We request 48 hours notice for cancellations. Cancellations made prior to this window are rescheduled with no penalty. Cancellations made without 24 hours’ notice but prior to the start of the session is considered a late cancellation, which incurs a $60 late-cancellation fee. No-shows or cancellations made after the start of the session incur the full fee.
Why I Charge for Cancellations and No Shows
“People seek therapy to improve their overall quality of life, and those who frequently cancel or fail to show up for appointments often demonstrate issues with commitment, accountability, and responsibility in other areas of their lives. I ultimately realized I am doing the people I work with a disservice if I enable them to avoid facing responsibility, and that I am failing to help them develop an understanding that the real world has consequences to various choices and actions.
Instead, I want to model healthy and clear boundaries and empower people to be responsible in their lives and assertive in their ability to communicate regarding their circumstances. Therapy is about helping people develop a sense of awareness about themselves and how their actions impact those around them.
Therapy tends to be most helpful to people who view their appointments as an important and valuable component of their lives. And for most people, money equals value. When people are willing to make therapy a priority and accept the financial commitment involved, they tend to experience greater and quicker growth and positive change.
Discussions regarding money can be an uncomfortable topic, especially in a therapeutic relationship where connection, support, and compassion are paramount. The collection of money for services—rendered or not—sometimes feels contradictory to the nature of the work, and it is often difficult to navigate the line between the professional and truly caring ends of the relationship. But the handling of and attitude toward these finer details of the business are important to the process and worth consideration for all involved. Being confident in and mindful of boundaries and policies, paired with the ability to broach uncomfortable topics, is often where true trust, authenticity, and connection develops—and these are the components that make therapy genuinely helpful.” Meghan MacCutcheon (https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/why-i-charge-for-late-cancellations-no-shows-to-therapy-0921164)
Oak and Reed Counseling 