Ethical Statement Re: Confidentiality   I work to the highest ethical standards and will respect the individuals privacy and culture at all times. All communications will remain confidential between the client and myself. One exception to this is where I take some of the issues to supervision, to ensure that I am counselling in a way that is safe and beneficial to my clients [as required by the BACP professional code]. I will not reveal a clients identity, and will take all precautions to protect their privacy

Counselling Contract This is a sample of the counselling contract we will will each sign and have a copy of.

Code of Ethics v  As a Member of the BACP, I am bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and subject to its Professional Conduct Procedure. v  I will respect you, your values, culture and belief systems and work with you in a way that best suits your needs at the time.   Confidentiality v  I agree to respect your right to privacy and undertake to keep information I hold about you confidential. I am registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 to hold sensitive information on my computer.  Please be aware that, in accordance the Act, I am not allowed to disclose, publish or pass on to a third party, any of your personal details or personally sensitive information about you. I will word process brief notes following each of our sessions, purely as an aid to the therapeutic process.  These are stored on my password protected external hard drive and will be deleted at the end of our contract. v  Information disclosed by you in the counselling sessions will remain confidential - with the following exceptions: a) If you disclose serious intent to harm yourself.* b) If you disclose a serious intent to harm someone else.* c) If you disclose the abuse of a child or an elderly person.*   *In the event of this type of disclosure, I am legally required to seek further advice.  This would be fully discussed with you prior to any action being taken.

Supervision v  Good therapeutic practice requires all counsellors (of all levels of qualification) to have regular supervision to monitor their practice. I undertake monthly supervision from a qualified BACP registered supervisor, with whom I discuss certain client issues.  However, client(s) name(s) / identifying details are not disclosed to the supervisor.   Length of Sessions v  Sessions will usually last for 50 minutes. However, longer sessions can be negotiated in advance.  Should you arrive late; the session will still finish at the end of the scheduled hour.   Fees & Cancellation Policy v  My fee is £30 per session for Individuals & £50 per session for Couples. [I operate a sliding scale for unwaged] v  Fees are payable at each session or, in the case of block booking, in advance using cash or cheque [‘PayPal’ for online clients only]. v  If you provide less than 48 hours notice of cancellation a £10 cancellation fee will apply.  If you cancel more than 48 hours in advance of your session, the fee will not apply. v  If you decide you no longer wish to continue counselling, please make this known within a session, in order that we can agree an end date and work towards an appropriate ending. v  I truly welcome you to discuss openly any difficulties that may arise regarding ‘any’ aspect of the counselling. This way we can hopefully work together and resolve the matter.

v  The number of sessions you feel you may require: ________.  The number of sessions required is often difficult to predict.  ‘You’ can decide this for yourself.  Bear in mind that sometimes there are additional issues identified as well as the main presenting problem.  For your information, anything from one to twenty sessions is often regarded as ‘brief therapy’. Sometimes people choose what is termed ‘open-ended’ therapy, with the expectation that as they work through their issue(s) ‘they’ will recognize when it is time to end.  Please remember, you are the one who sets the pace of the work and you are free to terminate counselling at any time.   v  How often will we meet.  People usually attend their counselling sessions on either a weekly or a fortnightly basis.  Sometimes people begin by attending a session every week but then reduce the frequency to fortnightly, or even monthly.  Right ‘now’, how frequently do ‘you’ anticipate you would like/need to attend: _______________________ Remember, this can be re-negotiated later on. To assist in negotiating how much I will charge you for counselling, please indicate whether you are employed or whether your sole income is state benefit.