Informed Consent

This form explains what therapy with Anahita Tanwar, Clinical Psychologist (M.Phil., M.Sc. Clinical Psychology), RCI CRR No. A119539 involves, what it costs, what you are agreeing to, and what you can refuse. The practice is entirely online and is for adults aged 18 and over. Please read it, ask about anything unclear, and agree only when you are satisfied.

It works together with the website’s Cancellation Policy, Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. They form part of this agreement. If anything here seems to differ from them, please ask me before you book.

1. Your therapist

Name	Anahita Tanwar
Qualifications	M.Phil. Clinical Psychology (2025) and M.Sc. Clinical Psychology (2023), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal; B.Sc. Psychology (2021), Madras School of Social Work, Chennai
RCI registration	Rehabilitation Council of India, Central Rehabilitation Register, CRR No. A119539
Practice	Inat Therapy, an independent online practice, 32 Dindli Enclave, B H Area, Kadma, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. All sessions are by video on Google Meet.
Contact	WhatsApp and phone +91 75380 06699 · inattherapy@gmail.com · Monday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Languages	English, Hindi
Clients seen	Adults, 18 and over

• Only a person on the Central Rehabilitation Register may practise as a clinical psychologist in India (RCI Act 1992). You can check my registration on the RCI website.
• I offer individual therapy, relationship therapy for one, couple therapy, discernment counselling, de-addiction therapy and psychological assessments, all online. I work with people who feel anxious, low or burnt out, who carry old or painful experiences, who are struggling in a relationship, or who want to change their use of alcohol, tobacco or other substances.
• My approach is integrative and shaped around you. I draw on psychodynamic, mentalization-based, schema, emotion-focused, cognitive behavioural (CBT), dialectical behaviour (DBT), acceptance and commitment (ACT) and interpersonal approaches, choosing what fits you and your concerns.
• I take my cases to regular clinical supervision with two senior clinicians: individual supervision with an emotion-focused-therapy-trained supervisor, and group supervision in mentalization-based treatment. Your identity stays confidential in those conversations.
• I am not a medical doctor. I cannot prescribe or change medication or arrange hospital admission. If medication could help, I will say so and refer you to a psychiatrist.
• Some things I cannot provide online or on my own: inpatient care, crisis services, home visits, in-person assessment, or IQ testing. If your needs fall outside what I can offer, or outside my competence, I will say so and point you to someone who can help.
• I am your treating clinician, not an independent evaluator. I do not write assessments for custody, criminal, employment or immigration matters for my own clients.

2. What therapy involves

• Getting started. The first session is mostly about listening and understanding what brought you here. After a session or two I share how I see your concerns and what we could work on, and you may accept, change or decline that plan. You can say “not yet” to anything.
• Sessions are held online on Google Meet. Their length is shown on the booking page for each session type: individual, de-addiction and couple therapy sessions are 60 minutes; discernment counselling sessions are longer. Individual sessions are usually weekly at a fixed time, and we review how it is going regularly, about every 8 to 10 sessions.
• Between sessions I may suggest one small thing to try. It is always your choice, and coming back to say it did not work is useful information.
• Likely benefits: less distress, and better coping, relationships and day-to-day functioning. Research describes groups of people, not any one person.
• Risks: talking about painful things can feel worse before it feels better; therapy can change how you see your relationships and may lead to decisions you make; family or friends may react unhelpfully; some methods, such as trauma or exposure work, involve short, deliberate discomfort and are started only with your agreement; and therapy may not help.
• No guarantees of outcome, timeline, diagnosis, or any result in a legal, academic or workplace matter.
• Alternatives: medication with a psychiatrist, in-person therapy with someone near you, a different kind of therapy, group or family work, or no treatment.
• Couple therapy and discernment counselling are with both partners together.
• Online self-assessment. This is not a live session. You fill in well-known questionnaires online, your answers are scored, and a written analysis goes to me. It is not a diagnosis. The questionnaires are released as soon as your payment is confirmed, so the fee cannot be refunded after that. The free screeners on the website are scored in your browser and are not stored.

3. Your rights

• Taking part is voluntary. You may decline any question, test or task, and stop therapy at any time without giving a reason.
• You are entitled to information about your condition and treatment in a language you understand (Mental Healthcare Act 2017, section 22).
• You may seek a second opinion or change therapist. On written request I will send a summary to the professional you name within 7 working days.
• Withdrawing consent is not retrospective: existing records stand, and disclosures the law has already required cannot be undone.
• I may end or pause therapy if you are not benefiting, your needs go beyond my competence, a Pay Later fee stays unpaid after two reminders, sessions are repeatedly missed, or I am threatened. I will give notice and two referrals.
• Boundaries: no friendship, business, employment or financial relationship, and never a sexual or romantic one, during or after therapy. No gifts beyond token value, and no social media contact. If we meet in public I will not greet you first, to protect your privacy.
• Complaints: raise it with me first. You may also go to the Rehabilitation Council of India, the Mental Health Review Board or State Mental Health Authority (Mental Healthcare Act, section 28), or a consumer court.

4. Consent, capacity and identity

• Adults only. I work with clients aged 18 and over. If you are enquiring for someone under 18, I will refer you to a colleague who works with that age group.
• You consent for yourself. The law presumes you have capacity to make treatment decisions (Mental Healthcare Act 2017, sections 4 and 14(9)).
• Identity check. Because we meet online, I will confirm your identity and age at the first session from a government photo ID. I record only the type of ID and that it was verified.
• First-session details. At the first session I will ask for your address for that session, a local emergency contact, and a number I can call back on. Tell me whenever your location changes.
• You may appoint a nominated representative (section 14) or make an advance directive (section 5) under the Mental Healthcare Act. Tell me if you have either.
• If you need support to decide, I will simplify information, allow more time, and involve your nominated representative as far as you want. Support with a decision is not someone else taking it.

5. Fees and payment

Service	Fee (₹)
Initial Consultation, 60 minutes	₹2,000
Individual Therapy, per session (60 minutes)	₹2,000
De-addiction Therapy, per session (60 minutes)	₹2,000
Couple Therapy, per session (60 minutes)	₹3,500
Discernment Counselling, per session (1 to 5 sessions; the first about 2 hours, later ones about 90 minutes)	₹3,500
Online Self-Assessment (one flat fee for any package)	₹250

• The fee for each session type is shown on the booking page when you choose it. Fees may change with at least one month’s notice; the fee shown when you book is the fee you pay.
• Paying. You pay when you book, by UPI QR code, or by card, UPI or netbanking through Razorpay. Razorpay adds a 2% service charge to the fee, which is not refunded. A UPI booking is confirmed once I have verified your payment; a Razorpay booking is confirmed straight away. You receive a confirmation email for each booking.
• Pay Later is offered at my discretion to returning clients who have completed at least three paid sessions. The fee is due within 48 hours of the payment request I email you, and I may stop offering Pay Later while a payment is overdue.
• Cancelling and refunds follow the Cancellation Policy: cancel 24 hours or more before the session for a 100% refund; 12 to 24 hours before for 50%; less than 12 hours before, or a no-show, no refund. You may reschedule once, free, at least 24 hours before. Refunds are sent to the account that paid, within 7 working days.
• Client and discount codes are issued by me to a named client or for a single use, and cannot be transferred or combined.
• A report or letter you ask for is charged separately, and I will tell you the fee before I write it. Scheduling messages are free; long calls or written advice outside sessions are charged at the session rates, and I will tell you first.
• I can give you a receipt for your payments on request. Insurers may ask for a diagnosis, which means sharing health information with them.
• If fees become a real difficulty, tell me rather than stopping, and we can talk about options.

6. How online sessions work

This practice is entirely online. My remote practice follows the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines 2020 and the NIMHANS Tele-psychotherapy Guidelines 2020.

• Sessions are by video on Google Meet. After your booking is confirmed I email you a private link. Please join a few minutes early. Your session ends at the booked time, even if you join late. If the video fails, I will call you on the number you gave.
• For each session you need a private room where you cannot be overheard (not a moving car or a public place), a stable internet connection, a device with camera and microphone, and ideally headphones. Tell me whenever your location changes.
• Recording. Sessions are not audio- or video-recorded. You may not record a session. I will record only with your clear prior consent, as set out in the Terms & Conditions.
• What online work cannot cover. Acute suicidal crisis, psychosis needing urgent care, withdrawal from alcohol or drugs, severe self-neglect, or a situation where you are not safe or private at home. In those cases I will refer you to a service that can see you in person, and I may ask you to arrange in-person care alongside or instead of our work. Standardised testing often cannot be done validly online, and I will say so rather than give an unreliable result.
• If the connection fails. If the problem is on my side, I will reschedule your session free of charge. If it is on your side, I will decide case by case whether any adjustment is possible.
• No platform is perfectly secure. Video is encrypted in transit, but interception, or being overheard at your end, are real if unlikely risks that you accept by working online.
• Tell me before booking if you will be outside India. The rules of that country may prevent me from seeing you while you are there, and emergency help is much harder to arrange.

7. Confidentiality and its limits

What you tell me is confidential and is not shared without your consent, with these exceptions:

• Serious risk. If I believe your life, or another person’s, is in serious danger and I cannot reach you, I may contact your emergency contact or emergency services.
• Children. If you tell me about abuse or harm to a person under 18, the law may require me to report it (for example under the POCSO Act 2012).
• Legal orders. If a court or other lawful authority orders me to disclose information, I will share only what is required, and I will tell you first where I can.
• Supervision. I discuss my cases in clinical supervision, without details that identify you.
• With your written consent, for example to coordinate care with your doctor or psychiatrist.

8. Your records and personal data

• What is kept: your booking details (name, email, phone, the session you chose and any note you wrote), payment records, a screenshot of your UPI payment if you upload one, self-assessment answers and reports, my session notes and formulation, consent records, and correspondence.
• Where it is kept: in my Google Workspace account (Calendar, Gmail, Sheets, Drive and Meet), protected by a password and 2-step sign-in. Payment screenshots and reports are in private Google Drive folders that only I can open. I work alone, so no assistant or reception staff sees your file. Card payments are handled by Razorpay, which receives only what it needs to take the payment. I do not sell your information or use it for advertising, and your material is never used to train software.
• How long: booking and payment records, and self-assessment answers and reports, are kept for 24 months and then deleted, unless the law or my professional duties require me to keep them longer. Clinical notes and the consent record are kept for seven years after our last contact, then securely deleted. No Indian law fixes this period; it is my stated policy.
• Access: you may see your basic records (Mental Healthcare Act, section 25); I will reply within 15 days. I may withhold a specific part only if releasing it would seriously harm you or someone else, and I will tell you of your right to apply to the Mental Health Review Board. Raw test materials are released only to another qualified psychologist you name.
• Your data rights (DPDP Act 2023): you may ask what I hold and why, ask me to correct or erase it, nominate someone to act for you, and complain. Write to inattherapy@gmail.com. If it is not resolved in 30 days, you may go to the Data Protection Board of India.
• Messages by WhatsApp, SMS or email are not fully secure and may be visible on your device. I use them for scheduling and help, not for therapy. Tell me if you would prefer I did not message you, or used one number only.
• If your data is lost or accessed without permission, I will tell you promptly what happened and what I am doing about it.

9. Emergencies

This is not a crisis service, and because I work online I cannot reach you physically. I work by appointment, Monday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, do not monitor messages outside those hours, and usually reply within one working day.

In an emergency	Contact
National emergency number	112
Tele-MANAS, free 24×7 government helpline, many languages	14416 or 1-800-891-4416
The nearest emergency department to you	Please note it down before our first session
Your emergency contact	Given to me at the first session

• Because sessions are remote, a local emergency contact is a condition of working with me. I will contact them, or emergency services, if I believe your life or someone else’s is in serious danger and I cannot reach you. Naming them gives them no access to what you discuss.
• If risk is part of why you are here, we will write a safety plan together and you keep a copy.
• Seeking help after a suicide attempt is not a crime: the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (section 115) presumes severe stress and bars prosecution. Please do not avoid a hospital out of fear of the police.
• For anything clinical between sessions, ask for an earlier appointment. If you need frequent or urgent support between sessions, online individual therapy may not be the right level of care, and we will talk about what is.

10. Your agreement

When you book for the first time, you will be asked to tick the following. Each tick is recorded with your booking. If you have already agreed to this version, you are not asked again.

Required

• I am 18 years of age or older.
• I have read this Informed Consent form, or had it explained in a language I understand, and have had the chance to ask questions.
• I have read the Cancellation Policy, Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, and I agree to the fees and payment terms.
• I consent to online psychotherapy on Google Meet on the terms in section 6, and I understand its limits.
• I understand that therapy carries no guaranteed outcome and that I may withdraw consent at any time.

Optional (leaving these unticked has no effect on your treatment)

• I agree that anonymised material may be used for teaching, training or research.

11. How your consent is recorded

• Ticking the boxes when you first book counts as your electronic signature. No printing or emailing of a signed form is needed.
• With your booking I record the version of this form you agreed to, the date and time, and which optional boxes you ticked. Your first confirmation email also links to the form you agreed to.
• Your consent covers all your sessions until you withdraw it. You are asked only on your first booking. If I change this form in a way that matters, I will ask you to agree again before your next booking.
• You can read this form at any time on the website, and ask me for a copy.

Version 2.0 · Reviewed October 2026 · Next review October 2027