Important information

Important information

Two chairs Online counselling is not suitable for everyone. In order to help me to help you, please inform me if you are currently undergoing any psychological therapy.

If you are feeling suicidal and in an immediate crisis situation go to Samaritans or Befrienders or contact your GP.

Face to face or online counselling may be of benefit for you once your present situation has stabilised.

Confidentiality
For all the counselling I undertake not to divulge any information you may give me to anyone else and make sure I keep any notes I may make in a secure place. The exception to this could be if it became apparent that there was a danger to yourself or others, especially a child. If I thought it was necessary to disclose information however, I would make every attempt to discuss this with you beforehand.

Like any professional counsellor, I have regular Supervision and I may discuss aspects of our sessions with my supervisor but I would make every effort to avoid disclosing information that would identify you.

If we are working On line with emails or by Messenger, if I make copies of our conversations these will only be on floppy disc and I will keep them in a secure place. I am registered with the Data Protection Agency and am bound by their code of practice. No personal details held on computer will be passed on to a third party without your explicit consent.

Internet e-mail is not completely secure, a determined hacker could find his/her way into this system, although this is very unlikely. The reality is that email is still a lot more secure than the telephone or the postal system.

It could be possible for others to find information on your counselling if you:· let others have access to your computer and emails

print out emails and don't keep them secure
misread my email address or sent one meant for me to someone else by mistake
if you use a computer at work, someone else may get access. Also your employer has a legal right to view e-mail on their computers.

If you feel that normal email channels are not safe enough it is possible to use encrypted email although this does involve some inconvenience including the exchange of passwords by some other means than our computers. Ask me about this if it is a method you would like to consider.

I have a computer firewall and a regularly updated anti-virus programme installed and I take all reasonable measures to avoid disclosure of information or accidental virus infection of your computer but cannot further guarantee this.

Ethics
I endeavour to treat all my clients with equal respect regardless of their sex, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. I would not attempt to contact clients other than for counselling purposes or attempt to engage them in anything than a professional counselling relationship. I abide by the BACP Code of Ethics and Practice and am subject to its Complaints Procedure.

Contracts
If I see you face to face or speak with you by telephone, I will let you have a copy of my Information Sheet which will form the basis of our contract.

If we are working on-line I will send you a Contract by e-mail early in our exchanges which will set out:

the length of time I can provide to read/write each email exchange
the length of time between each email and my reply
the number of exchange of e-mails before we review progress
what the arrangements are if there is a breakdown of either of our computers, how and if alternative contact is to be made
Any times that I will be away during the contracted period
How we can end the contract
The cost and how payment is to be made.

Payment
For face to face my fee is £45 per hour session. For telephone sessions the fee is £40 per hour or pro rata if shorter. This may be negotiable in some circumstances. This can be paid by cash or cheque.

For online counselling my fee is £40 per hour spent on emails, this usually works out at £20 per email. Skype sessions are at £40 per hour. Payments can either be sent directly to me by cheque, or online through Paypal, paypal.com for credit cards using their secure server site.

Insurance
I am covered by professional indemnity insurance.