Counselling / Coaching Agreement Local

My approach

I work an integrative way, which means that I will use a variety of therapeutic approaches to inform our work together.

My original training is in Cognitive Psychology and Humanistic Counselling, but I have additional qualifications in Mindful Self Compassion and Motherhood Studies, so I share tools and insights from these perspectives. 

This means that I can offer you both space to reflect upon where any current issues in your life have come from, and help you to establish new ways of dealing with those issues.

Throughout our sessions, I aim to offer empathy (putting myself in your shoes), acceptance (a non-judgemental attitude), and congruence (being honest with myself and with you) in our relationship. My role is not to tell you what to do, although I may give information or offer suggestions. My role is to help you explore and find confidence in your own ideas, values and beliefs.

Confidentiality

Everything you share with me in the course of our work together will be treated as confidential. However, there are a couple of limits to confidentiality, which you need to be aware of:

• In accordance with the ethical framework of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), I may be required to undertake supervision. Supervision sessions are to allow me to gain support and guidance in my work and also to check that I am working ethically and competently. When I discuss the work that I am doing with you, I will only refer to you by your first name in order to keep your identity anonymous.
• I may be legally or ethically obliged to break confidentiality, for example, where I consider your welfare or the welfare of others to be seriously at risk. Wherever possible, I will consult with you before breaching confidentiality.

Sessions

Our initial contract will be for an agreed number of sessions, confirmed at booking in, after which we will review the process and negotiate further sessions as appropriate. Six sessions are typically recommended to begin with, but shorter or longer term work is also possible.

Either of us can decided to stop sessions at any time but please see 'cancellations' for fees payable and 'ending sessions' for more information.

Normally we will meet for a 60 minute session at a regular agreed time.

Payments

Your fee will be £45 per session (in person) or £40 per session (online).

I will send you a link to book and pay via my website.

All fees must be paid in advance of the session, unless a different payment schedule has been previously agreed with me.

Cancellations

If for any reason I have to cancel a session I will aim to provide you with 48 hours’ notice, and you will not be charged for the session. Wherever possible I will offer you an alternative time.

Likewise, I would appreciate that you give me 48 hours’ notice if you are unable to attend.

You will not be charged for appointments missed due to illness or unforeseen circumstances provided you give me at least 24 hours’ notice.

However, a full session fee is payable if you give less than 24 hours’ notice.

Email / telephone / social media

Contact in between sessions will be limited to practical arrangements and any follow up materials I may send.

Longer term, I do offer a ‘check in’ service via Voxer (a voice messaging app) so that clients can keep in touch and leave messages for me. Please ask for details.

I do not accept friend requests on social media, as this can compromise the confidential and therapeutic nature of our working relationship.

Ending sessions

We will review the work that we are doing on our final agreed session, giving us both a chance to assess any themes and next steps.

If you decide to stop coming to sessions at any time, please let me know in advance and, if possible, we can arrange an ending session.

If I feel that sessions are no longer appropriate for you (e.g. because you want to bring issues that fall outside of my professional competence), I will discuss this with you and may suggest you discontinue, or offer to refer you to someone who can help.