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Welcome! This section was designed so that everyone is on the same page and your visits with us are worry-free. Please read this whole page very carefully, because by scheduling an appointment you automatically agree to all policies, whether mentioned here or elsewhere. (We apologize to the vast majority of wonderful upstanding people out there that this page comes off as strict as it does. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, there have been some in the past from whom we have learned the hard way that common sense is sometimes not so common anymore.)
Scheduling an appointment:
All sessions are by appointment only. Please call anytime to schedule your appointment. The sooner you know when you’d like to come in, the more likely you’ll get your desired appointment time. When feasible, please have several possible appointment times in mind and your calendar handy. Please double-check your calendar; working late and childcare issues are not valid reasons to miss an appointment.
We secure all of our appointments with a Visa or Mastercard. Please understand that until we have this information, the tentative time slot is considered open. We obtain the credit card information simply to secure your appointment and charges will not be applied unless our cancellation policy is not followed.
Cancellation policy:
Once you’ve secured an appointment with us, that time is considered yours and we don’t offer it to anyone else. This means that we may have to turn away someone who might be in need of treatment. Since we not a high-volume massage mill and this is how we make our living, we can’t accommodate short-notice changes in our schedules. Therefore, “no-shows” and late cancellations are not acceptable, as they’re not fair to the other clients or to the massage therapist whose time was not respected.
We require at least 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel, shorten, or postpone an in-studio appointment. For all out-of-studio massage (such as home visits, bridal/baby showers, and corporate chair massage), we need at least 48 hours’ notice. In the rare event of a same-day or next-day appointment, only 2 hours is necessary. For all late cancellations, 50% of the total session amount will be charged to the credit card provided, and a no-show will result in a charge for the full amount. For any missed appointment that is part of a pre-paid package, it’s deducted from the remaining sessions. For any missed appointment involving a gift certificate, the gift certificate is considered used. Please understand that all cancellations must be made by phone, by the client him/herself. This is for your protection, since there’s a time-stamp on the voice mail that tells us exactly when you called. Please don’t send a cancellation notice by e-mail! E-mail transmission time can have a delay of up to 12 hours (we’ve seen it!), so even if you thought you e-mailed us well enough in advance, we may not receive it in time.
Note: we extend the same courtesy and respect for YOUR time, and we hold ourselves to the exact same cancellation policy.
Arrival:
For your first visit with us, please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment. For every appointment after that, please arrive 10 minutes early if you have a new issue or condition to talk about, and 5 minutes early if you don’t. If you arrive earlier, please kindly wait in your vehicle until you see that our front door is open in order to preserve the privacy of yourself and the client before you. If you’re early and would like to get started early, please call ahead first, and if we’re available to start early, we’ll gladly let you know on the phone in person. When you arrive, if you’re on a tight schedule that day, please be sure to let us know right away so that we can make sure you’re not rushed or hurried after your massage.
Lateness:
If you realize you’re running late, please call us as soon as possible! While there is a small time cushion between appointments to accommodate for a few minutes, a late arrival may result in a shortened session. The regular session fee applies. If we have not heard from you within 15 minutes of your scheduled appointment time, this is considered a no-show, and that time may be offered to someone else who calls to get in ASAP. You will be charged for the missed session.
The intake forms and privacy:
Please bring your completed paperwork with you to your session. If you are redeeming a gift certificate, please present the original gift certificate to your therapist as well. While we try to schedule an extra cushion between sessions, there isn’t enough extra time to fill out missing paperwork and still provide a full session. The information you supply on your intake form must be complete and truthful, for your protection and ours.
We completely respect your privacy! The information you provide us, as well as the notes we make regarding each session, are confidential and will remain that way except as required or allowed by law, or by your prior written consent. We are a holistic medically-based massage therapy practice, and all of the information requested on the intake forms is necessary to help us help you.
Health Issue changes or updates:
Please inform us if there are any changes in your health status, lifestyle, or if you have any new accidents or injuries since your last visit so that we can adjust our techniques and session plans accordingly. We need to make sure that our treatments are appropriate for your condition, and that there is no interference with any other medical or holistic treatment you are receiving.
Complimentary Consultation:
Before each session, we will discuss your goals for massage therapy and together, we will plan a course of treatment that is subject to your approval. Given that you arrive with enough time to spare (see Arrival above), all pre-session consultations are complimentary and do not cut into the actual session time.
Draping and conduct:
To maintain an atmosphere of professional integrity, you will always be appropriately covered (or draped) with a sheet or towel. If you prefer not to be draped at all, please wear clothing sufficient to cover the private areas. Private areas will never be exposed, examined, palpated, touched, or worked on. Sexual suggestions, requests, gestures, noises, movements, or comments are never tolerated. If it happens, the session may be terminated without refund.
Personal Comfort:
We highly encourage you to provide us with as much continuous feedback as you feel is necessary throughout your session. Your session is yours and we want you to enjoy your visit. We’d rather you offer constructive criticism than to remain silent. Feel free to speak up—we will not be offended! We will check in with you periodically, especially during your first session with us, to see how you are responding to the massage.
If you feel uncomfortable during the session and wish for it not to continue, you may end the session at any time, without judgment. The full session fee will still apply, since the therapist has reserved this time for you and cannot offer it to anyone else.
Payment:
For regularly-priced sessions, we accept Visa, Mastercard, cash, check (with proper valid ID) or valid gift certificate. For any discounted session, such as Continuing Health Maintenance or our lymphatic packages, payment in cash is required in order to receive the discount. At this time we do not accept American Express or Discover. We regret the inconvenience. Please understand that payment is always required at the time of the session or beforehand, and we do not extend any balances. An additional $30 fee will be assessed for all returned checks.
Insurance:
So that we may focus on providing massage therapy, our office doesn’t verify insurance coverage or file insurance paperwork at this time. We regret the inconvenience. However, please let us know if your insurance provider offers reimbursement benefits for massage therapy treatments, and we’ll happily provide you with a complete description of the services we provided so that you can receive reimbursement from your insurance company.
Open-Door Policy (Most Important!):
Please call or email us at any time with any questions, comments, concerns, or any other feedback that you have, either pre- or post-session, and we will answer them to the best of our knowledge. If you get our voice mail, please leave us a message and we will return your call as soon as we can! We check both our email and voice mail several times per day.
Gift Certificates, Corporate Massage, and Housecalls carry additional terms.
All policies of 4th Consciousness are subject to change at any time. Please check back often!
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