Contract, Confidentiality and Data Protection
Contract
I work face-to-face and remotely as a psychotherapeutic counsellor. I am a registered member of the BACP and UKCP and follow their Ethical Code and am subject to their complaints procedure. I am DBS checked.
The client/counsellor relationship is a unique one but is different to other personal relationships. It is my responsibility to set and maintain professional boundaries (See below) that keep the relationship safe for the both of us.
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We have agreed a fee per session. You can pay cash, or bank transfer on the day of the session. I will review my fees in April each year. I will discuss any proposed increase with you in advance.
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Each session will last 50 minutes. If you arrive late for a session you will have whatever time is remaining.
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If you are unable to keep an appointment please let me know as soon as possible. If I can, I will offer you a different time slot that week. Please note that non-attendance or cancellations made with less than 48 hours notice are charged at a full fee. There will be no charge for any session I cancel. If there are breaks to the counselling, I cannot guarantee your original slot will be open.
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You have the right to stop counselling at any time. If you decide you would like to end the counselling, please talk to me about that.
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Unless agreed in advance we will not contact each other in between sessions unless it is absolutely necessary to change an appointment.
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I ask you to provide at least one months notice of any holidays. If your holiday is longer than 2 weeks, I cannot guarantee your slot will still be available.
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If we are working remotely, I ask that you find a quiet and private place for our meeting and that you refrain from consuming food.
Confidentiality
I appreciate you are trusting me with sensitive and personal information and I take confidentiality very seriously. However, there are a few exceptions and in most cases I will discuss any break in confidentiality with you first.
These exceptions to confidentiality are:
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I regularly discuss the work I do with a supervisor (who also maintains confidentiality). This is good therapeutic practice and enable me to offer a high standard of care and safety.
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I am required by law to disclose any potential or actual acts of terrorism.
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I may contact your GP or the crisis team if I believe you pose a serious risk of harm to yourself or someone else.
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If I believe there is a current or historical child protection concern.
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If I believe you are laundering money.
Data Protection
We have agreed that I am able to collect your basic information (name, address, DOB, GP) and brief anonymised notes about each session. These will be protected by encryption and not shared with anyone. You have a right to see this data upon request. These notes will not be kept after we stop working together.