The Counselling Contract

Our Agreement

​

Fees

I charge on a sliding scale between £45 and £25 per hour, depending on what you can afford. This will be negotiated in the first session and can be renegotiated at any time during our work together if your circumstances change.

 

Sessions

Sessions will be held at a venue in the City Centre. A typical session lasts for one hour, though I am open to doing longer sessions up to two hours if you want this. In the first session I can respond to any questions you might have about this contract and we can see if we want to work together.

 

As part of the first session I will agree with you how many sessions we will initially meet for and what the fee will be. We will meet regularly, usually weekly, and you will usually have the same time slot each week. After the agreed initial period, we will renegotiate further sessions according to how you wish to proceed. The fee, frequency of sessions and our ongoing contract can be renegotiated at any time.

 

Cancellations

I will be available for our sessions each week unless I am on holiday or have a training course. I will always give you as much notice as possible in these cases. I ask that you let me know of any cancellations at least 24 hours in advance. In the event this is not possible I would expect to be paid for any sessions arranged but not attended or cancelled within this time-frame. If I need to cancel a session due to illness I would seek to give you as much notice as possible and to provide an alternative time to meet.

 

Confidentiality

I am bound by my professional bodies to keep full confidentiality of your identity and any content discussed during sessions, with a few exceptions.

 

In my supervision sessions I may need to discuss certain aspects of our work together to ensure I am providing the best possible care for you. However I would not disclose your full name or any indentifying information. I keep written records of our sessions and again these have no identifying information, are stored securely and are destroyed after 7 years.

 

There are also certain legal requirements for passing on information to the authorities regarding risk of harm to children, drug trafficking and terrorism. If I feel any of these to be relevant I will always where possible discuss my course of action with you in the first instance. There may also be instances, if I am strongly concerned about harm to you or to others, that I may wish to consider contacting the your doctor, or in extreme situations, the police. Again I would always inform you of this where possible.

 

If you are consulting your doctor for emotional issues I would recommend that you inform your doctor about me and vice versa.

 

There may be extraordinary circumstances that mean I have to decline or terminate our work together. In the very unusual event of this happening I would seek to support you to find an adequate alternative to meet your needs for support.

 

You are at liberty to discuss any of the content of our sessions with anyone you choose to, and to disclose my identity.

 

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our work together, I would encourage you in the first instance to raise this with me and see if we can find a satisfactory solution together. If you are still not happy after this, you can make a formal complaint to the relevant professional body(s) above, who both have formal complaints procedures.

 

Insurance and Supervision

I am insured with Balens Specialist Insurance Brokers. I am in regular supervision for both my Counselling and Psychotherapy and Movement Medicine work.

​​