Trooper Counselling Agreement
COUNSELLING APPROACH
We use Person-Centred Counsellors at Finding Your Feet and the Counsellor you have been allocated believes that all clients have the capacity to fulfil their potential and take back control of their lives. Your Counsellor will work with you to help you understand self-awareness and have confidence in yourself and your decisions. This approach will enable you to make the changes that are helpful for you. The counsellor will also support you to find the best solutions for you to live a more meaningful and satisfying life. Regular clinical reviews will be part of the counselling to ensure you are getting the most benefit from your sessions.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Everything that you share during your counselling sessions will remain confidential between you and your counsellor;- unless you were to disclose that you or another person are at risk of harm from self or others.
In most instances this would be something your counsellor would discuss with you to consider any action required but there are some situations where legally this may not be required – see below exceptions:
- They would be required to discuss the work, if required by law. For example, if you discussed acts of terrorism, drug money laundering or serious crime or serious risk to harm others, I would be required to report this to police.
- If you reveal information about children or vulnerable adults being at serious risk they would be required to report that to the relevant authorities if you felt unable to do so yourself.
- If served with a court order to give evidence in court, they would have to do so.
- They may be required to contact your GP and/ or your designated emergency contact or other medical professional if believed that you were likely to cause serious and imminent injury to yourself.
To ensure they are working ethically and competently within the Ethical Framework of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, your counsellor is required to attend regular clinical supervision and for the purposes of this work may disclose some details of your work together, but your identity will remain protected.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A CLIENT
It is important to get full benefit from your counselling that you agree to communicate as openly and honestly as possible. We would ask if anything is unclear or causing you concern that you mention this to your Counsellor or a staff member at FYF. It is important to let us know of any changes in circumstances that might impact on your therapy.
APPOINTMENTS & PAYMENT
Each session will last for 60 minutes and for you to maximise the benefit to yourself, punctuality is important. If you arrive late for a session, it cannot be extended beyond the allocated time and if you have not arrived and have not contacted the Counsellor within 20 minutes of the end time, they will assume that you are unable to attend. Initially a block of up to 6 sessions will be offered. This will only be extended with agreement between you, your Counsellor and Finding Your Feet.
We politely ask, if for any reason you are not able to attend your session you must notify the Counsellor directly. If this is not done, Finding Your Feet will still be invoiced (this is the case unless 24-hour notice of cancellation/rearrangement is given). If you do not show for 2 appointments within the initial block of sessions allocated, and no contact is made, we will assume that you are not ready for Counselling at this time and no further appointments will be made until you are fully ready to commit.
If you have not attended a session and have not contacted us or your Counsellor, we will make contact to you by phone, text or email and if no response back from you within 48 hrs we would assume you do not want to continue with counselling at this time.
A block of counselling sessions cannot be paused. If, for whatever reason, you decide to discontinue your sessions and then want to re-start them at a later date, you would need to be re-referred. We will try to refer you to the same counsellor but this cannot be guaranteed.
If, due to unforeseen circumstances, the counsellor needed to cancel your session they would try to give as much notice as possible. If your Counsellor was to be unexpectedly temporarily or permanently incapacitated or unexpectantly passed away, they will have arranged for you to be informed of this by their clinical supervisor to ensure your clinical confidentiality is maintained and you will be signposted to the most appropriate alternative support.
LIMITS FOR COUNSELLING
It is important that you do not attend your counselling session whilst under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs.
It is important to note the counsellor does not provide a 24/7 crisis support for clients.
If you feel you are in crisis out with your therapy sessions and feel at immediate risk of harming yourself, please CALL 999, your GP, attend your local A&E OR call NHS24 on 111. Alternatively call Samaritans on 116 123 (which is free from a mobile) Samaritans have additional information regarding contact to them at https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/samaritans-free-call-helpline-number-faqs
If you feel you might need or benefit from an earlier counselling appointment due to any unexpected or distressing events, please contact your Counsellor or FYF and we will try our best to accommodate an earlier appointment.
RECORD-KEEPING
The counsellor (not FYF) records your name, date of birth and email/telephone number (for the purposes of identifying you and linking your coded clinical notes) and brief confidential clinical notes as a summary of your counselling work, but these are not shared with any other agency aside from the exceptional circumstances mentioned in confidentiality exclusions. This agreement will be reviewed annually or earlier as required.
Under Data Protection legislation you do have the following rights and important you are aware for these.
- To access a copy and explanation of your personal data.
- To request correction or erasure, in certain circumstances.
- To request limiting or ceasing data processing, where applicable.
- To compensation for substantial damage or distress caused by data processing, where applicable.
Jurisdiction: This contract, and the work it relates to, are subject to the jurisdiction and laws of Scotland.
By signing below, you are confirming that you have read, understood, and agreed to the terms stated in the above Counselling Agreement and to your data being retained and managed.