Discover Your Path: Personalized Counselling for Life and Career Goals

I know counselling can be a daunting to undertake so I am happy to answer any questions and understand the brave step you have taken in starting counselling.  I will offer a non judgmental, safe space where you are supported.  

A counselling contract is a formal agreement between a client and a therapist that outlines the terms and conditions of the counselling relationship. This contract aims to create a safe, professional, and clearly defined experience for both parties. Below is my contract to you, which I will go through and ask you sign before counselling begins. If you have any questions then please do ask.

Below is the contract that you (client) and I (counsellor) will agree to.

Session Times and Frequency

• We will meet once each week virtually at an agreed time and day for a 50-minute session.

• I always recommend an initial minimum of 6 sessions.  This allows time for our work together to evolve and by which time we can review the counselling. If you continue beyond the first six sessions the period over which we work becomes open ended until we end by agreement.

• The agreed time slot for your session will always be available to you for the duration of the contract, unless circumstances outside my control or yours make it necessary for us to review it.

• If you are late for a session without letting me know. I will still be available for the duration of the session, but I will not work beyond the end time of the agreed session.

• Please if you can inform me with as much notice as possible if you are going be late or unable to attend a session, preferably 48 hours’ notice for cancellation.

Fees

• We will have an initial session for 30mins which will be FREE of charge, to help you decide if I am the counsellor for you. Following this I charge a fee of £45 per session. 

• I do offer concessions of £25 per session to clients who are claiming benefits. This must be agreed prior to commencing our work together and is subject to availability.  If I am unable to offer at that time, I will have waiting list.

• I review my fees on a yearly basis and will give at least one month’s notice of any increase.

Payment is due via BAC’s, or standing order, fees must be transferred to my account before the start of each session otherwise we will not be able to commence our session.

Bank Details: HSBC

Name: E L Evans

Sort Code: 40 30 10

Acc Number: 31310836

*Please let me know if you have any problems with payment.  

Contact outside of sessions.

• My telephone number and email address are for use in the case of cancellations or alterations. I will not enter into telephone or email counselling except in exceptional circumstances and by prior agreement.

• My telephone number is not checked continually, and messages will only be picked up on an irregular basis throughout the day. My working days are Tuesday - Thursday I will not response to messages outside of these days.

• I will endeavor to reply to you as soon as possible, but there may be a delay. If you are unable to wait for me to reply, or require emergency or urgent professional assistance outside my normal working hours, please contact NHS direct telephone 111, your GP, the emergency services or the Samaritans freephone 116123

• I do not initiate or accept Social Networking ‘Friends Requests’ from clients, as this can compromise the confidential and therapeutic nature of the counselling relationship. Please be aware of the privacy settings on your social network platforms. (Please see my digital policy) 

• We shall not meet or have contact outside of the Counselling sessions. I will not make it known that I know or recognise you should we meet in a public space.

• Our Counselling relationship will remain strictly professional. The boundaries of our engagement will be clearly and thoroughly discussed during our initial meeting, and are to be respected equally by you (the client) and by me (the counsellor).

Commitment

• Please make every effort to attend all sessions.  Counselling can be difficult, painful, and challenging. Positive outcomes rely upon commitment to the process.  I ask that you make a firm commitment and attend regularly even when it feels difficult.  Keep absences to a minimum. Counselling can often make you feel worse before it begins to feel better.

My Commitment to my clients

• I will always respect you and not pass judgement.  As a client I want you to feel free to work with me towards your desired goal, your trust in me with your wellbeing and sensitive personal information is of paramount importance to me. Therefore, as members of BACP, we take being trustworthy as a serious ethical commitment. We have agreed that we will:

(Please follow link for full statement)

Confidentiality and its limits

• The content of our session are confidential to you (the client) and to me (the counsellor),

• All members of BACP are required to have regular supervision, this is standard practice. My work continues to be supervised to ensure that it is safe, ethical and effective. Aspects of our work may be discussed during these sessions, but no full name will be used and identifiable details removed. My supervisor is a member of BACP and as such they are bound by the same confidentiality rules as myself.

• On rare occasions it may be necessary to break confidentiality, but only if I or my supervisor believe you are in danger of seriously harming yourself or someone else. This includes safeguarding issues regarding children or vulnerable adults, crimes regarding substantial financial gains and losses, and acts of terrorism

• In the case of a disclosure concerning acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act confidentiality will be broken and such disclosures will be passed onto the relevant authority without delay. I am liable to civil or court procedure if information of this sort is not disclosed.

• Any necessary changes to our confidentiality agreement will be made with prior consultation with you. This is in line with the BACP Code of Ethics.

• I will keep brief confidential notes, these are purely to help me in my work with you; these are stored securely in a locked filing cabinet.  

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (C1482445) 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.

 Holidays and Cancellations

• I will give you as much notice as possible of any intended breaks. I ask you to give as much notice as possible of any intended breaks.

• If I am away or unable to attend, you will not have to pay for the scheduled session.

• When you start counselling a regular weekly commitment is established between you (the client) and me (the counsellor). This means that I cannot be available to anyone else if you miss a session without notice. In those circumstances I require you to pay the fee for your session. There are no exceptions to this. I ask you to give 48 hour’s notice of non-attendance via text or email to avoid a fee being charged. In those circumstances there will be no charge for the missed session.

Endings

• In the normal course of events you will probably know when you are ready to finish Counselling, and we will agree together on the work we need to do to prepare for this. You may at times find Counselling very difficult, become distressed and feel the need to end. I would invite you to talk to me about these difficulties rather than suddenly end, as an opportunity to resolve important issues may be lost.

• I will not suddenly or without warning terminate our contract, except in exceptional circumstances, which would become clear in the course of the work together, which we would fully discuss at that time.

Complaints Procedures, Ethics and code of conduct

I am an registered member of the BACP and work within their ethical framework.

BACP Membership No: BACP Register No: 00980310

A copy of the ethical framework for the Counselling Professions can be found on the BACP’s website: BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions

If you are dissatisfied with the service provided please discuss your concerns with me as a first step.

If we are unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion to your complaint I will advise you to contact the BACP Customer Services.

They will assist with a complaints procedure. See link: http://www.bacp.co.uk/crs/complaints.php

This contract will be subject to periodic review and you will be notified of any updates.