Agreement for Therapy Services

The contract provides a treatment frame for you and the therapist. It's based on the assumption that the therapeutic relationship requires regular and committed contact to recognise and work through your attachment style and accompanying psychological issues.

Individual psychotherapy is €70 per 50-minute session, or €120 per 90-minute ISTDP session. Sessions start punctually. If you are late, we will still end at the regular time out of respect for other clients.

Individual psychotherapy is scheduled on a weekly basis at the same time, day, and place. In exceptional situations your therapist may need to provide an online session instead of an in-person one — you will be informed at least 24 hours in advance. You may also request an online session, but we try to keep this as an exception.

Payment for the session must be made by the Monday preceding the session, or on the first Monday of the month for all upcoming sessions in advance.

Initially, we will meet to evaluate the problems that bring you to therapy and the therapist will give you some initial impressions of the kind of treatment that would be helpful. During the first few sessions, you should be thinking about whether you feel comfortable working with me.

Because therapy may involve a substantial commitment of time, money, and energy, it is important that you feel comfortable with the therapist you choose. If you decide that you are not comfortable working with me, I would be happy to help you find another therapist.

Since substance use (drugs, alcohol) or behavioural addictions are major obstacles in the course of treatment, we reserve the right to terminate therapy if you break the rule of complete abstinence. Each instance of alcohol or drug use should be reported.

The client may be required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings as part of the therapeutic contract. Failure to maintain a consistent routine of group attendance may result in the termination of therapy.

Trial period (3–6 sessions, as discussed with your therapist): All sessions are paid. The only exception is a serious health situation documented by your physician or GP.

Long-term therapy (after the trial period): Because your regular appointment involves time reserved specifically for you, free-of-charge cancellation is only possible for:

• Planned holidays — with at least 1 month's notice
• Special or emergency situations (e.g. car accidents, deaths in the family, or extreme illness) — work issues do not constitute emergencies
• No more than 2 cancellations per 6-month period under these conditions

Any other cancellation must be paid unless agreed differently by both parties. If agreed in advance, it is possible to reschedule for another time in online mode — with at least one week's notice.

The therapist may cancel a session due to planned professional training, holidays, serious illness, or family-related issues.

The identity of clients is shared with no one. The things discussed in therapy and the nature of the issues you are working on are confidential.

The only exception: as part of delivering a high-quality service, our team engages in regular ongoing supervision where the nature of the work is discussed — but never your identity.

Your commitment is the key to the success of our work together. To get the most out of therapy, you are responsible for:

• Following the therapeutic contract and the agreed-upon guidelines of our work
• Sharing your medical history, including any psychiatric diagnoses such as personality disorders, bipolar disorder, or others
• Exploring your roots through attachment theory — current mental health challenges are understood as a reflection of attachment patterns from childhood and adolescence
• Understanding the past as a vital part of resolving today's problems
• Bringing your challenges to the session, openly sharing problematic aspects of your daily life, and focusing your energy on understanding and transforming them
• Managing anxiety day-to-day by practising the anxiety regulation techniques we discuss, especially if anxiety is a significant part of your struggle
• Engaging with recommended resources and taking time to explore materials suggested to support your growth between sessions
• Connecting the past and the present to build deeper awareness of how early experiences shape the way you see yourself and your relationships today
• Taking an active lead in sessions — coming to each meeting with a specific problem you want to address and reflecting on what we achieved in our previous meeting
• Respecting our time together by arriving punctually and concluding sessions at the scheduled time

Your therapist may ask your permission to video record some sessions. This serves to provide high-quality treatment based on the revision of our work. Recorded material may also be used in the supervision process.

Termination of therapy is an important part of the therapeutic process that should always be openly discussed. We recommend that we have closure on the therapy process with at least two termination sessions.