Privacy Policy

As a member of BACP I am bound by their Ethical Framework to protect a client’s confidentiality. Therefore, everything that we discuss is confidential except in certain circumstances, which are listed below.

Record Keeping & ConfIdentiality

As a member of BACP I am required to keep accurate and appropriate notes of our work together. I record my session notes securely on a laptop that is only used by me, and this is password protected at both the level of the individual document and the laptop itself. Any paper documents are locked in a robust non-portable cabinet to which only I have access. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ZB750719) and any information that I keep is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 18) and United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation UK-GDPR see Information
Commissioner’s Office: https://ico.org.uk and BACP’s Privacy notice. https://www.bacp.co.uk/privacy-notice.

Instances where breach of confidentiality may be an obligation:

Harm to self and others

I reserve the right to break confidentiality if I think that you have become a danger to yourself or other people. I will attempt to discuss this with you and my supervisor first, but this may not always be possible.

For legal and ethical reasons

I am not bound by confidentiality if in good faith I feel that I can assist in the prevention or detection of a serious crime, this includes safeguarding issues regarding children or vulnerable adults, crimes regarding substantial financial gains and losses, and acts of terrorism.

Keep safe policy

In certain cases where you may have declared a clear and definite intention to end your life, or if I have reason to believe this to be true, we may after a careful discussion agree to put in place a ’keep safe policy’ where you will agree to take certain measures, such as to get in touch with your mental health crisis team, or talk to the Samaritans as a way of safeguarding and ensuring your safety.

Attending under the influence

I am unable to deliver effective therapy to clients who try to attend sessions under the influence of non-prescribed medication or alcohol. In such a case I would discuss the issue with you and we would agree a period of abstinence prior to the session from the non-prescribed medication or alcohol, and add
this period to the contract.

Contact between sessions

Contact between sessions is generally limited to brief messages relating to re-arranging of sessions. If you need to contact me, please email me at contact@12ercounsellingservices.com. I do not reply to messages sent via phone or social media. In an emergency, you can go to A&E (999), NHS 111 or you can access useful crisis servises listed here: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/useful-contacts/. Click here

If I see you outside of therapy, I will not approach you until and if you want to approach me. This is to maintain confidentiality.

Complaints

If there is anything that you don’t understand about this agreement, or if you would prefer it in a different format, please let me know. Similarly, if you are not happy with any of our sessions or the standard of my work, I hope that you would feel able to talk to me about this. If you feel unable to talk to me or in the event of a serious complaint, please contact BACP’s Get help with counselling concerns service (formerly Ask Kathleen), which provides confidential telephone and email guidance on what to do if you have concerns about your therapy or therapist. Phone 01455 883300 or 07811 762114 or 07811 762256. Please leave a
message or email gethelp@bacp.co.uk, or write to BACP, 15 St John’s Business Park, Lutterworth LE17 4HB.

Supervision

I will discuss all client sessions only with my supervisor. This is an ethical requirement to establish that I am working to the best practice in my sessions with you under the requirements from the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy.

Termination

You may terminate your therapy prior to the planned ending at any time. A conversation to facilitate this ending is always encouraged, but if this is not possible, please inform me via e-mail. In the event of any threating or abusive behaviour, your therapy will be terminated.

During therapy sessions it may also become apparent that the type of therapy being offered isn’t suitable for the issues you are presenting with. If this is the case, I will discuss this with you, and can work with you to either refer or signpost you to a more appropriate service.

If you do not attend a session, and no contact is made within 5 days of the session, I will assume you are no longer wanting to continue counselling.

Insurance

I have indemnity insurance and public laibility insurance. This insurance provides cover for working with clients in the UK. If you are outside of the UK, this insurance does not cover you.