Counselling Terms and Conditions

Therapy Terms and Conditions

Therapy

The aim of therapy is to provide you with a confidential setting where you have the opportunity to explore your thoughts and feelings in safety, to assist your learning, understanding, healing and growth. My role as a therapist is to help you through this process without judgment, advice or telling you what to do. I offer online and telephone appointments to adults for individual therapy. 

I give no guarantee that therapy and provision of services will result in an improvement to the client’s mental or physical condition or general wellbeing. If at any time I feel I’m no longer the best therapist for you, I will offer to refer you to someone who may be a better fit. 

Frequency and Duration of Therapy 

The duration of the therapeutic process will depend on the type of difficulty or problem the client is facing. Some people prefer to work with an open contract, whereas other people prefer to work with a fixed number of sessions followed by a review. In all cases, every six to eight sessions the client and I will review the therapeutic process together. This helps to assess whether the client’s needs are being met and, this will also help, if required, to carry out the necessary adjustments and/or establish new goals for the process. 

I recognise that each client is individual and their needs will be different. As such sessions can be weekly, fortnightly, three-weekly, monthly or even ad-hoc. The most frequently booked session length is 60 minutes, I also offer 30 and 90 minute sessions. Different clients have different processing times and offering different session lengths is one of the ways I honour that. 

Therapy is most likely to be successful if takes place regularly. Although there are some exceptions to this, it is worth considering if you are unable to commit to regular appointments, this may not be the best time to begin therapy. 

I understand that your life circumstances may suddenly change. You may at any point desire or be obligated to discontinue therapy. Whatever the reason, I respect your decision and ask where possible you give one session’s notice before finishing, so that we have the chance to discuss your decision and not end therapy suddenly. 

Cancellation Policy   

I appreciate that there may be times when it is unavoidable to miss an appointment and will endeavour to support you to rearrange your session. Please give 24 hours’ notice if you’re unable to make your appointment. If less than 24 hours’ notice is given, or you do not attend (DNA) I reserve the right to charge you the full session fee. 

It is expected that the session will begin at the agreed time. If you arrive late for your appointment, we will finish at your usual time. Please try to contact me via kirsty@journeyofyou.uk or 07476906257 to let me know you will be late. If I have not heard from you after 5 minutes, I will send you a message via your preferred contact method. If you have not logged on 10 minutes after that it will be considered a DNA and I will not be available for the remainder of the session, and I reserve the right to charge you the full session fee. 

If you arrive for a session under the influence of non-prescribed drugs or alcohol, I reserve the right to cancel the session. The fee for the session will still apply in these circumstances. 

I will always aim to give clients as much notice as possible of any holidays, training workshops, conferences or illness that might prevent me from being available at the time/day of the scheduled session. In such cases I will always aim to offer an alternative arrangement.   

Fees and Payment 

I operate a trust-based scale for my fees based on income level of clients or the person(s) who are paying for therapy. I offer sessions at 30, 60, and 90 minutes in length. My hourly rate is:

• £55 for those with an income of £25k and below.
• £65 for those with an income between £25k and £50k.
• £75 for those with an income of £50k and over.

Payment is to be sent via bank transfer no later than 48 hours after the session.  If there is an outstanding fee payment, no further sessions can go ahead until the outstanding balance has been settled. Details of the bank account will be provided once we have agreed to work together.

Increases in my fees will occur, when necessary, no more than once annually and a notice of 3 months will be given.   

Confidentiality   

The content of all therapy sessions is confidential to the client. This means that you are free to choose if, how, and with whom you share information about therapy.  If you have referred yourself to therapy, then no one other than you and I would know you have attended or what was discussed. If you feel that someone may need to know information about your therapy sessions then I ask you to make this clear to me at the beginning of your sessions, or as soon as this becomes apparent.  For example, if you have been referred to me by another party it may be in your best interest for there to be some liaison. 

I will not record or take photos of our sessions and ask that that you do not record or take photos of our sessions without discussing it with me prior and getting my consent first. 

I will not usually share information about clients or about the content of therapy. There are a few exceptions to this: 

• If I felt, there was a serious risk of harm to yourself or others. 
• If I felt a child or vulnerable adult was at risk of harm. 
• Where there is a legal requirement to disclose information. This could be because it has been ordered by court, or because the law requires, for example under the Terrorism Act 2000 or the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986, for information to be passed on without consent. 
• If I become incapacitated or unable to continue work and inform you of this, then my present therapy supervisor will assist you to find additional therapy support if this is wanted / necessary. In these circumstances, my supervisor would be able to gain access to your contact details.

If I need to share information, I will make every reasonable effort to discuss this with you first. However, I retain the right to break confidentiality without prior discussion should I consider that the urgency of the situation requires me to act immediately to safeguard the physical safety of yourself or others. 

In certain cases, you, the client, may request that I share information concerning you. In these cases, I require written permission before I carry out the request.  Where written confirmation may be required to be passed on to a third party, this is restricted to a minimum. I’m not able to provide in-depth reports on the sessions or give onions or diagnosis. 

As part of my professional standards, I attend monthly clinical supervision, as well as from time-to-time group supervision, to ensure the best working practice. No identifiable information is shared, and supervisors are also committed to contracted confidentiality.   

Notes and Record Keeping 

Our policy is to keep minimum notes and records. The information I do store includes: 

• Personal information, such as your name, date of birth, address etc. 
• Background information that might be relevant to the therapy process. 
• Your signed contract. 
• Confidential case notes (describing the focus of the session with any important information). 
• Information for service evaluation and statistical purposes.   
• You can request in writing to see the information held on you. If you have any concerns about our policy on confidentiality and note-keeping, you're welcome to discuss it fully with your therapist. 

Ethical Statement 

I’m a registered member of   The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)   and bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy; and may be subject to its Professional Conduct Procedure. 

I hold insurance to cover professional liability and public liability with Holistic Insurance Services. Where a client requests, I will share information of specialist support groups/organisations known in the area. In such cases I’m not liable for any third-party support or advice a client chooses to take or the results thereof. 

Complaints   

If you feel concerned about the way I work and wishes to make a complaint, I would ask you speak to me first. You can either speak to me during your session or send your complaint or concerns to kirsty@journeyofyou.uk. If you feel this is not possible or the issue is not resolved, then you can contact BACP.  

Therapist Health

I have some chronic illness which can result in me experiencing dizziness and loss of consciousness occasionally. I do regain consciousness quickly and you don’t need to do anything. As a result of the dizziness, I may need to have a snack or a salt shot during session.

Additionally, there maybe time where it is unavoidable for me to give you 24-hours’ notice of a session cancellation. Where this occurs, I will credit your account with a free late cancellation for yourself. 

Face-to-Face Contact Outside Therapy and Social Media   

Should we happen to meet out of your session please be aware that I will not greet you. This is to protect your privacy and maintain confidentiality. This is especially important if either of us are with other people. If you acknowledge me openly, I will respond in an appropriate, professional manner.   

Please be advised I am unable to accept follow/friend requests or engage in activities involving all social media platforms. 

Contact Between Session and Crisis Support    

In instances where you need to contact me between sessions, calls and text messages can be made to 07476906257, and emails to kirsty@journeyofyou.uk. If I am unable to take your call, please leave a message. Calls, messages and emails will be responded to as time permits between sessions within normal operating hours.   

Journey of You is not a crisis service and cannot provide an emergency service for clients. If you found yourself in a major crisis and considering serious harm, suicide or homicide it would be vital to get immediate help. This could include contacting your GP, or your nearest accident and emergency service (A&E), or Crisis Service.  You could also call the Samaritans on 116 123. 

From time to time the therapy agreement may be update for a number of reasons.  If this occurs, we will discuss the changes and may need to sign an updated contracted.

Last Modified 27.03.25