Counselling Contract

I, Paul Sanders, am a qualified counsellor and I adhere to the ethical framework provided by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy of which I am a member, membership no: 957580. Our sessions together will last for 50 minutes and start at our agreed time. Late starts due to client lateness will be deducted from the time. Due to other booked sessions, I will be unable to over run on our time slot. 

You, the client, will be asked to sign a digital version of this contract during your first sessions along with providing emergency details and a background overview.

Confidentiality and data protection:

All sessions are carried out in a confidential, secure environment separate to any other building. 

All personal information is  held in compliance with the Information Commissioners office (ICO) ref: ZB118419. The information that I will hold on you during our time together will be stored digitally that only Libra Counselling will have access to. Data that may need to be shared will only happen when I am legally bound to pass your information on through a request via court or concern for you or someone else where life or safety is threatened. Any instances that may involve the sharing of your data will include a discussion before this happens.

Legal obligations that may cause me to share your details (but not limited to) are as follows:

The Children’s Act 1989/2004

Any disclosure of child abuse where the case has not been legally judged.

The Terrorism Act  2000

Disclosure that you are involved or aware of any form of terrorism/radicalisation.

The Drug Trafficking Act 1994

Disclosure of any form of drug trafficking.

Exceptions to confidentiality is where I believe you or somebody else is at significant risk of harm. We would discuss how we would manage this in our session to ensure that you are kept safe. This may mean discussing our session with a third party. I engage in Clinical Supervision, this is a requirement for all qualified counsellors. I may discuss our sessions confidentially. The supervisor will not know you by name and will only know you by your Initials.

All notes and personal details are kept for 6 years to adhere to insurance policies. 

Payment, Cancellation and Refunds:

Unless other arrangements have been agreed, it is expected that you will pay for each session upon booking via the Libra Counselling website. Any sessions that are missed with less than 24 hours notice are due in full. Cancellations must be made with at least 24hours notice. You are able to rearrange your session online up to 48 hours before the start of the session or by contacting me.

Both parties for Couples Counselling must attend for the session to take place. None attendance by one party will result in the full session being charged and not taking place. 

The departure of one party from the session will result in the session ending and charged in full.

In the event that I  am unable to attend the session through cancellation/sickness, a refund will be processed or the monies will carry over to the following session. This will be discussed should the situation arise.