Confidentiality

I am committed to maintaining the safety and integrity of our work, and your 

data. This means your identity, circumstances and what you bring to our sessions will be kept confidential. I will not discuss the details of our work together without your written consent, with the following exceptions:

1. I am regularly supervised in accordance with guidance from the BACP in 1:1 and professional peer group settings. This means I may discuss aspects of our work in supervision. Care will always be taken to protect your identity and any information the supervisor or the supervision group members has about you will be treated in confidence.

2. If I became seriously concerned about your physical or mental welfare or that of another person, it may be necessary for me to advise or consult with another appropriate professional. Other than in exceptional circumstances, however, I will discuss this with you before taking any action.

3. Counsellors are legally required to report disclosure of certain serious criminal activities, such as terrorism, money laundering, and drug trafficking.

Please be advised that I will not provide a court report or present as a witness on your behalf at any court case relating to our work together.

Use of material for training purposes 

I am a qualified and accredited practitioner with the BACP. Occasionally, I may seek written permission to use material from our work together, for example, for a case study or for an assignment I am required to complete as part of ongoing training and professional development. I might ask if you would be willing to have our sessions recorded for use in such work. If you would like to participate, written consent will be sought. I will never record our sessions without written consent and the choice not to be recorded will never affect the service offered.

Fees

Standard fee: £65 per hour 

Reduced fee for counsellors in training: £35 per hour

Spaces for counsellors and therapists in training are limited, due to the reduced fee. The reduce fee applies for as long as you are in training which has therapy as a requirement of study.

I encourage open conversations about fees. Adjustments to fees are made at my discretion and I may suggest referral to low-cost counselling services or charities if clients are no longer able to pay for sessions.

I reserve the right to review fees and will undertake to give at least 6 weeks’ notice of any increase.

Frequency of sessions/Duration of counselling

Therapy is usually offered on a weekly basis. Different session patterns can be discussed during contracting and can be reviewed in the course of our work.

Normally, we will meet for one hour a week, however, you are free to discuss with me a slightly shorter session time for telephone or online counselling if you prefer, from 40 minutes up to one hour. Longer session times may also be agreed, subject to availability and fee adjustments.

One At A Time (OAAT) Therapy

OAAT Therapy follows a different structure, whereby we work with the understanding that we might only meet once. There are many presenting issues that work well with OAAT. Please be clear when making enquiries whether you intend to book OAAT as I will require specific pre-session information from you when confirming the booking. 

Cancelled sessions

To gain the maximum benefit from your sessions it is important that you can commit to regular attendance as far as possible. If you need to cancel a session, please give as much notice as possible and at least 48 hours’ notice as a minimum. Sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice, or not attended, will be charged.

If you are not planning to attend a session it is important to let me know, even without 48 hours or more notice. If you do not attend (DNA) without notice, I will contact you by text and email to ask if you plan to attend our next booked session. No further sessions will be booked until I hear from you. This avoids multiple missed session fees. 

If you re-establish contact after not attending sessions, I will be pleased to discuss any issues preventing your regular attendance and re-book you. Please note your previous booked day and time may no longer be available.

Contact between sessions

 Should you need to contact with me between sessions – for example, in order to rearrange a session, contact me directly by phone, text or email:

Tel: 07533 139 198 (You can leave voicemails) 

Email: info@abiparkins.com

To protect the therapeutic space, therapy matters are best left in the session.

Please restrict contact between sessions to communication about session arrangements. If you need to speak to someone immediately, please contact your GP, health professional or the Samaritans (08457 909090).

Further information about who to contact in a crisis is available later in the Welcome Pack. 

Face-to-Face Contact Outside Sessions

Should we meet outside of your session, please be aware that I will not usually directly greet you. This is to protect both yours and my privacy and to maintain confidentiality. This is especially important if you or I are with other people. If you acknowledge me openly, then I will respond in an appropriate professional manner. I will not enquire about anything related to our work together. Should we find ourselves in a situation where we are part of the same group, either social or professional, serious consideration will be given to the complications created by this dual role relationship. Where appropriate, and possible, I will withdraw.

Social Media

Please be advised that I am not able to accept any request to connect on social media, as it is contrary to Codes of Ethics outlined by the professional bodies who guide my work, and a social media connection creates confusion as to the nature of our relationship. 

My qualifications

I am a qualified practitioner, accredited with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP). Registration no. 388254. My background is in Gestalt and Person-Centred modalities. I hold a Professional Diploma in Gestalt Counselling & Psychotherapy, an MSc in Applied Psychology, and a Certificate in Online & Telephone Counselling. I am equipped to work in the short and long term with a range of issues. I continually participate in further training, study and qualifications to ensure I am offering the best possible support to my clients. If a client presents with issues outside my working competences, this will be discussed with the client and appropriate suggestions for other sources of support will be made.

I am a trainee Clinical Sexologist with the Contemporary Institute of Clinical Sexology (CICS) and any psychosexual work offered by me at the time of this contract’s presentation is offered on a trainee basis, on the understanding that my course leaders have assessed my competencies in the areas in which we are working, and deemed my skills appropriate to client work. 

Record keeping

As well as keeping records of your contact details, I keep brief confidential records of each session. 

Your identity is protected by use of a code and your contact details are kept separately from your session notes. Notes will be kept for a period of six years under the terms of my insurance and then destroyed. Should you wish to access your records, you may submit a request to me in writing before the six-year storage period has elapsed. Requests will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis in consultation with my insurer.

Recording and use of therapeutic content

I take great care to ensure your information is private and confidential and

request you do the same in return. Most online platforms include a function to

record meetings. Under normal circumstances I do not permit clients to record counselling sessions. Please discuss with me if you would like to record a session for personal use, for the purpose of therapeutic reflection.

I do not permit the posting online of direct information, recordings, or verbatim transcripts of our work. No part of any therapy exchanges should be circulated to any social or professional forums, or third parties. Please note that such action is a breach of law.

Readiness to work policy

I do not tolerate threatening behaviour directed at me or another person on my premisses, either in person, online or on the phone. I will not hold a session if you if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol and our contract will be terminated if you present with behaviour that is inappropriate.

When working remotely it is expected that you will be joining the session as you would an in-person meeting. This means, dressed as you would be for an in-person meeting and in a location appropriate to our work, i.e., a safe, confidential space where you will not be interrupted. I reserve the right to end remote sessions if it becomes clear the working environment is unsuitable. 

COVID-19 Precautions

I continue to test regularly for COVID-19, as do members of my household. If I, someone I live with, or someone I have had close contact with tests positive, I will cancel all in person sessions for at least 5 days in the interest of public health. You are welcome to opt not to attend in person for a further period, and no one is compelled to attend in-person sessions if they do not feel comfortable to do so. 

I ask clients not to attend in person if they or someone they live with or have been close to has tested positive for COVID-19. I will facilitate remote sessions for clients who feel well enough to attend sessions.

Resources Particular to Psychosexual & Relationship Work

We may agree during our work together that it would be helpful for me to show you diagrams, drawings or photographs of sexual anatomy or sexual positions. I will always ask for your verbal permission in a session before using these resources. 

Ethics and Data Protection

I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and adhere to its Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions:https://www.bacp.co.uk/events-and-resources/ethics-andstandards/ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions/ and the BACP guidelines for online counselling and psychotherapy.

I adhere to the Data Protection Act (2018) and GDPR (2018). I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as Abi Parkins.

Complaints

Should you be dissatisfied with our work together, I would urge you in the first instance to raise the issue with me directly. I will respond to any concerns openly and immediately.  If you feel that an issue is of such serious concern that you need to make a formal complaint, you can approach BACP, who can guide you through the complaints procedure. http://www.bacp.co.uk/