Meet Dr. Lieuwkje van der Merwe

Therapy is a relationship that works in part because of clearly defined rights and responsibilities held by each party. This frame helps to create the safety to take risks and the support to become empowered to change. As a client in therapy, you have certain rights that are important for you to know about because this is your therapy, whose goal is your well-being. There are also certain limitations to those rights that you should be aware of. As a therapist, I have corresponding responsibilities to you.

Apart from certain specific exceptions described below, you have the absolute right to the confidentiality of your therapy. I cannot and will not tell anyone else what you have told me, or even that you are in therapy with me without your prior written permission. I may legally speak to another health care provider or a member of your family about you without your prior consent, but I will not do so unless the situation is an emergency. I will always act to protect your privacy. You may direct me to share information with whomever you choose, and you can change your mind and revoke that permission at any time. You may request anyone you wish to attend a therapy session with you.

If you select to communicate with me by email at some point in our work together, please be aware that email is not completely confidential. All emails are retained in the logs of your or my internet service provider. While under normal circumstances no one looks at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the internet service provider.

Please note: My administrative team and Medical Practice Billing Solutions (3rd party responsible form my practice’s accounts) will have access to some of your personal information for administrative purposes only. My administrative team and Medical Practice Billing Solutions have both sighed a confidentiality agreement binding them to only use this information for the purpose it was meant for.

If I have good reason to believe that you will harm another person, I must attempt to inform that person and warn them of your intentions. I must also contact the police and ask them to protect your intended victim.
If I have good reason to believe that you are abusing or neglecting a child or vulnerable adult, or if you give me information about someone else who is doing this, I must inform Child Protective Services within 48 hours and Adult Protective Services immediately.

If I believe that you are in imminent danger of harming yourself, I may legally break confidentiality and call the police or the police crisis team. I am not obligated to do this and would explore all other options with you before I took this step. If at that point you were unwilling to take steps to guarantee your safety, I would call the crisis team.

I keep very brief records, noting only that you have been here, what interventions happened in session, and the topics we discussed. You have the right to request that I correct any errors in your file in terms of personal information. I am not by law, allowed to give you the notes made in your file. You however have the right to request that I make a copy of your file available to any other health care provider who can interpret the notes in the correct way, at your written request. I maintain your records in a secure location that cannot be accessed by anyone else.

You have the right to ask questions about anything that happens in therapy. I’m always willing to discuss how and why I’ve decided to do what I’m doing, and to look at alternatives that might work better.If you select to communicate with me by email at some point in our work together, please be aware that email is not completely confidential. All emails are retained in the logs of your or my internet service provider. While under normal circumstances no one looks at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the internet service provider.

Please note: My administrative team and Medical Practice Billing Solutions (3rd party responsible form my practice’s accounts) will have access to some of your personal information for administrative purposes only. My administrative team and Medical Practice Billing Solutions have both sighed a confidentiality agreement binding them to only use this information for the purpose it was meant for.

Please note: If an appointment is not confirmed before 12:00 the day before the scheduled appointment, the appointment will be cancelled.

If an appointment is not cancelled and the patient did not show up or make arrangements, the patient will receive a cash account for which they will be personally responsible.

Accounts older than 90 days overdue will be handed over for collection.
If you are a private patient, payments can be made via EFT before the consultation takes place.

Medical aid is accepted. When funds are depleted, you will personally be liable for any amount the medical aid did not cover.

If you are on a medical aid, you will be charged the medical aid tariff. If you are a private patient, you will be charged at the rate agreed upon by the practice.

You are responsible for coming to your session on time and at the time we have scheduled. If you are late, we will end on time and not run over into the next person’s session.

If a patient misses three consecutive sessions, any time slots allocated to them thereafter will be reallocated to other patients.

Please note: The person who is allocated as the main member or as the person responsible for the account will be personally liable for the accounts if the account was not paid by the patient or medical aid.