Terms and Conditions -  H Phillips Counselling

Therapy Information:

Every effort is made to ensure the service you receive is of the highest quality.  Feedback is welcomed as it helps to maintain the high standards offered at "H Phillips Counselling."

The Counselling Agreement / Client Agreement:

The counselling contract is between you and the counsellor. Please read through this carefully as it provides information about the practical side of coming to counselling. By attending the sessions, the document will constitute a binding agreement between you and your counsellor. 

Confidentiality, supervision, and record-keeping:

Counselling often involves the disclosure of sensitive and personal information, so confidentiality is paramount. In order to protect your right to privacy the things you disclose to your counsellor will remain confidential between you and them. 

All counsellors are bound by their professional codes of conduct as defined by their accrediting organisation,  (BACP) which includes the responsibility to manage your information confidentially and in line with GDPR. 

There are situations in which your therapist can break confidentiality: 

1) Where you, the client, give consent for confidentiality to be broken and information to be shared. 

2) Where the counsellor is compelled by a court of law. 

3) Where the information is  such that confidentiality cannot be maintained. This includes instances in which the counsellor considers the client or others to be in imminent danger, the safety of the client is paramount.

Your counsellor will always attempt to speak to you before breaking confidentiality. 

Supervision:

The counsellor is required by their profession to have regular supervision sessions where they discuss aspects of their clinical work. The counsellor may need to discuss with their supervisor concerns over specific risk-related issues that arise in your sessions. These include risk of harm or neglect to your health or others (adults the general public, and/ or children). Sharing information with professionals outside the organization is discussed with you first.  Your identity will never be revealed.

Record Keeping:

Counsellors may find it useful to keep some notes on your sessions. These tend to be brief and help to keep track of topics and themes covered in counselling.  Notes are kept in a password-protected document in accordance with the data protection act and GDPR. 

Therapy sessions and cancellations:

These include Face-to-Face, Online and Telephone Counselling sessions.:

Therapy sessions typically run for 50/60 minutes and takes place on a weekly basis. It is possible to have regular flexible sessions (to accommodate shift work etc) these have to be agreed by both counsellor and client. 

A commitment to prioritise and attend sessions is required. This means protecting the time you have identified to commit to counselling, planning ahead and arriving to sessions on time. It will not be possible for your counsellor to extend the length of your session if you arrive late. 

Please give your counsellor 24 hours’ notice if you cannot attend. Sessions cancelled less than 24 hours in advance and missed sessions will still be charged. Your counsellor will also make you aware of any dates when they will be unavailable, in which case you will not have to pay any fee.

Remote Sessions:

All  online remote sessions will take place via Zoom or Teams. Telephone counselling will take place at a mutually agreed time.

A few safeguarding issues to be aware of: 

·       Both parties clearly need to take steps to ensure that the conversation cannot be overheard by unauthorized third parties in the same building.

.        To this end, the use of headphones may be used.

·       Please ensure that you are in a quiet place without any distractions so that our sessions can proceed in a safe, secure and confidential environment. 

·       Please also be aware that your counsellor will not be contactable via telephone/FaceTime on the number used outside of the sessions. Please use email instead.

·     If your counsellor notices during the call that you are in a social place, i.e. street, shop, etc., your counsellor will stop the session and remind you that sessions are                  confidential. Charges will still apply.
 
 

Contracting:

1.     Connection: We will both be relying on technology, i.e. wi-fi, mobile provider, reception, etc. and that this can become an issue at times. In case of interruption of calls, video call, etc., your counsellor will reach out to you immediately. If communication cannot be resumed after trying for 10 minutes, your counsellor will send you an email immediately

2.     Confidentiality: Reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that you are in a safe and confidential environment. If you are not, your counsellor may pause the session until further arrangements are made. Charges will still apply.

3. Therapy should not be interrupted by others unless it is an unavoidable situation.

3.     Out of Hours Contact: Please be aware that your counsellor will not be contactable via Phone/FaceTime outside of the session. All out of session contact must be via email or text message. Counsellor may not respond immediately and will not be held accountable for any developments that occur during this time frame.

4. We can discuss how you want to be acknowledged if we ever meet unexpectedly outside the counselling room i.e., in a store, restaurant or in the street. I am fine with whatever makes you feel comfortable.

I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and adhere to their guidelines.

Emergency/Out of Hours:

In the event of any incident that might require urgent support outside the scope of the service being offered, please contact the emergency services for further assistance such as your local A&E, PSNI (999), less urgent (101), GPs, The Samaritans (freephone: 116 123), friends or family members.

Therapy will take place at the same time and day every week, unless by prior arrangement.

If you agree to all of the above for therapy sessions, please email your counsellor acknowledging your agreement and informed consent and we will proceed at our next agreed session.

Payment: Payments can be made via bank transfer or PayPal either before or immediately after the session. Payment may be made in cash during face-to-face sessions. Online card payments can be made via Stripe at time of booking, or paid in-house at time of the appointment.  Most major credit/debit cards accepted.  Cheques not accepted.  If  for any reason, there are more than 2 consecutive missed payments, the counsellor retains the right to pause or end the sessions. If you can no longer afford the fee, please speak to the counsellor whereby an arrangement can be discussed.  All sessions to be paid in full.  Credit is not available.

Acknowledgement and Consent:

By attending your sessions, you are acknowledging that: You understand and agree to abide by the policies detailed in the client contract; We have discussed and clarified any questions you may have about this document.