Grievance Procedure
It is Dr. Smith’s policy to ensure that the services provided meet or exceed the expectations of every customer. To help ensure this, we actively seek feedback from all customers. We encourage our customers to connect with us if they feel that their expectations have not been met. We use a structured approach to ensure the complaint is resolved and will use this information to implement continuous improvement.
Dr. Allyson Smith is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists. Dr. Smith will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants. The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility Dr. Smith.
While Dr. Allyson Smith will go to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and will attempt to anticipate potential concerns, there may be occasional issues which come to her attention which could require intervention and/or action on her part. The following description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.
When a participant, either orally or in written format, files a grievance and expects action on the complaint, the following actions will be taken.
If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual filing the grievance will be asked to put their comments in written format. Dr. Smith will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring the confidentiality of the grieved individual.
If the grievance concerns a workshop offering, its content, or level of presentation, Dr. Smith will offer to address the issues raised, if possible. If the issue is not resolved to the participant’s liking, a refund will be offered.
If the grievance concerns Dr. Allyson Smith, in a specific regard, a mediator will step in to mediate the concern.
The actions will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the grieved individual.
Actions will be taken to ensure that the issues do not occur in the future for any further participants.
The cut-off is three months after the date of an incident to accept a complaint unless there is clear evidence that the complainant needed longer, and therefore, Dr Smith is willing to consider these exceptions.
If you have an issue you would like to discuss, please contact Dr. Smith at (613) 806-2107 or email [email protected].