[RaineD]

I missed my session on Monday because I got the time wrong. I had the right time in my calendar but remembered a different time (and didn't bother to check my calendar). My phone very unhelpfully notified me of the appointment 10 minutes before it was supposed to start, and there was no way I was going to make it at that point. My therapist's office is an hour away from my work.

I texted him immediately, explained the situation, and apologized. He was nice about it and fit me in yesterday. He didn't ask me to pay for the missed session, and I didn't pay for it. Should I have paid for it though?

(He's never discussed any kind of missed session policy with me. In fact, he's never discussed any policy of any sort with me ever.)

[stopdog]

I think that therapists can take care of themselves. If the therapist wanted to bill you for it - he would have done so. I think that if it was a one time accident sort of thing, I would not worry about it. I believe in cancelling if one is not going, but a one time misunderstanding about the time is not, in my opinion, a big deal.
I would very much want to know what the cancellation policy was - I don't like those people being arbitrary at me. But I particularly would not worry about it if the therapist did not give you a policy on it and I would not pay in any case until the time after the policy was stated. I also get to decide if the policy is one I find reasonable. If not, then I would find a new therapist (for example - I would never hire one who thought I was paying them a salary and expected me to pay even with reasonable notice)

[growlycat]

Depends on their policies. Mine wants 24 hour notice but if I were unexpectedly sick or mad a one time honest mistake I don’t think he’d charge me. If yours wanted to be paid he’d let you know

[ruh roh]

It depends on the therapist. Mine is like growlycat's with 24 hour notice, and that's been the case for every therapist I've seen; however, they don't get militant about it unless someone is just blowing off the session--a no show. You at least called as soon as you noticed your mistake. Mine was flexible when I was sick and didn't know how I would feel, but we communicated on that and she offered to hold my time even if I couldn't make it. I guess it all comes down to how it's handled/communicated and what the therapist has said is their policy. I wouldn't worry about it if he hasn't said anything about paying.

[RaineD]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, I figured he would have billed me if he wanted to, but I just feel bad about it. He's also never communicated his policies to me.