Cancellation Policy

The client is expected to attend each scheduled session on time. A canceled or delayed appointment delays our work and can negatively impact other clients. Since your appointments involve the reservation of time specifically for you and out of respect for your therapist and our other clients, a minimum of 24 hours' notice is required for rescheduling or canceling an appointment.

We appreciate more than 24-hour notice when possible, as we can then make that time available to other clients. Therefore, if you should know before the required 24-hour notice that you cannot attend our session, PLEASE call the office or email/text your therapist so we have time to fill your slot and can put another client in your space who may need it. The more time, the better for the therapist and other clients who are in need.

A late cancellation or no-show appointment hurts at least three people: you, your therapist, and another client who could have potentially utilized your time slot. Therapy sessions are scheduled in advance and are reserved exclusively for our clients. When a session is canceled without adequate notice, we are unable to fill this time slot by offering it to another client, a client on the waitlist, or a client with a clinical emergency.

The only exception to this cancellation policy is in the event of a serious or contagious illness or emergency. We offer one grace for these purposes every six months. Some examples of emergencies are car accidents, deaths in the family, or extreme illness. Work issues do not constitute emergencies. This cancellation policy applies even if missing the appointment was unintentional. In the event of prohibitive weather, we can conduct the session on the phone or via video (individual counseling). If both parties in a couple cannot attend, consider having one come alone instead of canceling altogether and wasting the slot. Phone or video sessions are paid up-front in advance of the session.

Frequent cancellations (3 or more in 6 months or 2 consecutive) and/or missed appointments (no show) will result in the termination of treatment. If you have arranged with your therapist to have recurring appointments, the next recurring appointment will stay in the calendar. Therefore, please call the office if you choose to cancel that appointment to avoid a second No Show/Late Cancel charge of your FULL SESSION FEE. A voicemail is sufficient as they are date and time-stamped. After the second consecutive No Show/Late Cancel, the recurring appointment will be removed.

Although Tennessee Mental Wellness may send you text or email reminders about upcoming appointments, this is done as a courtesy and only if you consent to receive such communications by providing us with your email address and cell number. It remains your sole responsibility to keep track of and timely attend all scheduled therapy appointments, whether or not you receive the text or email reminder. You are responsible for informing the office if your phone number or email has changed. After two consecutive cancellations or no-shows, you cannot schedule another appointment and will be referred to another provider.

No-Show Fees: Anytime you fail to attend a scheduled appointment without giving appropriate prior notice of cancellation, you will be charged the full session fee for the no-show session. The credit card information or other payment information you previously provided will be used to process this payment. By providing us with your credit card information or booking an appointment, you consent to this policy. Multiple no-shows will result in the termination of therapy.

Late Cancellation Fees: Any session that is missed by canceling less than 24 hours in advance will be charged the full session fee. You will be charged even if the cancellation is work-related and even if you rescheduled the appointment. The credit card information you previously provided will be used to process this payment. By providing us with your credit card information or booking an appointment, you consent to this policy. Repeated late cancellations (more than two) may result in the termination of therapy. Multiple no-shows will result in the termination of therapy.

You should note that insurance companies generally do not reimburse for missed appointments.

The full session fee will be charged when you miss or cancel an appointment without giving 24-hour advanced notice. This means that if an appointment is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, notice must be given by 3:00 p.m. on Monday at the absolute latest. Note that if your appointment is on a Monday, the cancellation needs to be provided no later than the prior Friday by your appointment time to be considered proper 24-hour notice. You can cancel your appointment by calling the office or sending a secure text message to your therapist.

Your wait time is kept to a minimum. Due to the length of time provided for each appointment, it is critical that you arrive on time for your appointments. If you are more than 10 minutes late to your appointment, we will have no choice but to reschedule your appointment, and you will be responsible for the full session fee (as per our “no show” policy). To avoid paying no-show fees, we require at least twenty-four (24) hours’ notice for all cancellations (as described above). Both therapist and client have a grace period of 10 minutes.

Additionally, please understand that therapy should be viewed as any other important medical appointment would be viewed. While it is a time commitment, this is for your personal betterment, and consistency is key in order to achieve this. If the therapeutic relationship is terminated pursuant to this policy, your case may be reopened at any time should you so choose. However, you may be placed on a waiting list if other clients are waiting to use your time slot. This is standard practice with most therapy agencies and private practice offices.

We value you as a client and hope to help you with your future endeavors; however, we can only accomplish this with your understanding of your obligations set forth in this policy and consistency with treatment. We appreciate your understanding. Your therapist looks forward to beginning this therapeutic journey alongside you!