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Contact Numbers

+63 45 981 5564 | +63 999 713 8844

Email Address

[email protected]

Terms and Conditions

Argao Psych (Argao Health Inc.), hereinafter the “Company”, is a mental health company duly registered and validly existing under the laws of the Philippines, and is in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. These terms and conditions govern your use of our services, facilities (physical, digital, or online), and our website. Engaging our psychological services and using our facilities imply that you (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Client’) accept these terms and conditions in full.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES

The Company provides a wide range of psychological services such as, but not limited to psychological counseling, psychotherapy, psychological assessment and evaluation, psychological program development, psychological first aid, mental health and psychosocial support services, stress management and wellness programs, employee assistance programs, research, webinars, trainings, and consultancy. The Company reserves the right to add, modify, suspend, or remove services from its offerings.



SERVICE PROVIDERS

The Company provides its services through mental health providers such as psychologists, psychometricians, psychiatrists, mental health clinicians, and mental health counselors/coaches. The Company may invite, supervise, and engage associate mental health providers who provide services on a self-employed, freelance basis. Associate mental health service providers shall, at all times, be considered independent, associate providers.



PRIVACY AND DATA COLLECTION

Collection, Storage, and Use of Information

The Company and its service providers will require and collect personal and confidential information through forms, interviews, tests, and records of sessions. Information collected will only be used for the purposes of the psychological services engaged. This information will be recorded in physical and/or digital format and will only be accessible to the service providers. Company reserves the right to select the methods and means for storage of information. Company takes all necessary steps to ensure the security and privacy of the information collected and stored.



Privacy

The Company respects and ensures the privacy of the sessions conducted within its facilities. Company does not assume responsibility for privacy concerns outside its facilities.

Details on privacy and use of information is disclosed in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.



Confidentiality

All information regarding the client and the services they engage will be kept confidential. We will only disclose information to other professionals or individuals at the request and consent of the client. There are, however, certain situations where we can disclose information such as when there is a risk of serious harm to the client or to others, and disclosure of information related to crimes or violations of the law. We may also disclose information on reasons provided for by Chapter 3 Section13 of R.A. 11036 or the Philippine Mental Health Act, and Section 21 of R.A. 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.

The Company and its service providers also require confidentiality of the Client and in no circumstances is the Client permitted to disclose written, recorded, or distributed correspondence of the session, pre-session or post session. The correspondence and all therapy and counseling communication and application is only permitted to be used by the Client for which it was issued and intended. All written and verbal communication is in context with the session and must not be used out of context. Company accepts no responsibility for the effecting use of material recorded or written for any person other than the Client for which the material and correspondence was intended.

Full details on the limits of confidentiality are discussed in the informed consent that clients must sign prior to the start of any services. The Informed Consent forms part of this Terms and Conditions.



Privileged Communication

The Company and its service providers and personnel have protected rights to privileged communication, as stated for in Article VII Section 30 of R.A. 10029 or the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009: “Rights to Privilege Communication for Psychologists and Psychometricians. – A psychologists or psychometrician cannot, without the consent of the client/patient, be examined on any communication or information disclosed and/or acquired in the course of giving psychological services to such client. The protection accorded herein shall extend to all pertinent records and shall be available to the secretary, clerk or other staff of the licensed psychologist or psychometrician. Any evidence obtained in violation of this provision shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.”



Recording of Sessions

The Company’s Service providers may conduct audio and video recording of the sessions, with the consent of the client. Clients are not allowed to record sessions through any means without the consent of the service provider.



CCTV Systems

Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras are installed in Company facilities in compliance with the City of San Fernando, Pampanga Ordinance # 2018-029 that mandates all establishments to install CCTV systems. Access to the CCTV recordings is restricted to Company personnel or to legal authorities for purposes required by law.



SERVICE-SPECIFIC TERMS AND CONDITIONS Initial Consultation/Mental Health Consultation

Initial Consultation or Mental Health Consultation is the first consultation session that a client has with Company service providers. It can last for 45 minutes, unless otherwise agreed.



Intake Assessment

Intake Assessment is a brief psychological assessment and evaluation to determine the needs of the client. It lasts for about 45 minutes to 60 minutes.



Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy

Psychological counseling or psychotherapy sessions lasts for 50 minutes to 60 minutes, unless otherwise agreed. The number and frequency of sessions (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) will be agreed on by the service provider and the client. Prior to the start of the sessions, a treatment plan will be agreed upon by the service provider and the client. The treatment plan may be modified during its implementation when necessary.



Psychological Assessment

Psychological Assessment sessions last for about two (2) hours or more depending on the scope, nature, and purpose of the assessment. In some circumstances, the client may have more than one (1) session to complete the assessment. Psychological Assessment and Evaluation Services include the session or sessions for the assessment and one (1) feedback session. Moreover, the Clinic does not provide certifications for PWD application.



Termination of Service

The client may end their therapy sessions any time they wish to. If the client wishes to stop the therapy for any reason, the client should notify Company or the service provider directly in writing or email.

A client may only book one session for each week, unless prior agreement has been made. Multiple bookings will be verified by our personnel before confirmation.



SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS

Appointments may be booked through different channels: via our on-line appointment scheduling system, thru e-mail at [email protected], through our social media pages (Argao Psych on Facebook and Instagram) or by texting or calling our client relations lines (+63 45 981 5564/ +63 999 713 8844/ +63 917 621 1649).



SERVICE AVAILABILITY

Our services are currently available for Philippine-based clients only.



PAYMENTS

Company reserves the right to require partial or full payments to confirm bookings when it deems necessary.

As fees and rates for the services of a Company vary, the fees will be discussed by the service provider at the start of the session.

For initial consultations full payment is required prior to confirmation of sessions.

For psychological counseling or psychotherapy sessions, the admin and finance staff will discuss the available payment terms such as pre-payment of the whole session, per-session payment, or other terms. Details of the payment terms will be specified in the therapeutic contract, which forms part of these terms and conditions.

For psychological assessments, refer to the table below


Assessment Type Payment Structure
Comprehensive, NeuroPsychological, Brief and Forensic Psychological Assessments 60% down payment required, 40% due prior start of testing procedure
Other Psychological Assessments Full payment is required upon availment

For seminars, workshops, or training programs, full payment is required upon registration.

For corporate services, payment terms will be specified separately in the contract of service, which forms part of these terms and conditions.



DID-NOT-APPEAR (DNA)

If the client is late for their session, the session will still end at the scheduled time. The service provider reserves the right to terminate the session if you do not log-in or arrive within 15 minutes from the scheduled time. Exceptions to this are at the discretion of the service provider and the availability of the facilities. If a client is not present and has not given notification within 15 minutes from the scheduled time, the service provider reserves the right to terminate the session and will be recorded as ‘DNA’.

Multiple ‘DNA’ records may be a basis for the Company to block the client from the booking system.



RESCHEDULING

Initial Consultation/Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy
Time Before Session Rescheduling Fee
At least 48 hours No Fee
At least 36 hours 20% admin fee
At least 24 hours 50% admin fee
At least 12 hours Forfeited

For rescheduled sessions, clients need to provide a new schedule within 24 hours and settle the rescheduling fee; otherwise, the session will be canceled and the payment will be carried over to the new schedule of the appointment. If the client does not pay the rescheduling fee and provides the new schedule within 21 calendar days, any payments made will be forfeited.



Psychological Assessment
Time Before Session Service Amount Rescheduling Fee
At least 48 hours 7,000 PHP or above 500 PHP
At least 36 hours 6,999 PHP or above 350 PHP
At least 24 hours 7,000 PHP or above 650 PHP
At least 12 hours 6,999 PHP or above 500 PHP


CANCELLATION

Cancellations of the Initial Consultation, Psychological Counseling, or Psychotherapy sessions made one week prior to the scheduled appointment will incur a 20% administrative fee. Cancellations made less than one week prior to the appointment are non-refundable.
Cancellation of a psychological assessment service forfeits the down payment in favor of the Company/Clinic. Details of the payment terms will be specified in the assessment contract, which forms part of these terms and conditions.



SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Some clients wish to invite mental health services providers to be friends on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other social networking sites. Unfortunately, mental health services providers are unable to accept requests of this kind. We feel your privacy and confidentiality are better protected if mental health services providers are not part of your online social network. In addition, this creates appropriate boundaries in the therapeutic relationship in which you are able to communicate important aspects of your life to your mental health services provider, rather than the mental health services provider reading about your life online. It also keeps mental health services providers’ lives private and separate from therapy, so that the focus remains on you and the reason(s) you wish to attend treatment. Please feel free to discuss any questions/concerns about this policy with your mental health services providers.



USE OF THE WEBSITE

The Websites and Platforms are offered “as is”. All the contents provided in our website are for information purposes only. The Company assumes no responsibility for use of other individuals on the content of the website. Use of the website also indicates acceptance of these terms and conditions.



FORCE MAJEURE

The Company shall not be liable to you for any breach of its obligations or termination under these terms and conditions arising from causes beyond its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes and other Acts of God, terrorism, strikes, delay caused by transport disputes, failure to provide a service caused by a death in the service provider’s family, illness of the service provider, Government edict or regulation.



ASSIGNMENT

The Company may assign, transfer, sub-contract any of our rights or obligations to any third party at our discretion.



LAW AND JURISDICTION

This Agreement is subject to Philippine law, and disputes shall be settled in the courts of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines in connection with any dispute hereunder.

These terms and conditions, as well as other agreements entered into between Company and its clients shall be interpreted and understood with the Philippine Laws.



ENTIRE AGREEMENT

These terms and conditions, together with the Website Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Informed Consent, and service-specific contracts are the entire agreement between Company and its clients and supersede any prior agreements and arrangements, whether written or oral. Nothing in this clause or terms and conditions shall limit liability for any fraudulent misrepresentation.