Referred By Your Employee Assistance Service?

A Private Service

Why are you coming to see us?

Common reasons for referral are work, family or personal stress. Your Employee Assistance Counsellor will have discussed with you why they have selected Dr. John Swaine and Associates to talk with you or your family. The will have used us in the past, and found us to be helpful with situations such as yours.

Through your Employee Assistance Program, you have short-term access to specialized helping services such as ours.

Why see a private therapist?

Dr. John Swaine and Associates are experienced therapists in private practice.

Your Employee Assistance Counsellor has tried to select a therapist with the best “fit” for you so that you will receive the specific services you need, without a long wait.

Public services often do not provide the kinds of specialized services which you or your family may need. They may have long waiting lists, or for other reasons cannot see you as rapidly as is needed.

Whatever the reason, we welcome the opportunity to be of service to you.

What Will Happen?

What will happen first?

Your first session will be an orientation session and most of this time will be spent in going over current problems, issues and concerns. Having as much background information as possible before this session will, of course, help to save valuable time. You may be asked to fill in some forms to bring to this first meeting.

General feedback about the key issues will be given to you at the conclusion of this initial meeting. This may involve practical suggestions, or recommendations for counselling or psychotherapy sessions.

You may be seen by one of our Associates within the practice.

How can you reach us?

Telephone: (902)469-0048. Messages may be taken; calls will be returned as quickly as possible.

Please note that there are no weekend or emergency services, and that staff may not be immediately available due to other commitments.

If you have special concerns about availability or confidentiality, please discuss them during your first session.

Communication

What about confidentiality?

Ordinarily, the professional work that you undertake with our staff is confidential and any release of file information will only be done with your consent. There are two exceptions:

You need to be aware that your Employee Assistance Counsellor may request general information about your progress to ensure that coverage will be maintained. These may be though brief written reports, or a phone call to your Counsellor. You will be informed about these requests and are entitled to know what is said. Later, the Counsellor may also contact you to see if we have been helpful with your issues

What if you miss an appointment?

A scheduled appointment is time reserved exclusively for you and should be kept, or cancelled well in advance. Missed appointments are not covered by your plan, and you may be billed if they are not cancelled with 24 hours notice.

Reviews

Reviews of goals and progress in counselling will be conducted with you on a regular basis to ensure that we are efficient and keeping on track.

Costs

Who pays?

Your Employee Assistance Counsellor will have explained how much service you are entitled to receive through your plan.

With some plans, the costs for the work done with Dr. John Swaine & Associates will be paid for by the Employee Assistance Service making the referral. They will have already negotiated a reduced rate with us.

With some plans, if you or your partner have private health insurance, your Employee Assistance Service may request that you use this coverage first. That is, to pay for the services yourself (at the reduced rate). You will receive a receipt from us which you can take to your insurer for reimbursement.

Once your private insurance has run out, the Employee Assistance Service may agree to extend their coverage with us, or ask us to refer you to a public service.

If you wish to continue with our service after other resources have run out, we will negotiate a fair fee schedule based on your ability to pay.

Please note: There may be some charges which your insurance will not fully cover, such as preparation of reports or letters, or missed appointments, and these will be your responsibility to pay. You should check with your insurer to see what your plan will cover.

This article has been prepared for your information about the terms and conditions of this practice. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know.

Rev. 02/04