My policies

Fee

My fee is £75.

This is for a 50-minute session in person, online, or by phone.

Payment

I kindly ask you to pay before each session, by bank transfer.

Cancellation & attendance

Payment is due for any session you do not attend.

Once agreed, your time slot is reserved for you weekly, and I will be there regardless. It is therefore important to be sure you can commit to a regular pattern of attendance, for the value of your therapy and the sustainability of my practice.

To avoid being charged for a session you cannot attend, I encourage you to book a replacement session, and/or the option of doing it online or by phone.

I aim to give you at least four weeks’ notice of any break I myself take. Any session that I have to cancel is, of course, not payable by you.

Session timings

Your sessions will be weekly, on the same day and time.

Each session lasts 50 minutes. Please arrive on time, rather than early. Please message me if you will be more than 10 minutes late.

Depending on my availability, I may be able to offer sessions at a higher or lower frequency once we have had a period of regular weekly sessions.

Ending therapy

There is no requirement to commit to a particular number of sessions, and you may end therapy at any time simply by letting me know.

Endings in therapy are however important to get right, and final sessions are best agreed well in advance.

Confidentiality

I am bound by the BACP’s Ethical Framework which includes strict guidelines regarding confidentiality.

Everything you discuss with me is confidential. Nevertheless, there are specific conditions which you should be aware of:

1. I may discuss aspects of our conversations with a supervisor in order to support my work with you. Your identity will always be anonymised, i.e. no personally identifying information will be shared.
   
2. Confidentiality may be broken if I believe there is plausible risk of harm to yourself or others. Unless there are overwhelming safeguarding or ethical concerns that prevent me from doing so, I will always attempt to speak to you about this first so that your perspective is heard.
   
3. I am legally obliged to break confidentiality without prior notice in three specific cases: terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering.

Your details

Once we have an agreement for ongoing therapy, I will ask you to provide the following, in case I’m ever concerned for your health or safety and need to help you get support:

• Email address & phone number
• An emergency contact
• Your GP details
• Your date of birth

Accessibility

My consulting room is on the first floor of the building. There is an external flight of stairs with handrails on each side. There are no internal stairs.

Professional affiliation

I maintain ongoing status as a Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

Supervision

I commit to ongoing professional supervision with a Senior Accredited Member of the BACP. This supervisor has a confidentiality policy equivalent to mine.

Safety, substance use, etc

I cannot allow inappropriate physical contact, violence, or abusive behaviour, and reserve the right to end or refuse our work together at my discretion.

Furthermore, I require that clients do not attend sessions under the influence of alcohol or substances, as this can affect the safety and effectiveness of the work we do together.

Communication outside of sessions

I ask that any contact outside of our sessions is limited to practical matters such as rescheduling or cancellations.

Also, it is helpful for us to agree how you’d like me to respond if we cross paths in public. By default, I’ll take your lead and wait for you to acknowledge me first, in respect of your privacy and comfort.

Ethics & Complaints

I adhere to the BACP’s Ethical Framework and Professional Conduct Procedure which allows clients or other members to raise complaints against a BACP member.

Privacy notice

Please see my Privacy Notice regarding use of personal data.