Rights of users of psychological services:

• You have the right to ask your psychologist if he or she is currently registered with the HPCSA and to see his or her current registration card. It is a transgression of the law if a person uses title “psychologist” if he or she is not currently registered with the HPCSA. Unregistered psychologists should be reported immediately.
• You have the right to ask your psychologist about the category he or she is registered and if the category is relevant for your needs.
• You have the right to see the ethical code for psychologists.
• You have the right to request information from the psychologist about any aspects of the professional services that is delivered, including psychological tests, guidance and psychotherapy.
• You have the right to know what fees will be charged and payment terms required by the psychologist. You may request a different fee or payment structure, although the psychologist may not be in a position to accept these. Some psychologists give a discount for immediate settlement of fees. If you experience a problem paying for the services, or expect difficulties with payment, you should discuss this with the psychologist as soon as possible in order to get a different arrangement.
• You have the right to decline participation in any procedure that you are not comfortable with. You have the right to protect your autonomy and integrity.
• You have the right to expect confidentiality from the psychologist (in other words the psychologist may not give information about you without your written consent).
• You have the right to discuss the limitations of confidentiality with your psychologist. Confidentiality may be limited by a court of law, where evidence must be delivered, in an emergency situation where your own or other people are in danger, or mental health situations that require immediate action. Further to these limits on confidentiality, some medical aids require accurate diagnosis before payment is made. Should you withhold your consent to making the information available, you must realise that the medical aid will not pay your account.
• You have the right to terminate treatment at any stage.
• Should you be dissatisfied with the services delivered by your psychologist, or you are of the opinion that the service was delivered in an unprofessional manner, you have the choice if you wish, to not get involved in a formal hearing. You may request that an informal investigation into your complaint be done. Please direct your request to the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA). This organisation does not have any legal powers over psychologists, but strives to solve complaints between psychologists and clients.
• Alternatively, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the council for psychologists. The council has legal power to conduct a disciplinary hearing and to take disciplinary steps against psychologists.   All complains must be lodge in writing. Should there be a formal hearing, you could be called upon to deliver testimony at the hearing.

Formal complaints can be directed to:

The Registrar
Council for Psychologists
P O Box 205
Pretoria
0001

This practice adheres to the ethical principles of psychologists, please see declaration of ethical principles.

Declaration of ethical principles

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Practise social media policy:
Friend requests
The psychologist will not accept any friend requests on any social networking sites (facebook, whatsapp, twitter, linkedin, ect). Adding friends on these sites may compromise confidentiality and privacy.

Communication
Please contact the psychologist through the telephone numbers provided. Do not use sms/messages on cell phones, twitter, whatsapp, facebook or any other social networking sites for these sites are not secure. This compromises the confidential relationship of the psychologist and client. No messages will be replied to.

Email
No report or feedback will be e mailed to any client. The use of email will only be to arrange or make changes to appointments. No email will be answered relating to therapy sessions for these emails are not secure and it will be a breach of the confidentiality agreement.