Terms & Conditions
Please take the time to read through this information carefully.
By making an appointment with Olive Tree Therapies you are agreeing to my Terms & Conditions and my Privacy Policy. You also agree to attend the appointment you have booked.
Olive Tree Therapies is owned, managed and delivered by André.
Appointments
You can make an appointment with Olive Tree Therapies via the website only. Appointments are available for a variety of durations and treatments. I am not able to book people in myself when requests are made via text, email or phone as this would take too much administrative time. The exception is when you aren't good with technology or are unable to access the internet, in which case I am happy to book you in.
Upon making a booking, you will receive an email confirming all the important details, along with an email reminder 24h prior to your appointment. You should check your spam folder if you haven't received an email. If you find my emails in your spam folder I would recommend that you add Olive Tree Therapies as a contact to ensure this doesn't happen in the future. If you chose the option on check-out, you will also receive a text message 24h before your appointment.
If this is your first appointment with me, you will be asked to complete a consultation form. Please complete this because I will not be able to treat you until you have, and completion on the day will be part of your appointment time. A new consultation form needs to be completed every 6 months to ensure medical information and personal details are accurate and up to date.​
Cancellations & late arrivals
Cancellations with less than 24 hours notice and no shows will be charged at 100% of the treatment cost. This is because I may not be able to fill your appointment slot and still need to cover my costs.
Please cancel as soon as possible if a foreseeable event is likely to prevent you from attending, for example, illness or adverse weather conditions. If you need to cancel your appointment at short notice, because of a long-term medical condition which varies from day to day, then we shall discuss the cost implications on a case by case basis.
An invoice for any cancellation / ‘no show’ charges will be sent to you by email for payment by bank transfer within 24h of receipt.
It is important that our agreed appointment time and duration is adhered to and as such it is your responsibility to arrive on time (5-7 minutes before your appointment time). I appreciate that sometimes things happen, and you may arrive a little later or need to leave a bit earlier than planned. This is fine, but I cannot make up the missed time by overrunning or adding time to subsequent appointments.
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First time clients who cancelled their first appointment with less than 24 hours notice and did not pay their appointment in full will be required to pay for their next appointment in advance and in full ahead of their session.
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Refunds
A full refund may be requested when the session has been paid for in advance and an appointment is cancelled with more than 24 hours notice.
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Packages and Gift Cards
Massage packages and gift cards must be used up in full within 365 days of purchase. They are non-transferable and non-refundable. All appointments are given on a first come, first served basis so it is your responsability to book your appointments in advance if you purchased a package to ensure you can have a regular treatment.
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Complaints
As a member of the Scottish Massage Therapists Association (SMTO) you can make a complaint directly to them. A copy of the complaint form and the SMTO’s Disciplinary and Complaints policy can be found here.
Confidentiality/Safeguarding
All client information and clinical records will be safeguarded by Olive Tree Therapies and will remain confidential. Unless required to do so by law, I will not otherwise share, sell or distribute any of the information you provide to me without your consent. Confidentially may be broken if I believe your life may be at risk or someone else’s. However, if appropriate and deemed safe to do so, this will be discussed with you prior to any information being passed on to a third party.
Consultations and client treatment details will not be discussed with anyone other than the client. In the case of somatic trauma therapy, I discuss client’s sessions regularly with my supervisor but this is on an anonymous basis. This is to ensure you’re receiving the highest level of care and that my work with you is receiving supervision from another clinician.
In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, I employ security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage. I have also put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. I will retain your information for a reasonable period or as long as the law requires.
I will have access to these records only for the purpose of providing you with the most appropriate treatment.
For more information, please review my Privacy Policy which can be found on my website.
Professional Boundaries Statement (for all clients)
This professional boundaries statement provides you and me with guidance and rules for the duration of our work together. It applies for both bodywork and/or somatic trauma therapy. Boundaries are not barriers; they are meant to help you and me maintain a professional, confidential, and ethical relationship. They also allow for safe and authentic therapeutic work towards your therapeutic goals.​
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If you know of any shared social spaces between you and me (physical or virtual), please raise them during our sessions. The sheer fact of inhabiting overlapping social spaces (shared communities, shared volunteering or community participation, shared personal relationships) does not necessarily prevent us from having a therapeutic relationship. There are many ways in which therapists maintain professional boundaries while having multiple relationships with clients, as long as those are within the boundaries of the code of ethical conduct of the governing body for my therapy work (Scottish Massage Therapists Organisation and the Federation of Holistic Therapies). However, not disclosing knowledge about shared social spaces may become a challenge to our relationship and inadvertently negatively affect our work together. I commit to addressing any potential overlaps in our social spaces if I become aware of them. I also commit to openly addressing any conflict of interest I might identify during our therapy process. Please address any potential shared places you might be aware of during our therapy session.
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The dynamic, complex, and changeable use of social media means that a finite set of rules cannot meet professional safety in social media. What is required is a therapeutic approach, a way of thinking and reflecting on the impact of social media. In my practice, I will not knowingly connect with my clients outside of our agreed communication channels (i.e. typically e-mail, Instagram direct message, telephone or text message, as you prefer). If I am providing you with additional information relating to digital spaces (e.g. websites, apps, social media accounts), I commit to providing you with professional content relating to our therapeutic work only. I will not knowingly connect with you outside of these boundaries (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, recreational networking apps, dating apps such as Tindr/Grindr, etc.). In return, I expect that you do not attempt to connect with me outside of our agreed communication channels unless we have explicitly discussed this in our sessions and have worked through our shared understanding of the impact and indication for any exemptions. Should either of us unknowingly and unintentionally realise that these rules were not followed, it is of utmost importance that we discuss and find ways of resolving any such situation (e.g. unknowingly connecting with each other on Grindr/Tindr).
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Please bring any questions or thoughts you might have about this professional boundaries statement to our next session. Additional boundary agreements can be put in place to ensure boundaries are maintained in more specific settings but this would be discussed together as and when the need for it arises.
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Professional Boundaries Statement (additional for somatic trauma therapy clients only)
Sometimes you and I might have social connections other than through our therapy work, often referred to as ‘multiple relationships. Those multiple relationships are a common reality for practitioners working with the LGBTQI+ community as well as more widely in other smaller communities and can involve social and digital spaces. If the potential for multiple relationships exists between you and me, it is important that we openly address those as part of the therapeutic process. It also provides you with a choice and allows you to reflect critically on whether you feel comfortable working with me or not. At the same time, it also allows me to openly discuss with you if I have any concerns that might limit our ability to work together. In such a situation, we would discuss alternative ways of interacting with each other that would make therapy more permissible, or we could consider alternative treatment options, and I would signpost you to alternative services, where possible.
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If we see each other out and about or while going about our lives, I would not acknowledge you should I see you in order to respect the confidential nature of our work. Still, you are welcome to acknowledge me (a nod, a smile, a hello) if you wish, and I will respond in kind. Of course, you can choose not to acknowledge me, which is fine. And if we are still in therapy together, as part of my commitment to the boundary of our therapeutic relationship, I would like to invite a reflection of the sighting of each other after the event (next session) so that we can process anything that may have come up for you. Should we no longer be in therapy together, obviously I can’t check in with you, but we can review this at the end of our treatment together.
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In the interest of maintaining best practice in terms of our therapeutic relationship, I will not be able to enter into a social relationship with clients with whom I am doing somatic trauma therapy work. However, as stated above, this does not mean we may not come across each other in the course of daily life. If we do so, the above boundaries statement still applies.
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Health & safety
I am qualified in First Aid and hold professional and public indemnity insurance, for the services that I provide.
Due to the nature of massage and the need for close contact, I will maintain a high standard of personal hygiene and clients are asked to ensure that they also maintain a high standard of personal hygiene. If I am unwell, suffering from a cold or virus, infection or general ill health, I will not work due to the risks of cross contamination. This may result in Olive Tree Therapies contacting you to inform you of the issue at the earliest opportunity to make suitable alternative arrangements.
Clients are asked not to attend for a massage if they are unwell, suffering from a cold or virus or any other contagious disease. Please contact Olive Tree Therapies via email at olivetreetherapies@gmail.com at the earliest opportunity to rearrange your appointment. If you are unwell and contact me to inform me of your illness, please note that my cancellation policy (see above) may still apply.
Olive Tree Therapies, including its founder will not be held responsible for the loss or damage of personal items during your time at the Olive Tree Therapies' premises.
Disclaimer
Olive Tree Therapies provides Somatic Trauma Therapy, massage therapy and bodywork in a variety of forms as well as Reiki, Ayurveda and Yoga, but none of these are a substitute for contacting your GP when seeking medical advice. I will not diagnose, prescribe medication or medical treatment of any kind and will always recommend referral to a GP or other qualified medical specialist or practitioner when this is appropriate.
The client has a duty to provide accurate and true medical and personal information, to the best of their knowledge, and to keep Olive Tree Therapies up to date with details of any medication, symptoms, medical concerns or treatments they are having investigated or undergoing treatment for.
I may refuse to treat any client or part of their body with just and reasonable cause. Olive Tree Therapies reserves the right to terminate any appointment at any time if I believe that it is not safe or in the client’s best interest to continue. Likewise, the client has the right to refuse, modify or terminate treatment at any time, regardless of prior consent given.
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Olive Tree Therapies holds the right to refuse any treatment if a client is physically or verbally abusive towards any practitioner, or demonstrates inappropriate, aggressive or sexual behaviour. Such behaviour may result in a partial or total ban from Olive Tree Therapies, and may also result in criminal proceedings.
Contact
Olive Tree Therapies
20/2 North Junction Street
Edinburgh
EH6 6HN
Last updated: 30th September 2024
Previous updates:
4th July 2024
8 April 2024
31 October 2023