THE COUNSELLING CONTRACT
TERMS & CONDITIONS
It’s important we establish clear expectations before entering into a piece of work together. I take our work very seriously whilst bringing warmth and compassion to our sessions, and this is only possible when set within a boundaried framework. I have honed the terms of this contract over my years of practice to provide a ‘safe container’ inside which useful therapeutic work can happen.
I love to work with clients who are ready to engage and prioritise our sessions and the following contract will highlight whether we will be a good ‘fit’ so please read this carefully before committing to working together.
WEEKLY SESSIONS
60 minutes - £90 / 120 MINUTES £180
Sessions are held either face to face in my studio in Hassocks or online via Zoom.
Sessions are attended weekly and paid for in advance. I hold this weekly appointment for you exclusively until such time as we agree on an end date. For you to get the most from counselling it is important you are able to commit to attending all sessions.
PAYMENT - WEEKLY SESSIONS
Sessions are to be paid in advance and within 24hrs of receiving your payment link which I will send each week. Sessions will only be considered booked once payment has been received and will be released to other clients if timely payment has not been received.
A minimum of 6 weeks’ notice will be given of any increase in my session fees.
CANCELLATIONS - WEEKLY SESSIONS
Please note, I don’t operate a cancellation policy. All scheduled sessions from the start of our work until we agree to end are paid for, whether attended or not and regardless of the reason for cancellation.
This agreement serves several purposes:
The financial commitment encourages you to prioritise sessions, enhancing successful outcomes for fully engaged clients.
Payment for missed sessions discourages avoidance of attending during challenging, but useful, points in the work.
Payment for unattended sessions establishes respectful reciprocity: while I exclusively reserve the time for you each week, your payment honours my commitment to hold space for you, whether you’ve utilised it or not.
It places the decision-making regarding attendance solely with you, as I have no agency over whether clients choose to attend or not.
With advanced notice of a cancellation (more than 48hrs), we can try to reschedule within the same week, although due to a full caseload, this cannot be guaranteed in which case the session fee will still be due / retained.
In the case of illness (for example Covid), a session can be conducted via Zoom if wished.
COUPLE INTENSIVES / INDIVIDUAL INTENSIVES
3HR BLOCK / HALF DAY - £300
2 x 60 minute individual sessions + 1 x 60 minute Consolidation Session (plus 15 minutes for breaks as needed) - sessions run on Tuesdays 9.15am - 12.30pm.
OR
2 x 90 minute sessions (plus 15 minutes for breaks as needed) - sessions run on Tuesdays 9.15am - 12.30pm.
PAYMENT - INTENSIVES
All Intensive Sessions are to be paid at the time of booking and within 24hrs of receiving your payment link. Sessions will only be considered booked once payment has been received and your slot will be released to other clients if payment has not been received.
CANCELLATIONS - INTENSIVES
1. Cancellations made seven days or more before the scheduled session:
Fee is transferable to an alternative date or a 50% cancellation fee will be retained.
2. Cancellations made less than seven days, but more than 24 hours in advance:
Non-transferable with a 50% cancellation fee of the total session cost retained.
3. Cancellations made 24 hours or less before the scheduled session:
Non-refundable and non-transferable.
In the case of illness (for example Covid), an Intensive Session can be conducted via Zoom if wished.
ALL CLIENTS
COUNSELLOR / CLIENT CONTACT
My preferred method of contact between sessions is email, as I’m able to access and respond much quicker than phone messages. In the case of couple work please make sure your partner is cc’d in to all emails.
To preserve the therapeutic containment of the work, I request that no communication of a personal nature is shared via email and is instead raised within the next session. The exception would be if you needed to raise a safety concern, and it didn’t feel safe to do so in the session with your partner present.
Email is best used for logistical communication between us, or for me to send you digital resources as agreed.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Counselling is a confidential service. I uphold strict confidentiality regarding client information and the counselling provided. Your details and sessions remain private however, in exceptional circumstances where ethical or legal obligations arise—such as serious risk of harm, especially to a child, or to prevent injustice—I may need to disclose information to relevant authorities. In such cases, I'll discuss the proposed disclosure with you, unless doing so might escalate the risk to you or someone else.
I might also discuss your case with my supervisor, who follows the same confidentiality standards.
DATA PROTECTION
The information about confidentiality in no way contravenes your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation May 2018 to access personal data that I hold on you. All client records are confidential and kept securely, and are only seen by me. These records are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation May 2018. Your personal and sensitive personal data will only be used in order to provide the service to you. Records are kept for a period of 7 years and are then destroyed.
Please click here for my full data protection policy.