Policy
Successful relationships are based on clear policies and procedures, so I provide a careful, detailed outline of my policy at The Blooming Practice in the Informed Consent and Counselling Services Contract and Financial Agreement for clients to thoroughly read through and review, before signing and sending it back to me before our first session can take place.
She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes.
Arundhati Roy
Rates and Payment
Visit the Individual Counselling, Couples Counselling, and Group Counselling pages to find out about the fees charged.
Please note that I reserve the right to offer discounts on fees and rates to clients at my discretion.
Payment for each session needs to be made within 72 hours after the session is scheduled to take place. An invoice will be sent to the client after each session.
The client agrees that they are ultimately responsible for paying the bill.
The client agrees that if they miss a session without cancelling, cancel with less than 24 (twenty-four) hours’ notice for non-emergency reasons, or are more than 15 minutes late to a session, they will still be charged the full fee. Clients understand that they are responsible for paying for missed sessions per this policy.
The Blooming Practice only accepts electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments.
Please email proof of payment to thebloomingpractice@gmail.com after making a payment.
The Blooming Practice will provide the client with a receipt for all fees paid.
If there is any problem with the charges, billing, or any other money-related point, please bring it to my attention. Such problems can interfere greatly with the counselling relationship and process. If a client has reason to believe that they may have trouble paying their bills on time, please discuss this with me as soon as possible.
The Blooming Practice Banking Details
Account: Cheque
Bank account number: 4086840262
Bank: ABSA
Branch: Online
Branch code: 632005
Flowers don’t tell; they show.
Stephanie Skeem
The Specialist Wellness Counsellor’s Role in the Counselling Relationship
The client accepts that I can only be a Specialist Wellness Counsellor. This is to maintain the professional boundaries that are necessary for healing, learning, growth, and change to take place.
I cannot have any other role in the client’s life.
I cannot now or ever be a close friend or socialise with the client.
I cannot be a counsellor to someone already known to me as a friend or family member.
I can never have a sexual or romantic relationship with any client during or after the course of counselling.
I cannot have a business relationship with my clients other than a counselling relationship.
I cannot be a friend or follower of the client on social media, however, clients are welcome to follow my business social media accounts for The Blooming Practice:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebloomingpractice/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebloomingpractice
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebloomingpractice
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marelize-krieg/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebloomingpractice
A weed is but an unloved flower.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Confidentiality
The client accepts that all information obtained and relating to their counselling will be treated as confidential; however, the client is aware that by law there are limits to confidentiality. The client accepts that if maintaining confidentiality may result in danger to themselves or others, when the abuse of vulnerable populations (children, the elderly, or people with disabilities) is reported, or when required by law for medico-legal, forensic, or court purposes, I will report relevant information to the appropriate authorities. The client is aware of and accepts that I receive supervision and may need to discuss certain details of the client’s case with my supervisor and supervision group without offering any names or identifying details of the client.
The client accepts that sometimes I must obtain additional information from other sources (other healthcare professionals, school staff, occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc.), and I will discuss this with the client beforehand to explain this decision. The client accepts that I will release relevant information to qualified professionals and/or third parties as necessary, with the client’s explicit, written consent, unless subpoenaed by a court of law.
The client accepts that all efforts will be made to safeguard their confidential information/records, according to the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). As far as possible, I will endeavor to limit the risk of the client’s personal information being exposed through circumstances, such as theft, loss, damage, or unauthorised access.
The client consents to the processing of their personal information contemplated in POPIA by me for the following purposes:
- counselling the client in terms of a counsellor-and-client relationship;
- the administration of the contractual relationship between the client and me;
- communicating with other persons as it relates to the client’s counselling.
In an emergency where the client’s life or health is in danger, and I cannot get the client’s consent, I may give another professional or the client’s emergency contact the necessary information to protect their life.
The following are legal exceptions to the client’s right to confidentiality. It is The Blooming Practice’s policy to assert either privileged communication in the event of a subpoena or other court order being received directing the disclosure of information, or the right to consult with the client, if at all possible barring an emergency, before mandated disclosure in the event of the client expressing serious intent to harm himself/herself/themselves or someone else, clearly identified or there is evidence or reasonable suspicion of abuse against a minor child, elderly person, or dependent adult. Although I cannot guarantee it, I will endeavour to appraise the client of all mandated disclosure.
Confidentiality can and will be broken in certain situations where maintaining confidentiality would result in clear and imminent danger to the client, me, or others, or as otherwise provided by law. I am required by law to report to the appropriate authorities any suspected child abuse, elder abuse, or abuse of people with disabilities. When a threat of bodily harm to others or myself is present, I may break the confidentiality of communications. I will make reasonable efforts to resolve these situations before breaking confidentiality.
Situations in which I will be required to break confidentiality:
- If I have good reason to believe that abuse or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult is taking place.
- If I believe that the client or someone else is in imminent danger of harming themselves.
- If I have good reason to believe that the client or someone else will harm another person.
- If the client’s records are subpoenaed by court order, I may be required to disclose confidential information.
- For supervisory purposes.
She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined.
Erin Hanson
The Nature of Counselling
The client accepts that this is a counselling service and not a psycho-legal service. The Blooming Practice does not work in psycho-legal matters and thus reports are not for psycho-legal purposes.
If conflicts arise between partners, they understand and agree that my role is strictly limited to providing counselling for the client’s benefit. This means, among other things, that the client will treat anything said in sessions as confidential and they will not attempt to gain an advantage in any legal proceeding from my involvement. The client agrees that they will not involve me in any legal dispute, especially concerning custody or visitation arrangements. The client will not ask me to testify in court in person or by affidavit. The client also agrees to instruct their attorneys not to subpoena me or to refer in any court filing to anything that I have said or done.
Flowers grow out of dark moments.
Corita Kent
Diagnosing and Treating Mental Health Disorders
Please note that I do not diagnose or treat mental health conditions, nor do I perform psychological assessments. This falls outside of a Specialist Wellness Counsellor’s scope of practice. Instead, my job is to support, educate, and guide clients as they adjust to a new reality. I can, however, refer clients to the appropriate mental health professionals when additional help is believed to be required.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
E.E. Cummings
Cancellation of Appointments
Sometimes emergencies come up.
If I need to cancel or change an appointment time, clients will receive more than 24 hours’ notice, as I understand that they will have reserved the time for the appointment. If for any reason, I cannot give the couple more than 24 hours notice, I will provide another 50-minute session to you free of charge.
The client agrees that regularly scheduled sessions are part of their commitment and that they should inform me at least 24 hours in advance if they are unable to keep an appointment.
The client agrees that should they miss an appointment, it is their responsibility to contact me and reschedule. It is recommended that clients should attempt to reschedule the appointment within the same week for consistency.
If the client cancels or misses three consecutive appointments or fails to respond to my attempts at contacting them, I reserve the right to discontinue counselling and the client will be provided with information about other services that might be of assistance if this is of interest to him/her/them.
Cancellation or missed session fees can be waived on compassionate grounds at my discretion, for example: in the event of sickness, a medical emergency requiring urgent professional treatment, or death in the family.
We grow by making little great changes.
Michael Bassey Johnson
Communication
Should the client need to contact the me urgently, they may send me a WhatsApp message at +27 71 342 9810 during office hours (Monday to Thursday from 08:30 to 19:00 and on Sundays from 08:30 to 13:30). The client may also contact me via email at thebloomingpractice@gmail.com
The client accepts that information may be transmitted electronically via email, SMS or WhatsApp. Although measures have been taken to safeguard the client’s personal information during electronic transmissions, the client accepts that there is a risk of breach of confidentiality inherent in the electronic transmission of information.
All counselling sessions are conducted using Google Meet. When experiencing technical difficulties with Google Meet, Zoom is used instead. This enables me to share my screen with clients during the session. In an absolute emergency, WhatsApp video call is used.
During the video call, clients are required to have both their video and audio turned on. They also need to be in a comfortable position in a room where they have privacy and won’t be disturbed.
Online counselling allows me to work with clients regardless of their location and enables them to receive counselling in a safe, comfortable, familiar space.
NOTE: I do not offer text-, email-, or phone-based counselling. Clients are, however, welcome to email or WhatsApp message me in between sessions if they have any questions regarding the counselling process, policies and payments, or if something particularly challenging or significant comes up.
The client agrees not to record counselling sessions. Sessions may not be audiotaped or videotaped.
Be like a flower.
Unknown
Survive the rain, but use it to grow.
Emergencies
The client agrees that communication to my cellphone number or e-mail address should not be used for emergencies as it is not a reliable mode of communication and action might be necessary before I can respond. The client accepts that I do not render a 24-hour-on-call service and that should an emergency occur outside of official office hours, they will either:
- Contact their general practitioner,
- Go to the nearest emergency unit of their local hospital,
- Contact the nearest police station,
- Phone the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) at 0800 567 567.
If we don’t change, we don’t grow.
Gail Sheehy
If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.
Interested in Receiving Counselling?
Send an email to thebloomingpractice@gmail.com or a WhatsApp message to +27 71 342 9810 to make an appointment with me or ask any questions.
I will respond in between seeing clients during the following South African business hours (GMT +2):
- Monday: 08h30 – 19h00 (excluding 10h30 to 13h00)
- Tuesday: 08h30 – 19h00 (excluding 10h30 to 13h00)
- Wednesday: 08h30 – 19h00 (excluding 10h30 to 13h00)
- Thursday: 08h30 – 19h00 (excluding 10h30 to 13h00)
- Friday: Closed
- Saturday: Closed
- Sunday: 09h00 – 13h30
In case of an emergency, go to your nearest police station or to the emergency room of your nearest hospital.
Excited to hear from you!
The Blooming Practice 