or ‘written’ in these terms, this includes emails.
3. Our contract with you
3.1 Our acceptance of your order will take place when we email you to accept it,
at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.
3.2 If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this in writing and
will not charge you for the Service. This might be because we have not got capacity
to take on more patients at this time or because of other restrictions on our ability to
perform the Services.
3.3 We will accept your typed full name as your signature on these terms.
4. Who we are and the standards we operate to
4.1. Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub’s therapist is Dr Lydia Mariner who has
experience working with people with physical or mental health difficulties in NHS
mental health services and hospitals. Please see Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub for
more information.
4.2 Dr Lydia Mariner is registered with the General Medical Council (GMC 7304193),
a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) and a member of the association
of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (ACAT) and must comply with a range of standards of conduct, performance and ethics in order to maintain her practicing registration.
5. Confidentiality
5.1 Your therapist respects the boundaries of confidentiality and will
not disclose information to a third party unless you have given your permission to do
so. In rare cases, your information may be shared without your permission if there is
a concern about your safety or the safety of someone else, including a child or a
vulnerable adult. Information may also be shared without your permission if it is in
the public interest, such as if it is necessary to protect public safety or prevent harm
to other people. In such cases the standards of the General Medical Council (GMC)
will be followed. More information can be found at https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/good-medical-practice.
5.1.2. Your therapist is required to carry out continuing professional development, and
to engage in regular on-going clinical supervision. This is to ensure an ethical and professional
service to clients. Your therapist may discuss your case in supervision.
5.2. Some information needs to be shared by your therapist for financial purposes and
accountancy.
5.3. We comply with all relevant data protection legislation (including the Data
Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)).
Psychologist in Cambridge is DPA and GDPR compliant. Please see our Privacy
Policy for more information about how we protect your data.
5.4. What you say during an online therapy is confidential. You also have your
own responsibility to ensure confidentiality.
5.4.1. The therapist will make sure that the physical room used for the online sessions is
confidential and that the sessions cannot be overheard by anyone else.
5.4.2. You are responsible for making sure that the physical place where you access
Zoom is confidential. You are also responsible for the confidentiality of your computer
and any other electronic equipment that you use.
5.4.3. You are not permitted to live stream or record or distribute any audio and
visual images from the sessions without our agreement. We are not permitted to live
stream or record or distribute any audio and visual images from the sessions without
your agreement. If either party wish to record sessions then (i) both parties must
have agreed to this in advance of the session and (ii) such agreement must be
recorded in writing.
5.5 Notes taken by the therapist during sessions will be written by
hand and stored in a locked filing cabinet. All typewritten letters and reports will be
written on a password-protected computer. If sent by email, files will be sent from a
encrypted and secured email account.
5.6 Your psychological notes will be kept for 7 years and then confidentially
destroyed. Except in the circumstances outlined in clause 5.1, your data will not be
used for anything other than our psychological work together. You have the right to
access your notes at any time provided that a request is made in writing to us prior to
their destruction.
5.7 Your therapist will only pass on information to a third party (usually
as a report) when requested to do so and with your agreement.
5.8 If you require that certain information is not disclosed in the report you must
make this clear to us in writing before the report is written. Your therapist
will usually write reports with your collaboration in order to promote transparency and
honesty through the therapy process.
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6. Financing our Services
We’re aware that you will be paying for our Services yourself (self-funding).
6.1 Self-funding
6.1.1. If you are paying for the Services yourself, payment for each session should
be made when booking your appointment via the Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub
website or on the day of the appointment by bank transfer.
6.1.2. If you pay by bank transfer. Please use your last name as the
reference, so that the payment can be easily identified. (i) Please note that we will
not send you a notice by email alone that our bank details have changed during the
course of a transaction; (ii) Any such email you may receive will not have come from
us and should be reported to the police and to us immediately. (iii) Please be
careful to check bank account details with us in person if in any doubt. We will not
accept responsibility if you transfer money into an incorrect account.
7. Fees
7.1. The fees for therapy sessions vary depending on your needs of treatment.
Please contact Dr Lydia Mariner for more detailed information.
7.2. Invoices must be paid on the due date indicated on the invoice. Cancellation
Fees must be paid on the due date of the invoice.
7.3. We may suspend supply of the Services if you do not pay. If you do not pay us
for the Services when you are supposed to or do not pay an invoice when it’s due
and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is
due, we may suspend your therapy sessions until you have paid us the outstanding
amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending your therapy sessions.
As well as suspending your therapy sessions we can also charge you interest on
your overdue payments (see clause 7.4).
7.4. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date we may charge an
administrative fee mentioned in your invoice plus interest to you on the overdue
amount at the rate of 4% a year. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the
due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before
or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
8. Cancellations
8.1. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you have a cancellation
period of 14 days in which you can change your mind (this is known as the cooling
off period). You have 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your
order in which to cancel the contract. However, once we have completed the
Services you cannot change your mind, even if the period is still running. If you
cancel after we have started the Services, you must pay us for the Services provided
up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind. This means that if you
request that the therapy starts during the cancellation period you can still cancel
within the 14 day period but you will have to pay us for the therapy sessions which
have taken place.
8.2. To ensure our high standards in our treatment for our clients, we recommend
that therapy sessions occur on a regular basis. We will agree their frequency with
you we ask you to commit to this. Since we lose money if an appointment is
cancelled on short notice if, after the cooling off period has expired, you wish to
cancel an appointment you must give us at least one week notice (for example, if
you wish to cancel an appointment on a Monday you must notify us on Monday of
the previous week). Cancellations of appointments made with less than a week
notice will result in a cancellation fee equal to the cost of the missed session
(Cancellation Fee). If you fail to attend a therapy session without notice you will be
charged the Cancellation Fee.
9. Online therapy sessions
9.1. The medium through which the therapy sessions are to take place are online
face to face with Zoom (www.zoom.us). You can find out more about the way in
which Zoom protects your personal information by reading Zoom’s privacy policy
9.2. The contact details which you provide to Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub must be
correct and you agree to promptly notify us of any changes to your contact details.
9.3. When you have a verified booking for an appointment for a therapy session, you
will receive an email prior to it. In this email you receive confirmation of your booking
on the agreed day and time, with a personal Zoom invitation via a link and
instructions on how to join the session. You are responsible for saving this email and
link. If you have not received an email about the confirmation within 48 hours
(working days) please check your junk mail/spam folder. If you are unable to find the
link in your junk mail/spam folder, then please contact us.
9.4. To use Zoom properly, you must have the necessary hardware, software and
reliable internet access. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for
you to have; (i) downloaded and have access to Zoom; and (ii) ensuring your
internet connection will allow you to access Zoom and is sufficiently reliable for the
duration of the session. We will not be responsible for delays in commencing
sessions or interruptions to sessions caused by problems with Zoom. We will not
extend a therapy session due to problems with your internet connection or hardware
which affect your ability to connect to Zoom.
9.5. You are responsible for being on time to your therapy session. We recommend
that you are connected to Zoom via the link you received in your confirmation email
and have checked the image and sound at least 2 minutes before the session is due
to commence. We will not extend a therapy session if you are late joining the
session.
9.6. At times the session may be interrupted by technical glitches which are beyond
the control of either you or us. If the session drops out the therapist will
try to reconnect the session for the next 10 minutes. If they are unable to do so due
to technical glitches the session will continue by telephone.
9.7. It is recommended the use of headphones during the session as it helps to keep
confidentiality and generally improve the sound’s quality of the call.
10. Email and Telephone Policy
10.1. The use or emails and calls it is mostly limited to administrative reasons such
as changing or cancelling and appointment. Your therapist will use emails
to share information previously agreed during your therapy session.
10.2 If necessary, your therapist can receive email communication in the
form of confidential reports and letters, and/or additional information. Your therapist
may also make or receive telephone calls related to your therapy or
speak to you on the telephone.
10.3 Such additional work as is set out in clause 10.1 shall incur an additional fee.
Such fees will be calculated as the hourly fee charged for your therapy (Hourly Fee)
multiplied by the time spent. These additional charges must be paid by you. We will invoice
these fees to you. Invoices must be paid in accordance with clause 7.2 above.
10.4. Your therapist cannot guarantee rapid responses to email communication due to the
high volume of emails received.
10.5 . It is important to be aware that communications of a clinical nature and
especially clinical decision-making will not be encouraged or engaged in by your
therapist via email and telephone. Clinical conversations are best communicated face-to-face
during your scheduled online appointment.
11. Prior to your initial appointment
11.1. Prior to your first appointment we may send you a questionnaire to complete to
help us more fully understand the background to your current concerns. This is a
detailed document about your situation or that of your family and we ask that it is
completed and either (a) scanned and returned by email or (b) returned by post prior
to your first appointment.
12. Anti-Discrimination Policy
12.1. Your therapist respects difference and diversity. Differences include
sexuality, sexual preference or orientation, religion, political beliefs, ethnicity,
disability, gender expression or age.
13. Health and Safety
13.1. Your therapist will take the utmost care and due diligence when
working with you as a client and will adhere to all the health and safety regulations
within the framework appropriate for online therapy.
14. Complaints
14.1. We hope you will never have to complain about the service provided by
Cognitive Analytic Therapy Hub but if you do have a concern please put it in writing to
Dr Lydia Mariner at lydia.mariner@gmail.com.
15. Other important terms
15.1 This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to
enforce any of its terms.
15.2 Each of the clauses of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant
authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will
remain in full force and effect.
15.3 If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do
under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your
breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and
it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss
a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the Services, we can
still require you to make the payment at a later date.
15.4 These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings
in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring
legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English
courts. If you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of
the products in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.
16. Endings
16.1 Therapy can at times be demanding, frustrating, and emotional. You may at
times find this process difficult and feel the need to end it. If you feel unhappy with
any aspects of the treatment being offered, please do try and communicate this
verbally to your therapist. This gives your therapist and you the chance to address
and resolve engagement issues. If you are attending for open ending therapy you
will probably know when you are ready to finish it, and your therapist and you will
agree together on the work you both need to do to prepare for this.
16.2 Your therapist will not suddenly or without warning terminate this contract,
except in exceptional circumstances, which would become clear in the course of the
work together. This would be fully discussed at that time. Please note any threats or
acts of violence will invalidate this agreement and therapy will cease. Sessions will
not take place if you arrive under the influence of alcohol, drug or non-prescribed
medication.