I am very happy to be able to offer Face to Face therapy sessions again, now the remaining lockdown restrictions in England have been lifted and the legal requirements around wearing face masks and social distancing have been removed.
However, I am aware that not everyone has had, or is able to have the two doses of vaccine and there are worries about the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Therefore, I am taking the following precautions in my therapy room for Face to Face clients.
Health Precautions:
- Seating in the therapy room has been arranged for appropriate physical distancing.
- We will maintain safe distancing.
- I will be taking regular lateral flow tests
- Good ventilation is maintained in the therapy room
- Soap dispensers are maintained in the bathroom
- Hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol is available in the therapy room and on entering the building
- I schedule appointments at specific intervals to avoiding clients crossing paths and to allow time for cleaning between clients
- I ask that you arrive at your appointment time and not earlier.
- I am happy for you/us to wear a face mask if this would make you comfortable and I can provide masks for the session.
- Credit card pads, pens and other areas that are commonly touched are thoroughly sanitised after each use. Contactless payment is preferred where possible.
- Physical contact is not permitted.
- Tissues and rubbish bins are easily accessed and disinfected after each session.
- Rubbish is disposed of on a frequent basis.
- Common areas are thoroughly disinfected on a regular basis.
Stopping Face to Face appointments:
If there is a resurgence of the pandemic or if other health concerns arise, I may require that we meet online (Zoom or Skype)or by phone. If you have concerns about meeting online, we will talk about it first and try to address any issues. You understand that, if I believe it is necessary, I may determine that we return to online sessions for everyone’s well-being.
If you decide at any time that you would feel safer staying with or returning to, online services, I will respect that decision, as long as it is feasible and clinically appropriate.
Risks of Opting for In-Person Services:
You understand that by coming to the therapy room, you are assuming the risk of exposure to the coronavirus (or other public health risks). This risk may increase if you travel by public transportation.
My Responsibility to Minimise Exposure:
To obtain services in person, I agree to take certain precautions which will help keep everyone you, me, and our families, safer from exposure, sickness and possible death. We will only keep your in-person appointment if you are symptom-free so please adhere to the following.
- You will not attend a session if you have a high temperature.
- You will wait in your car or outside until our appointment time.
- You will wash your hands or use alcohol-based hand sanitiser when you enter the building.
- We will adhere to the safe distancing precautions we have set up in the waiting room and therapy room.
- You will wear a mask until you are seated in the therapy room.
- We will keep a distance of 6 feet and there will be no physical contact (e.g. no shaking hands).
- We will try not to touch our face or eyes with our hands. Or immediately wash or sanitize our hands.
- We will take steps between appointments to minimize our exposure to COVID.
- If we are exposed to other people who are infected, we will inform each other.
- If a resident of your home on mine tests positive for the infection, we will inform each other.
I may change the above precautions if additional local, or government guidelines are published. If that happens, we will talk about any necessary changes.
If You or I Are Sick or have symptoms:
You understand that I am committed to keeping you, me, and all of our families safe from the spread of this virus. If you show up for an appointment and I believe that you have a fever or other symptoms, or believe you have been exposed, I will have to require you to leave the office immediately. We can follow up with services by Zoom as appropriate.
If I test positive for the coronavirus, I will notify you so that you can take appropriate precautions.
Your Confidentiality in the Case of Infection:
If you have tested positive for the coronavirus, I may be required to notify local health authorities that you have been in the therapy room. If I have to report this, I will only provide the minimum information necessary for their data collection and will not go into any details about the reason(s) for our visits. In attending face to face sessions you are agreeing that I may do so without an additional signed release.
Alternative options for therapy sessions:
- I am happy to offer online therapy sessions to anyone who requests it regardless of whether you have symptoms.
- Please contact me in advance if you wish to arrange an online session and I will send you a link to access this service. I use a secure GDPR-compliant online platform called Zoom. I am also happy to use Skype.