Our Clinic Policies
Please be familiar with our clinic policies.
Payment Policies
We value you and we also value own time.
Appointments
Full payment is required at the time of the appointment. We are unable to book further appointments until the account is settled. Clients run the risk of their appointments being removed /cancelled due to unpaid accounts.
Any financial arrangements for payments in the case of separated families is the responsibility of the family and or their legal parties. BMP does not get Involved In parent disputes relating to payment of appointments.
Request for Reports & Assessments
Full payment is required when a report is requested in order for us to proceed. We do not start the assessment process or report writing process until the requested report is fully paid for.
We are not a Bulk Billing Service.
We have Eftpos and Medicare facilities.
We are a NDIS Registered Provider.
Non- Emergency Service Non- Crisis Centre
Practice Policy - Emergencies or Crisis
Brilliant Minds Psychology is a private practice and unfortunately, phone support is not available in-between sessions. We are therefore not an appropriate service for high risk clients .
Please note we do not provide Emergency Appointments and we are not a crisis centre.
Emergency or Crisis:
In the event of an emergency call 000, the emergency department at your local hospital.
Other Services:. - Call 1300 MH CALL (1300 64 22 55) for your local public mental health service. - for children younger than 18 years of age please contact The Acute Response Team based at Children's Hospital Queensland (07) 3068 2550 (Open 24 hours).
Practice Policy: Zero Tolerance for Abuse
Our Team has the right to provide services in a safe and psychologically safe environment. We have a duty of care to our team members and other clients that access our services to ensure our environment is safe. We do not accept anit-social behaviour. Anyone found to be engaging in the below conduct will be refused services at our clinic.
Our Practice Policy is that we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone that is:
- abusive (also includes aggressive communication verbal, yelling, insults, slaming doors, written and or aggressive non-verbal behaviours)
- Intimidating, humiliating or threatening emails or conduct
- intimidating, harrassing behaviour
- threatening in any way to any of our team members. This includes verbal and nonverbal aggression towards any of our team members or other clientelle.
- Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. - Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
- Damaging property
We Reserve to Right to Refuse Serivce to anyone that makes our staff feel physically or psychologically unsafe. We believe in having a kind and friendly environment and there is no excuse for aggressive behaviour.
We will not Tolerate Any Abuse!
THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE!
Covid Safe Plan
- We hope you are all well and staying safe during this time. It is certainly a challenging time that we are living in. We ask that you please read this email in full to ensure you are aware of your options and our procedures at Brilliant Minds Psychology. In order to protect our clients, employees, and community we have implemented important procedures to minimise risk. We have implemented our COVID SAFE Plan which all employees are required to abide by. Please note all our team is fully vaccinated and will be wearing masks on site. We also spray our premises regularly with hospital grade detergent. At this stage, we will continue to provide in-clinic appointments, however we will need to limit the number of people on site. Our preference currently due to the increase of individuals contracting COVID is Telehealth Appointments, this is certainly the safest way to receive therapy during this time. We do encourage you to use Telehealth where and when possible. We are providing both in clinic and Telehealth appointments during this time, however our preference due to the increase infection rate of COVID is Telehealth appointments..
- For Clients Attending the Brilliant Minds Psychology Clinic
- If you choose to enter the Brilliant Minds Psychology clinic the following applies:
- We ask that ONLY the person with the appointment enter the clinic (if a child, 1 parent is permitted at a time). Please do not bring additional family members.
- We ask that you do not wait outside the clinic in the hallway, or sit on the stairwell as stated above please wait in your car.
- We have been advised by Springwood Tower Management that it is not permitted to wait downstairs in the lobby or on the staircases.
- We ask that you do not to attend the clinic if you are unwell with flu like symptoms.
- We ask that you keep your distance with others of 1.5 metres.
- When you enter and leave the clinic please use HAND SANITISER or wash your hands.
- Masks. Children over 12 and adults entering our clinic are required to wear a mask at all times.
- We thank you for your understanding during this very difficult time. We have a Zero Tolerance for Abuse. Please be Kind to Our Staff
Cancellation Policy & When a Client Cancels consecutive appointments & Non Attendance/No Show
We value you as a client, and we also value our own time. We also value our clients on our wait list that have been often waiting a long time to see a therapist.
If you can not attend your appointment, we ask that you please email or phone us, or cancel your booking online with 48 hours notice. This gives us enough time to offer the appointment to someone else that may be waiting to see a therapist. We understand that sometimes circumstances make it difficult to cancel with enough notice, this is assessed on an individual basis.Cancellations fees will apply. Our cancellation policy is the full fee of your appointment will be charged.
When a Client Cancels Consecutive Appointments or No Show/No Contact
When our clients first book, we try when possible to reserve a number of appointments to ensure ongoing sessions with your therapist. However, when a client cancels 2-3 consecutive appointments our policy is to cancel future appointments and for the client to contact us as needed for appointments. This is to ensure we can offer these appointments to other clients on our waiting list. However, in such cases if we receive no communication we reserve the right to cancel remainding appointments and to use our own discretion.
No Show/Non Attendance: If a client fails to attend an appointment without contacting the clinic or 'no show' or 'no attendance' - we reserve the right to cancel all future appointments at our discretion.
Family Disputes, Legal Matters, Court Reports, Court Orders & Mediation
Our clinic does not provide court reports.
We do not take the role of mediator with parents undering court proceedings, legal disputes, child custody disputes or mediation. In addition, any financial arrangements for payments in the case of separated families is the responsibility of the family.
BMP does not get Involved In parent disputes relating to payment of appointments. Payment is required at the time of appointment.
Shared Parental Responsibility:With separated /divorced parents undergoing legal proceedings we do require consent forms signed from both parents.
When there is shared parental responsibility we require consent forms signed by both parents to proceed with child psychology appointments.
We do not get involved in parenting disputes.We reserve the right to refuse ongoing appointments when our Policies are not adhered to.
Medicare Expired Referrals
It is the responsibility of the client's or parent of child client's to ensure that the referral is valid if you wish to receive a Medicare Rebate. Please ensure you checking with Medicare how many sessions you have used or keep track of this yourself.
Confidentiality & Release of Information
We value our clients privacy.
We are guided by Privacy Laws and do not release any information without Informed Consent for our client or unless Subpoened by a Court of Law.
When a third party contacts our clinic and requests information, this message is conveyed.
In the case of separated families, we encourage both parents to be involved when possible unless a Court Order has stated otherwise. However, it is not our role to share information relating to appointments or to take a mediator role between parents.
We believe children have the right to have access to a safe place to share their feelings and thoughts that is safe.
Confidentiality of Young People
The Australian Psychological Society has ethical guidelines for psychologist working with young people in child and adolescent mental health. Young person means a child under the age of 18 years. The following are the legal and ethical considerations for psychologists when working with young people and are based on extracts from the APS guidelines.
- All personal information is subject to the Privacy Act of 2002.
- All client records are kept securely.
- Informed Consent is required
- Information on diagnosis and intervention suggestions is provided to the referring practitioner (GP, psychiatrist, paedatrician)
- Confidentiality is needed between children, and adolescent and their psychologist. This means that the parent will not be told from the psychologist information shared by the child/adolescent. However, this is discussed further with the child and adolescents, in most cases a general overview of what was covered may be provided (e.g., today we focused on helpful thoughts, strategies to increase mood etc) where deemed appropriate. This is discussed in your first session with the psychologist.
- Clinicians will encourage a teenager to talk with their parent, but will break confidentiality only when the child's safety is at risk.