Terms of service
This details essential information about my professional services and the general rules I follow with all clients in my care.
Confidentiality
Your therapy will entail discussing some very intimate things, such as your thoughts, feelings, and actions. To some extent, my ability to help you will really depend on how open you are about yourself during our meetings. Anything that you disclose remains confidential. It is important that during our sessions you feel you can talk openly with me and that your right to privacy is protected. This generally means that I cannot discuss you or your information with any third parties without your consent. The only limits to confidentially are in the case of concerns around harm to children and risk to self. We will talk about this more during the assessment.
Client records
I take some notes about our sessions. These tend to be brief and include mostly information about the dates we met and occasionally the topics covered and any problems or goals we have set. To protect confidentiality I never include your full name in my notes.
All information about you is kept in a file within a locked filing cabinet. All emails that contain any reports are password protected.
Exceptions to confidentiality
There are some situations that may arise where confidentiality can be broken. Although these situations are very rare, you should be made aware that:
If you threaten to cause severe harm to yourself or others, and I believe your threat to be serious, then I am ethically required to protect you/others, in any way that I see fit. In situations such as these, my intervention may involve talking to you about going to a hospital, or, in some extreme cases, by informing the relevant authorities.
If I receive a court order requesting your records, I may be required to provide any relevant information.
In order for me to provide you with the best treatment, I may need to seek advice from a mental health professional. All therapist consult with a supervisor on a regular basis for the duration of their career to ensure best practice is maintained. If I do need to talk with my clinical supervisor or colleagues about your case in order to help you, this will be done with your best interests in mind. Your identity will always be kept confidential so your name will never be disclosed. Furthermore, the content of what we discuss will also b treated with the same level of confidentiality and the same exceptions to confidentiality will apply to the other professional as well.
For session that involve couples, I recommend each partner involved in the therapy keep the content of the sessions confidential. This means that no one in the therapy should discuss what has been said or done with anyone who is not involved in the therapy, except with his or her own individual therapist if applicable. Despite recommending this discretion, I cannot guarantee that everyone will honour this agreement.
Fees
The fee for the assessment and for subsequent sessions for a standard 60 minutes. Fees for individual or couples sessions are agreed prior to the initial meeting and confirmed by email or text. If together, we agree to have a longer session, the fee with increase proportionally. My prices usually increase every couple of years due to inflation and increased office rental costs. Where this occurs, I will notify you at least a month in advance. See our current fees.
Payment
You are expected to pay at the end of each session. You can pay by cash or card payment. I cannot take a cheque. You can also pay by bank transfer, in which case the payment should be made before the session. I will send these details to you at the time of booking.
If your sessions is being paid for by private health insurance or another provider (such as for insurance claims) please be aware that they also have terms. Please ask me about these in the assessment.
Cancellations and missed sessions
Clients are required to inform me as soon as they become aware that they will be unable to attend a scheduled session via email or text. Cancellations or missed sessions are subject to 24 hours notice. Missed sessions or cancelled sessions on the day of the appointment are to be paid in full. Cancelled sessions with less than 24 hours notice (not on the day) will be subject to a 50% payment charge. We will not be able to rebook another session until this is paid.
For privately funded insurance there is usually a full payment taken for sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours notice; it will come off the allotted number of sessions agreed at the start. In some cases, you may have to pay the non-attendance charge. Please ensure you are aware of the terms of your insurance.
Late arrivals
If for any reason you arrive late for the session, I will still see you but the session will terminate as per schedule.
Online sessions
I will contact you via the agreed platform. At the start of the session. If you do not answer, that will be the equivalent of the ‘late arrival’ situation above. I will then try calling you again but you may also call me as soon as you are available.
Contact in-between sessions
I usually communicate with clients via email or text message about organising sessions and other administrative matters. If I need to cancel I will text or email you as soon as I can. In rare occasions, I may need to call you, only for very urgent matters. You may text me or email me for similar administrative matters. Unless it is an emergency, if you email or text about your psychological well being in-between sessions, I will usually raise the issue in the next session. Please be aware I am not an emergency service so cannot guarantee I have read your message. If you are concerned about your safety, please contact your GP, A&E or the Samaritans.
Ethical Framework
In my therapeutic practice, I abide to the ethical guidelines and regulations set by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC). Further information can be obtained by visiting their websites.
Covid-19
We take your safety very seriously and we will be following government guidance about working safely and requirements for PPE. Before your appointment we will be in touch about what to expect. Read our Covid 19 Policy for face-to-face therapy (PDF download).