Counselling Information

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Dovetail Counselling Service is at 6 Stafford Road, NP26 5DE. There is street parking. Entry is via the door on the garage (there is a sign saying 'Dovetail Counselling Service', and a bell for you to ring).

 

Please arrive on time (there is no waiting area and I may be occupied beforehand). 

 

At our first session I will ask you to sign the following counselling contract -

 

Counselling Contract

 

I aim to give the best possible service to my clients.  The contract below sets out my commitment to you, and in return what I would consider to be your responsibility. 

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I will:

• Work to the BACP Ethical Framework for Counsellors. 

• Be clinically supervised to ensure safe practice at all times.

• Treat you with respect and without judgement.

• Treat the work with confidentiality. Confidentiality will only be broken, with or without your permission, in the event of disclosure of abuse of children, other vulnerable people, serious criminal offences, or harm to self or others. There is also a duty to disclose acts of terrorism, under the terrorism act.

• Make a commitment to you to attend every session, and to advise you in good time if this is not possible, for unforeseen reasons.

• Meet with you at a time, day and venue agreed. 

• Ensure the venue will be a safe place for us to discuss your issues

 

You will:

• After the first session if you decide you would like to continue with counselling then I ask you make a commitment to attend regularly, in order for you to get the most from your therapy. This might be weekly, or fortnightly.

• Inform me if you are unable to attend (less than 48 hours’ notice full fees apply).

• Agree to engage in the process, being open and honest.

• Agree a planned ending to the work with myself.  If you take the decision to end counselling prematurely I will respect your wishes, but would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with you.

• Agree not to be under the influence of substances.

 

Fees

Each session is booked for 50 minutes and at present costs £50. Payment can be made by direct bank transfer, cash, debit or credit card.

 

I text payment reminders the Thursday before and ask that you please pay on that day for your appointment the following week.  If I haven’t received payment on the Thursday I will text again the next day. If I don’t hear from you on the Friday I will assume you no longer require the appointment, it will be cancelled and made available for someone else to book. 

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Once you have paid if you need to cancel or rearrange if 48 hours’ notice of the appointment time is given I will refund your money for a cancelled appointment, or transfer the payment to a rearranged appointment. 

 

My fees are reviewed annually and I will give you four weeks’ notice in advance if I am increasing them.  

 

Whereby or WhatsApp Video Counselling

If you are unable to attend my premises due to severe weather conditions, ie snow or flooding, travel difficulties, contagious illness (eg Covid), I am able to offer the alternative of counselling via Whereby online video, WhatsApp video or a telephone call. (All video sessions are fully encrypted and GDPR compliant, meaning anything we discuss remains entirely safe and confidential.)

 

Privacy Notice

​You will have been given a privacy notice with this contract at our first session. This sets out how I manage and safeguard your data, and the notes I take.

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