STATUTE

Before or during the consultation, please read the following regulations. Continuation of meetings after the consultation stage means acceptance of the regulations.

You can find all the information about my competences in conducting psychotherapy in bookmarks: About me and Certificates.

1. Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a process that has a planned course and purpose. What is important about it is its predictability and continuity. At the same time, the therapist adjusts as necessary to the dynamics of the process and the needs of the patient in terms of the frequency of sessions. The process should not be interrupted, as this can result in ineffective psychotherapy. However, as a therapist, I am flexible in terms of setting the terms and conditions of psychotherapy and open to possible negotiation of rates when the patient’s situation requires it.

2. General principles of psychotherapy

a. Punctuality

b. Payment

Payment in advance by the 5th of each month for the agreed number of sessions in a given month to the account number provided, after the consultation stage (3-4 initial meetings).

Due to the payment in advance for a given month, it is mandatory that the scheduled sessions take place during the month, they are not carried over to the next month. Exceptions from this rule are possible in the case of patient stays in the hospital or other serious emergencies.

c. Absences

From my side

They are announced at least one week before. For longer absences, I inform with a minimum of one month before. If a session is unexpectedly canceled for my reason, I can offer a session at another time.

From your side

A session canceled on the day it was supposed to be held is full-fee, unless we can arrange another date, in the same week..

If you don’t attend psychotherapy and by the next session I don’t receive information explaining the situation, then I treat it as a resignation from therapy. After the first such absence, I issue a receipt, which I send along with a message asking you to explain the absence. If there is no response from you by the next session, then I treat it as a resignation and you can’t return to therapy for another six months (unless the agreement made individually with you says otherwise).

Please notify me of your absence at least one week in advance. Sessions canceled in this way are free of charge and there can be 8 sessions per year. Sessions canceled without proper notice are full-fee (except, of course, for holidays or days off). The goal is to maintain the continuity of the process.

d. Drugs

You can’t come to therapy sessions under the influence of any intoxicants. Sessions canceled for this reason are full-fee. This means that you should not overuse alcohol the day before the session or take other drugs that modify the picture of reality. This is a rule for people who I know may be relieving their emotions through the use of psychoactive substances.

If you have an active addiction, you should inform me at the consultation stage. Please be aware, that I do not work with addicts. Only about six months of abstinence makes it possible to start psychotherapy in my office.

e. Therapeutic relationship

It is an isolated relationship from daily, normal life. This means that it is limited to the office only. This may be difficult for you, but it makes the therapeutic relationship safe. It is built by two sides, so it is very important that both feel comfortable and safe.

It is important to have open communication and honesty. Without them, without talking about what is happening and what hurts, the therapeutic relationship will not bring any measurable benefits, as it is supposed to lead to working through difficult issues. A limitation of this relationship is its unique nature, which means that I can’t conduct simultaneous processes of people who know each other or are related to each other.

f. Professional secrecy and confidentiality

I am obligated by professional secrecy, which I can only break if there is a real threat to the patient’s health or life, or if the law is broken or the law mandates it. Any notes and your data are for review only by me. My notes, if I take them, do not contain any information that would enable you to be identified.

Both sides agree to keep the information concerning the therapeutic process confidential. The information can only be disclosed to persons or institutions authorized to do so such as doctors, hospitals or supervisors.

g. Authorization of relatives to contact

If there is a real risk of self-harm, life-threatening or suicide attempts, please designate and authorize a person with whom I can contact and provide information about such a threat. It is then possible to have a family or couples counseling in order to support the system in which such a person and his or her loved ones find themselves. There must be consent from the patient for this type of consultation.

h. Contact with me between sessions

On days when sessions are not held, in extreme situations, you can email me or text me on WhatsApp. If I can, I respond as soon as possible. Potentially, this is material to work on for the next session. I also delete such messages regularly, unless they provide a continuous basis for therapeutic work.

i. Working with a psychiatrist

If necessary, I may refer the patient for additional tests or suggest contacting a psychiatrist for diagnosis and/or pharmacotherapy. In such circumstances, I will ask for permission to contact the doctor.

j. Rate negotiations

I am open to temporary rate negotiations, tailored to your current living situation.

3. Consultations

During the consultation, you outline the problem or troublesome symptom. We also explore areas that are making it difficult to function in a satisfying way. You build some foundation in your life story so that I can create your individual picture and outline a possible work plan. We also establish rules for the work, its frequency and the initial length of the process. We include the agreed rules in the therapeutic contract.

Consultations are not the same as psychotherapy, which is a coherent process with a defined course and focus on change. They can last from a few to as many as a dozen sessions and do not end with psychotherapy. However, it is important to let me know right away whether you expect psychotherapy or consultation.

4. Interventions

Interventions are a way of support that is an emergency assistance in crisis situations. It is directive and based on seeking additional opportunities for support in the system in which the patient functions. Interventions may require a higher frequency of meetings and turn into a process of therapy, which is suggested.

5. Psychotherapy of sexual disorders:

In the case of sexual problems, I work mainly with women and transgender people, after they have been through the process of gender correction to a gender that is consistent with the inner experience of self.

I do not work with people who are addicted to pornography, with perpetrators of sexual violence and with people suffering from deep sexual disorders, such as disturbed sexual preferences, fetishism, perversions, paraphilias, BDSM etc. Such difficulties should be reported as early as the consultation stage.

6. General (payments, turnarounds, group therapy).

Psychotherapist does not provide refunds for discontinued therapy (payments take place in advance each month). Paid sessions must be held on the scheduled dates. You can always reschedule a session or, in extreme situations, make it up in another month.

It is not recommended to stop the therapy, because it makes the process much more difficult. Alternatively, you can reduce its frequency for a while. It is good to establish this at the last session of the month.

The psychotherapist agrees to hold meetings once every six months at the office in a place where she happens to have the opportunity (probably one weekend or a week in a particular city, in Poland or in another country. Keep an eye on Facebook and other social media).

For couples and some patients, there are turnarounds, e.g. meetings every day for 2 weeks, even up to a month, either stationary or online. It is necessary to inform me right away when signing up. Usually, meetings will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for 6 days a week.

For group therapy, there is secrecy regarding personal information. You can also change your personal information at the group and give it to the therapist. I predict group size to be 8-12 people, meetings once a week or every two weeks, on Fridays from 5 to 8 pm with a 20-minute break.

Group therapy involves several stages — a qualification stage already during registration (filling out a form, brief interview), a getting-to-know-you stage in the form of 1-3 meetings for the group, an opening stage (for topics to emerge), a diagnostic stage, a therapeutic stage, and a concluding stage with a planned supportive stage. It can last up to about six months. It is designed for people who do not have clinical symptoms and are not at risk of suicide. They may be individually managed patients.

Payments should be made in advance by the 12th of the month for the agreed number of sessions in a given month.