The MWP & Client Agreement

Section A: Informed Consent

 MENTAL WELLNESS SERVICES

Mental Wellness Service (MWS) – in the form of talk therapy – varies depending on the personalities of the provider – Mental Wellness Professional (MWP) – and the client, as well as the particular problems you – the client – bring forward. Various methods and techniques may be used to deal with the problems that you hope to address. It is important to note that Mental Wellness Service, unlike a medical doctor or dentist visit, requires a very active effort on your part. For MWS to be successful, you will have to work on things we talk about both during sessions and at home.

MWS in the form of therapy can have benefits and risks. Since MWS and therapy often involve discussing unpleasant aspects of your life, you may experience uncomfortable feelings like sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, loneliness, and helplessness. On the other hand, psychotherapy – which MWS draws from – has also been shown to have benefits for people who go through it. Therapy often leads to better relationships, solutions to specific problems, and significant reductions in feelings of distress. But due to the subjective nature of MWS and the individualistic factors that play a major role in it, there are no guarantees of what you will experience.

Your first few sessions will involve an evaluation of your needs. By the end of the evaluation, your MWP will be able to offer you some first impressions of what your work will include and a wellness plan to follow if you decide to continue with Mental Wellness Therapy. You should evaluate this information along with your own opinions of whether you feel comfortable working with your assigned MWP. Therapy involves a large commitment of time, money, and energy, so you should be very careful about the MWP you select.

 If you have questions about procedures, discuss them with your MWP.

MEETINGS

An evaluation is conducted from 2 to 4 sessions. If Mental Wellness Therapy is begun, We usually schedule one 45-minute session (one appointment hour of 45 minutes duration) per week at a time previously agreed upon, although some sessions may be more frequent, depending on the service offering you choose and depending on MWP availability. This can be extended by 5 minutes to a total of 50 minutes when needed, on the discretion of the MWP. Once an appointment is scheduled, you will be expected to pay for it unless you provide 4-day advance written notice of cancellation. More information on this will be found in the RRC Policy.

BILLING AND PAYMENTS

You will be expected to pay for each session before it takes place. Payment schedules for other professional services will be agreed to when they are requested. If your account has not been paid for more than 15 days and arrangements for payment have not been agreed upon, we will have the
option to use legal means to secure the payment. This may involve hiring a collection agency or going through court. If such legal action is necessary, its costs will be included in the claim. In most collection situations, the only information released regarding a patient’s treatment is his/her name, the
nature of services provided, and the amount due.

PROFESSIONAL RECORDS

In line with global and Indian standards of care and professionalism, IAMH policy requires that your MWP keep notes of your meetings as records. You may request to receive a summary of your records. Because these are professional records, they can be misinterpreted and/or be upsetting to untrained readers. If you wish to see the summary of your records, it is recommended to do so in presence of your MWP.

Clients will be charged an appropriate fee for any professional time spent responding to information requests. If your MWP feels that you are not in an emotional state to receive these records, a request for them may be denied – however, this may happen only in out of ordinary circumstances as deemed fit by the MWP.

MINORS

If you are under eighteen years of age, please be aware that the law may provide your parents with the right to examine your treatment records.

CONFIDENTIALITY

In general, the privacy of all communications between a patient and a healthcare provider is protected by law, and information about our work to others may only be released with your written permission. 

But there are a few exceptions. For example, in some legal proceedings – such as those involving child custody, or those in which your emotional condition is an important issue, a judge may order a therapist’s testimony if he/she determines that the issues demand it. In such a case, IAMH will be forced to oblige with such legal requests.

There are some situations in which we are legally obligated to take action to protect others from harm, even if some information about a patient’s treatment has to be revealed in the process of doing so. For example, if your therapist believes that a child, elderly person, or disabled person is being abused, we may file a report with the appropriate state agency. 

If we believe that a client or patient is threatening serious bodily harm to another or themselves, we are legally required to notify legal authorities. These actions may include notifying the potential victim, contacting the police, or seeking hospitalization for the client or patient.

Your MWP may occasionally find it helpful to consult other professionals about a case. During a consultation, every effort will be made to avoid revealing the identity of a client/patient.

PROGRESS

Finally, it is important to remember that therapy is not a quick-fix solution. We at IAMH will try our best to provide you with tools (advice, techniques, suggestions) to enable you to solve the problems that you are facing. We cannot, however, guarantee that the problems that you come to us with will be solved. The onus for that lies on you. Please discuss it with your MWP, if you feel that the wellness plan is not working for you even after 2-3 months of therapy. It is also important to note that your MWP will be a trained counsellor/ psychotherapist/ psychologist. 

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION

They may not be a psychiatrist or surgeon. While a psychologist is a trained health care professionals, they may not have formal training in pharmacology and can not prescribe medication. Thus, if you receive any advice or suggestions for any medications from your MWP – treat that as general educational information and not specific medical advice, and please discuss any such medication with a licensed medical doctor (and obtain a prescription for the same from them, if necessary) before using them.

BOUNDARIES

It is important to make sure that you and your therapist maintain certain boundaries to ensure there is no bias that decreases the efficacy of your therapy. Please do not contact your MWP outside the session time allocated to you. 

If you feel there is an urgent query, you may only contact your MWP via their official e-mail ID, and remember that they may choose to reply to the email only based on their discretion, and their decision may very well be influenced by their caseloads and other factors.

Similarly, clients are requested not to add or communicate with their therapist on social media websites while therapy is ongoing. A strictly professional relationship must be maintained, and any outside communication may act as grounds for the dismissal of the MWP or refusal of service. 

IAMH is NOT a crisis service. If you need immediate medical help or are in an emergency, contact your local emergency services. 

YOUR CONSENT

Your use of our services indicates that you have read the information in this document and agree to abide by its terms during our professional relationship. It also means that the information you have provided to us is accurate to the best of your knowledge and that you have read and understood the Return, Refund and Cancellation policy, terms and conditions and Privacy Policy mentioned on the iamh.in website.