A Contract gives security and peace of mind

The following is an example of my current Contract / Mutual  agreement which is constantly being reviewed and updated.

It explains what I can and cant offer within Counselling especially where "Confidentiality" is concerned.

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INSIGHT NORTHAMPTON

ADULT- CONTRACT / MUTUAL AGREEMENT 

For Counselling services in the U.K 

Session Times and Frequency

We will meet weekly, on ……………………..at……………..and each session will be a maximum of 50 minutes and will be reviewed after a period of 6 sessions. 

My fees are £........... per counselling session. If you wish to continue then there will be an additional cost of £.......plus the session fee prior to our second appointment The £......will be deducted from our final session together.

Fees are payable minimum of 24hrs in advance by Bacs transfer: MR R K POWELL – ACCOUNT ......... SORT CODE .........

I would ask you to be on time for our sessions as there can be no guarantee that an extension to the allocated time of your session will be possible. (Please see the cancellations section)

Contact outside of sessions

For the relationship to succeed it has to remain professional, therefore we shall not meet or have contact outside of this relationship. I shall not outside of our relationship make contact engage with you or recognise you on social media or in any other environment. These boundaries have to be adhered to and are to be equally enforced by you the client and by me the counsellor.

If there is need to contact me then my working hours are Monday to Friday 09.00-20.00. 

If I am unable to take your call then please leave me a voicemail and I will return your call as soon as I possibly can and I endeavour to respond to emails within 24hrs.

In case of an emergency / crisis then please contact your General Practitioner, NHS Direct 111, The Samaritans 116 123, The Crisis Team 0300 304 7000 or 999.

Cancellations

At times Counselling can be very demanding, frustrating, emotional and difficult and I appreciate there will be at times a reluctance to attend. I would ask you to make a firm commitment to attending regularly as too many missed appointments will slow down the Counselling process.

If you have to make a cancellation then I require 48 hours notice; if you cannot make a session I will try and arrange to see you that same week.

If for any reason I have to cancel our appointment then I will do my best to give you 48 hours notice and also try and make arrangements to see you that same week.

If you haven’t attended our session at the agreed time, I will try and contact you after 10mins. After this time the session will be closed and deemed as a missed appointment. Further to this I will endeavour to make further contact with you on two more occasions.

Please note that cancellations and missed appointments will have to be paid for.

Sessions

I encourage you to consider what you would expect from our meetings together and if you are unsure or unclear at any time about anything then please ask. 

Please avoid taking affect altering drugs, substances or alcohol before a session. Also please refrain from aggressive or physical behaviour as these will lead to me not being able to see you / terminating our session /s together.

What is Person-Centred counselling? 

I find the Person-Centred Approach fits my own philosophy as it has at its very core, an unshakable belief that all people are good.

Person-Centred counselling believes that each and every person can, and will, become a more fully functioning person if given the correct conditions. 

The underpinning principles of the Person-Centred Approach are focused on the counsellor being honest, non-judgmental and fully accepting whilst being fully integrated in the relationship allowing the client to lead and set the pace. 

I aim to offer these conditions as best as I can during our relationship.

Sessions

I encourage you to consider what you would expect from our meetings together and if you are unsure or unclear at any time about anything then please ask. 

Please avoid taking affect altering drugs, substances or alcohol before a session. Also please refrain from aggressive or physical behaviour as these will lead to me not being able to see you / terminating our session /s together.

Confidentiality and the limits of Confidentiality ( Please also refer to the “Online Privacy Statement”)

Please be aware that not all email providers offer an encrypted service, therefore please limit the amount of personal information you share within your emails. If you are concerned about the confidentiality of your emails then please consider setting up a new email address which is encrypted, you may also wish to contact me by telephone instead.

The contents of our sessions are confidential, although your identity will not be revealed I will need to discuss our work together with my supervisor. This is standard practice within BACP ethical framework and will assist me in helping you. 

I may make notes after each session, case notes and these will be kept securely. We both agree not to record or video sessions.

These notes are taken to assist me in helping you and may be shared with my supervisor. Notes will be kept for a period of 5 years then destroyed.

When visiting my premises please make sure that any “tracking apps” on your phone, smart watches, tablet, fitness gadgets are disabled or in “airplane mode” as this will protect your location and privacy.

I will do my best to keep up to date with the policies of the platform we use together with all updates.

You are responsible for the suitability of your internet connection, security of your devices, system updates, employing password-protection, having regularly updated Virus-checkers, Firewalls, Malware installed etc. (Please discuss any concerns with me).

Please visit the privacy section of the platform, read these policies and make sure you are fully conversent with your rights such as the right to eraser, the right to tell them to delete your data, the right to inform them not to use your data, the right to request a data subject request before you agree and sign this agreement.

In circumstances where I am concerned for your well being or others I will need to 

contact your doctor; where you inform me of a crime, Murder, arson, armed robbery, child abuse, child or drug trafficking, downloading and / or using child pornography, rape and / or sexual assault, 

Confidentiality and the limits of Confidentiality (Continued)

terrorism or I have been subpoenaed to give evidence in court. 

In all circumstances I will endeavour to discuss this with you prior to the breaking of confidentiality but this may not always be possible and It would be un-ethical and law breaking if I didn’t pass on such information.

Disclaimer

As we will be using 3rd parties to enable us to work online I cannot fully guarantee 100% confidentiality.

Endings & Referral

You will probably know when you are ready to finish counselling and we will discuss and agree together on the work we need to do to prepare for this. You may at times find counselling difficult and distressing and feel that you want this relationship to end. I would encourage you to talk to me about these feelings rather than suddenly end our meetings as this could well deprive us of the chance of resolving any important issues.

I will not suddenly or without warning terminate our contract except in exceptional circumstances, this would become clear in our work together and the reasons surrounding this would be fully discussed.

During our work together you may have shared some information with me that I am not suitably trained to help you with. In such a situation I will discuss this with you and look at the possibility and how you would feel about me referring you to someone that is suitably trained; this may include the medical profession. This does not mean that I will cease to support you through this transference period.

Qualifications and Memberships

I am a Person Centred counsellor in training and currently hold a Diploma in Person Centred Counselling, 

I am a registered member of BACP ( British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) and work within their ethical framework. A copy of this and / or their complaint procedure is available upon request or from their website.

I have undertaken training and hold a ACTO recognised “Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling” 

I hold the relevant employer and / or public liability insurance. 

I agree to the above terms for the provision of counselling and an equal relationship.

PERMISSION IS GIVEN   

TO COLLECT / HOLD DATA   

PRINT NAME 

SIGNED 

DATE 

It is essential that you read and agree to all the documents, terms, conditions and limitations supplied to you, if in doubt then please ask.

Once signed please keep a copy safely, email these to me as an attachment to insightnorthampton@protonmail.com 

If you wish to remove your agreement to my use of your data at any point please let me know by letter or email.

If you have any concerns / complaints in the way I use this data then please speak to me or contact Commissioners office ICO https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/