Counsellor/Psychotherapist charging before appointment

D3nn!s

Hi,

Just wondering if other people have come across this, or is even normal behaviour of counsellors/psychotherapists. I recently attended an appointment and was made pay €80 before the session so that "I can leave straight away" and that I would not be holding up the queue of people. I have been there 4 times now, and have never seen another person in there on arrival or when I left. Counsellor offices are generally known for being quiet and discrete sort of places from my experience anyway.

It just comes across as a bit disingenuous, and possibly cynical. Any GP, dentist, physio, or any other counselling service I have been to requires that you pay after.

The only thing I think of is that the counsellor may have had people refuse to pay after a poor or unhelpful session. Let's just say, I could see this happening, from dealing with him (am only going because he is the only one I can get without a 6-12 waiting list, but that's a wider problem in the country I think). In the same way that if you hired a painter to paint something one colour and they did another, you probably wouldn't pay them.

Now maybe this is usual behaviour, but my gut sort of tells me something is off here.

So any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

manonboard

Yeah my therapist requires upfront payment before a session. I was going to pay them an hour later anyways, so it didnt actually change anything for me.

Since I knew they were going to provide a service of an hour of their time, I viewed it as them just having healthy boundaries.

Its always possible a patient may not pay, but its almost unheard of that a therapist would not show up or would leave early. I think it makes a lot of sense.

Sometimes people are an emotional mess after a session, so it also makes sense from that pov i think. I personally dont want to be interacting with some receptionist or money matters after a session.

I think its not disingenuous at all since its announced up front, clearly communicated, and has multiple pros but no disadvantages i can see. I think thats just an emotional reaction maybe to an unexpected boundary. Do you feel it was implying something about your character or something? I suspect its a catch all type of rule, and not in any way meant to imply something about any specific individual.

D3nn!s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119387916#Comment_119387916

Well the disadvantage that is obvious to me is that you don't have the option not to pay for something that you didn't get anything out of, which you should have the option to, I feel. In most lines of work, if I didn't do what a customer asked/expected, I wouldn't expect to get paid, until I did do what they asked/expected.

I am not trying to say this anything specific to me or my character.

On the not turning up thing, I have had a therapist cancel on me twice. Once a couple of hours before, then the following week, 1 day before. And ironically they have a policy where they charge you the full amount of you don't cancel with 48 hours. I was offered no reimbursement or free session for either.

gipi

For what it's worth, since the pandemic, my GP requires payment when I check in at reception now (before I see the GP).

manonboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388063#Comment_119388063

Well most therapy is almost entirely client driven, if a client doesnt get something from it. Its pretty rare and extreme that it would be the therapist fault. To me, what you describe is similar to going to a doctor and not liking that they dont give you the medicine/diagnosis you want. It doesn't matter. You aren't paying to get what you want, you are paying for the therapist to give you what they believe is their role. After that, you have the option to not attend again. I think what you said actually confirms why they operate that policy.

Can you imagine the amount of people that show up who believe the therapist is suppose to solve their problems, and its not their own fault/responsibility. Heck, a huge portion of therapy is about learning that particular trait.

manonboard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388063#Comment_119388063

wait, did you pay for the two sessions in advance and were not re-funded? Or do you mean that you wanted compensation for NOT having a session?

if the second, then thats just crazy talk to me. You are not providing them a service, so they dont owe you anything for NOT giving you a service... other than a polite apology and effort to reschedule.

D3nn!s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388732#Comment_119388732

Well to be fair, you have not been in any of my therapy sessions, and probably not inside of the sessions of any one else either, so you cannot say "Its pretty rare and extreme that it would be the therapist fault", as you simply don't have evidence of that. I would say in most situations you're right but like in any profession, you simply have some people who are not good at what they do, and while it's probably not likely, it's probably not "pretty rare" either.

On the cancelling thing, my point is that I feel the customer's time is as valuable as theirs. The customer would have have had to clear as much if not more to get there and do the session. The customer is not providing a service as such, but is providing the money that pays their wages. What they owe the customer for is wasting their time that could have spent elsewhere, giving that they would do they same to the customer. Just to be clear, if they weren't imposing a penalty, I don't think the customer should be compensated, but if they are insisting on it like they are, then it should swing both ways, I feel.

On your GP analogy, I think it depends on the situation. Some of them are not too competent either. I have been to a GP who was unable to read a number from a weighing scale correctly, and measured my height from my eyeline! So in a situation like that, I would really question what I am paying for too. I think you have to take it on a case by case basis, though. And in from my experience, I actually have a lot more respect for GPs than counsellors in general. But that's just me.

Notmything

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119388063#Comment_119388063

So, I turn up for counseling, and afterwards can say "sorry that was sh1t I'm not paying" and go on my merry way. Yeah seems legit.

It's not like painting or DIY where you can see the job was not done rightly so unfair comparison imo