Counselling Contract
Acorn Therapy
Counselling Contract
Welcome to Acorn therapy.
This counselling Contract will help you understand how we can work together successfully.
If you have unanswered questions please email them to me.
1. Getting the best from your therapy
To help ensure that my support is effective, I may ask you to do some additional work between sessions such as keeping a diary or completing brief exercises.
2. Commitment and attendance.
Regular attendance is essential to achieving your therapy goals. I expect you to attend all sessions which have been mutually agreed, unless you give me 48 hours’ notice.
Meetings are usually between 50 minutes and one hour.
Sessions may vary in frequency so please always note the time and date of your next appointment.
Punctuality is important as I am unable to extend your session beyond the scheduled slot if you arrive late.
Persistent lateness and poor attendance will hamper your progress and may make our counsellor-client relationship unworkable.
Late attendance: If you arrive late for your appointment by 15 minutes or more, I reserve the right to treat the session as a late cancellation. It is important to notify me as soon as you are aware of any potential delays.
It is therefore important to notify me as soon as you are aware of any potential delays.
Late cancellations (less than 48 hours) will count as a session within your therapy allocation.
Sobriety: Please do not attend an appointment while under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
To do so would render our session meaningless and I would have to turn you away.
If you are unable to attend a booked appointment, please contact me by telephone on (07561725262) or by email (contact@acorntherapy.co.uk).
3. Payment of Sessions
Sessions are generally conducted on a weekly basis, over the course of some months. If you think you will struggle to pay the standard rate on an ongoing basis, please do let me know when you first contact me and we can have a conversation about what might be sustainable for you in the long term.
Payment
My standard rate per 50-minute session is £40.
Fees are the same for both in-person and online video sessions.
Payment is easiest and simplest by bank transfer, made each week 12 hours in advance of your session. For in-person sessions, you can also pay by cash or cheque at the beginning of the session. For international clients, I accept payment by IBAN or PayPal.
4. Working together brings better results
Please keep me up to date with any changes in contact details or personal circumstances.
I will use the contact details you have provided and only leave messages with your permission.
Please note: You are free to end your therapy agreement at any time, although, it is preferable to discuss this with me beforehand.
If you have been referred to me by your GP or another professional, I will inform them when your therapy comes to an end.
5. Monitoring your progress during therapy
You may be asked to complete a brief questionnaire for feedback purposes at some point. This is to help me evaluate the support I am giving you and help me tailor it for maximum effect.
6. Confidentiality
The content of your therapy sessions will be handled confidentially and in accordance with the professional standards laid down by the BACP.
The BACP is the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and I adhere to its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Any statistical data acquired from our questionnaires is anonymized to protect confidentiality.
Records that are kept about your therapy sessions will be handled, stored and processed securely within my computer data-base.
There may be occasions when it would be helpful or necessary for me to contact or consult your GP or another Professional. This would normally be discussed with you first and you may be asked to sign a disclosure form giving your permission to this process.
In an emergency or safeguarding situation I will, however, contact emergency services directly to ensure yours or others safety and wellbeing.
7. Complaints Policy & Procedure
If you are unhappy with any aspect of the service, please discuss this with me immediately so I can try to remedy the problem.
If you require further clarification about this therapy agreement please contact me on 07561725262, or raise the issue with me at your first session.
8. Remote Working
As we may be operating remotely via video or telephone, it is important you have access to a safe, private and confidential space: a room free of distractions and interruptions.
It can also be helpful to think about something do after the sessions, something relaxing to give a bit of space before going back to the day-to-day activities.
9. Emergency
As I am not available for emergency contact, I highly recommend you get in touch with your doctor or emergency services in your area if you feel particularly distressed at any time. Alternatively, you can contact Samaritans online jo@samaritans.org or by telephone 08457909090.
I also have other helpful websites on our resources page here: https://www.acorntherapy.co.uk/useful-links/
I confirm that I have read and understood the above agreement and give consent to therapy being provided by Denis as Acorn Therapy and the terms as outlined above.