INFORMED CONSENT

As part of providing a psychological service to you, Surf Your Mind needs to collect and record personal information from you that is relevant to your situation, such as your name, contact information, medical history, and other relevant information as part of providing psychological services to you.

This collection of personal information will be a necessary part of the psychological assessment and treatment that is conducted. You may withdraw your consent at any time. Treatment will cease immediately if consent is withdrawn.

All forms of treatment carry some risk. Risks will be explained prior to treatment at which time you may choose to continue or discontinue treatment.

What is informed consent?

Informed consent is the process of providing you, the Client, with comprehensive information about the psychological service you’re being offered and gaining your agreement to take part in that service. In general, there are four elements that are considered to form valid consent. The first two elements are that you must be considered competent and your consent to participate in therapy should be given voluntarily, without any coercion. No-one can force you to participate in therapy (e.g., a partner, family member, or employer). Your Treating Psychologist will need to make a determination about whether you have understood the information provided to you and have freely made your own decision about whether to proceed. The third element is that your consent must be specific, i.e., you should understand the scope of the treatment being offered (e.g., how many sessions can I expect my treatment to take, what sort of things will I be expected to do to improve, are there any disadvantages or risks to the treatment approach being used, is there a better/quicker way for me to be treated?). Finally, all this information must be provided to you in language you’re able to understand.

Other specific information that you should be made aware of includes how we will manage your personal information (you can find that here), the limits to confidentiality (below), and the costs and billing practices (you can find that here).

Can I withdraw consent?

Yes. You’re free to change your mind and withdraw consent at any time and treatment will cease immediately.

I’m a teenager. What age do I have to be to provide my own consent to participate in psychological services?

Psychologists may provide services to a young person without parental consent as long as you are deemed to have the capacity to give informed consent. You’re considered capable of giving informed consent when you achieve a sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable full understanding of what is proposed. Sometimes the age at which you can provide consent independently is clarified in legislation. For example, under Medicare there are specific requirements regarding the management of information and the age at which a young person can make decisions. For a young person aged 14 or 15, Medicare information can only be disclosed to a parent or others with your signed authority, although a parent or guardian can dispute this up until you are 16 years old.

In order to determine if you have the capacity to provide your own informed consent your Treating Psychologist will consider the following:

  • Are you able to understand the information that is provided, including the benefits and risks of proceeding or not with the service;

  • Do you understand the limits to confidentiality;

  • Are you able to retain and consider the information and make the decision whether to consent or refuse;

  • Are you able to communicate your consent.

Limits to Confidentiality

Often, when people meet with a psychologist, they want to talk about things they may not have discussed with anyone else in their life. They also want to know that the psychologist isn’t going to discuss that information with anyone else. So, what’s the deal – do you, the Client, have a right to confidentiality?

Broadly speaking, yes – what you discuss is confidential. However, if your Treating Psychologist thought you were at risk of hurting yourself or someone else, or they thought a child’s life was in danger, they can’t keep that confidential. They’d have to disclose that information, they might have to explain to people the details of why they thought you were (or someone else was ) at risk, and they would be obligated to get you (or the other person) some assistance.

There are other circumstances in which the issue of confidentiality can become highly complex. Each and every situation is different and as such, the information presented here is provided as a guide only. You can read below about further circumstances in which the disclosure of your personal information may occur.

Disclosure of Personal Information

All personal information gathered by the psychologist during the provision of the psychological service will remain confidential except when:

  1. It is subpoenaed by a court, or disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law; or

  2. Failure to disclose the information would, in the reasonable belief of your treating psychologist, place you or another person at serious risk to life, health, or safety; or

  3. Your prior approval has been obtained to -

    a) provide a written report to another professional or agency. e.g., a GP or a lawyer; or
    b) discuss the material with another person, e.g. a parent, employer, health provider, or third-party funder; or
    c) disclose the information in another way; or
    d) disclose to another professional or agency (e.g. your GP) and disclosure of your personal information to that third party is for a purpose which is directly related to the primary purpose for which your personal information was collected.

Your personal information is not disclosed to overseas recipients, unless you consent or such disclosure is otherwise required by law. Your personal information will not be used, sold, rented, or disclosed for any other purpose.

In the event that unauthorised access, disclosure, or loss of a client’s personal information occurs, Surf Your Mind will activate its data breach plan and use all reasonable endeavours to minimise any risk of consequential serious harm.