The Details

Would you like some more details about my counselling service? The following extracts from my client contract and data privacy notice might help. If not, please do get in touch!

How long does counselling last?

Standard counselling sessions are an hour long, but I always try to accommodate your preferences. We will plan your therapy together to ensure you receive the help you want – so anything from single sessions as needed, to longer-term therapy (when we would check in every 5 or 10 sessions, to ensure you’re still comfortable with our work and to plan out either our next steps or how we will work towards our ending.)

Confidentiality and its limits

Any information I hold about you, and everything we discuss, is confidential. However, this confidentiality does have some limits. Firstly, if I am concerned that there may be a risk of serious harm to yourself or others then I would raise this with you (unless there are safeguarding issues to prevent this) and agree a plan - this might mean jointly bringing another person or organization into our discussions. If we cannot agree a plan, and I still feel that there is a significant risk, then I may have to take ethically appropriate steps, for example contacting your GP. However, this would only be in worst-case situations, which we can explore when we meet. Secondly, counsellors receive supervision, which enables us to ensure we’re providing the best service we possibly can. As part of this, I may raise themes, hypotheses, or concerns that have arisen during our work together – but this would be minimal and entirely anonymous.

It’s important to note that confidentiality is between the client and therapist, no matter who arranges or pays for the therapy. In some circumstances, others from your support network may need to be involved in arranging appointments, for example – but this would only be done with your consent, and no other information would be passed on.

What to expect from your therapy

The answer to this is (perhaps annoyingly): it depends on you! A core part of the therapy I provide is to adapt to meet your needs and preferences. I’ll start this at our initial meeting by giving you some options and seeing how you feel about them. Your therapy might focus on understanding your past, or to understand how your past is still impacting your present. You may have a specific “problem in living” which you’d like to address, or you may have decisions you’re struggling to make. You may experience anxiety, depression, or a range of conditions which make your life difficult. So, what you want to achieve will impact how we proceed. Similarly, you may prefer to focus on your thoughts/beliefs and behaviours, or perhaps give more attention to your emotions. You may have preferences about how, where, and when we spend time together. I’ll do my best to accommodate these preferences wherever they are ethical, viable, and reasonable.

In general, though, therapy usually involves a lot of talking as we build a shared understanding of your life and problems. We collaborate to understand what you want and how best we might get there. I provide expertise, experience and up-to-date knowledge and research from many forms of therapy and help you choose ways forward that suit you best. You bring your knowledge of yourself, any previous therapy, and what does and doesn’t work for you already. We might try out coping techniques or new ways of thinking and being, and discuss how they have felt for you and whether they make a helpful difference. We track your progress in some way that suits you, so you can see the difference you’re making in your life - even if it happens gradually. Finally, in the last stages we work together to ensure you can continue your growth in your chosen direction - on your own terms and at your own pace.

What might I expect from you?

Therapy is a commitment, but there is no single right way to participate. You don’t need to have perfect answers or share everything with me. What matters is that we can communicate openly about what is and isn’t working for you - that can be hard, but can make a huge difference to how effective your therapy can be. We can work on this together if needed.

When will I be available to see you?

I am available for sessions throughout the week, when I see clients from mid-morning until mid-evening, with suitable breaks between sessions. I also have some appointments over weekends. However, I manage my calendar on an ongoing basis, to maximise my ability to help clients while maintaining my own wellbeing and competency - so I prefer to discuss my availability with each new contact.

Every client deserves my full attention during their scheduled session, as well as appropriate privacy and confidentiality. Therefore, it is not possible for you to visit me at any time other than a scheduled session. Likewise, I am not always available on-demand by phone, text or email. However, I aim to return calls and messages as soon as possible, and at the latest within 48 hours (unless I have left a message stating otherwise, e.g. while I’m on annual leave).

I commit to providing notice of my own leave at least 4 weeks beforehand, but on occasion illness or emergencies may mean a late change to an arranged session – but I would always aim to let you know as soon as I can, and any fees already paid can be refunded.

Where am I?

For in-person counselling, we meet in my home office and counselling room. I will provide my exact address and postcode when we set up our sessions. Our home is detached and on a quiet street, limiting the risk of you being seen attending your sessions. The room is not fully accessible: there is a single wide concrete step from the driveway into the hallway, and I’m unable to guarantee accessibility for all mobility or other access needs. If you have access requirements or would like to discuss whether the space will work for you, please get in touch. I’m in the Maryfield area, between Morgan Academy, the DISC, and the Kingsway so accessible on foot from many parts of Dundee or by bus routes detailed on the Dundee Council map here. Parking is easily available on the street outside (pavement parking restrictions are not in place here) or on nearby streets. There is a space available on our driveway, but a good number of car models will ground on the road when exiting and entering, so while you are welcome to use it, I don’t advise this and am not liable for any grounding damage. Your confidentiality remains protected at all times – although there may be others in the house at the same time as you, they cannot hear anything we are saying once our door is shut, and a dog gate and privacy screen stop them from accessing or seeing the hallway you will enter. The room is used specifically as my office and for our sessions, so it remains clean and uncluttered. There is a dedicated downstairs toilet available for your use if needed. As mentioned on my website, I do have a small dog (although he will not be in the front half of the house while clients are present) - so please contact me if this isn’t acceptable. It’s also important to note that there is no waiting area available, and I may not be able to answer the door if you arrive too early (to protect your privacy, I don’t schedule back-to-back client appointments at home, but I may be online or otherwise busy before your session).

Counselling Fees

I offer an initial 15-minute chat to discuss your needs and preferences and mutually assess whether I am the right counsellor to help you. This is free of charge and held online.

If you decide to go ahead with therapy, my fees are £55 per one-hour session and must be paid in advance. I don’t accept cash or cheques, bank transfer only.

Cancellations and no-shows

I will always double-check our next planned meeting at the end of a session. In the event of a cancellation, fees will only be refunded if you cancel more than 48 hours before our planned session. In the unexpected event where I need to cancel, the session fee will be refunded immediately.

If you miss an appointment without letting me know, I’m ethically bound to check that everything is okay, but also don’t want to put you under pressure or accidentally breach your confidentiality. Therefore, I’ll do this by email. If I receive no reply within 48 hours, then I will cancel your planned appointments and wait to hear from you when you are ready to resume them.

If cancellations happen regularly (more than a quarter of planned appointments are cancelled), then I will check in with you just to make sure there isn’t an issue that I haven’t recognized. We can always talk things through and adjust your therapy to suit you better. In more extreme cases of repeated late cancellations, then we may need to consider whether my counselling is right for you or if perhaps I should recommend an alternative.

What data and records will I hold?

I will hold some of your personal data in my records. For example, I’ll keep your contact information, payment information, and any notes made during our shared sessions - see Data and Privacy Notice for full details. Both electronic data and any paper notes will be securely held for the duration of your therapy, and minimal electronic records will be retained for 7 years afterwards (per BACP guidelines).

In the event of an unplanned ending, any paper artefacts or ongoing notes will be destroyed after 8 weeks, and minimal electronic records will be held until 7 years after that date.

Please also note that I have made arrangements in the event of my unexpected death or incapacitation (a “Clinical Will”). This means that in that unlikely event, a qualified third party will be notified and permitted temporary access to your first name and email address, to pass on the news.

Boundaries and Behaviour

In agreeing to this therapy contract, we mutually agree to:

1. Make every effort to meet our commitments to each other, including timely arrival and completion of sessions. (Note that there is no waiting area available at my home, so I recommend clients avoid arriving too early.)
2. Cancellation will be notified at the earliest opportunity - see Cancellations and no-shows
3. Honour the safe space and confidentiality of our sessions, within the stated limits in this document.
4. Respect each other’s lives outside of our therapy process, by not intentionally making contact or building a separate relationship outside of our sessions. If we accidentally meet in public, then I will naturally react and smile when I see you but will always follow your lead as to whether to say hello or engage in small-talk.
5. Come to therapy prepared to engage in sessions, share emotions honestly, and provide feedback.
6. For walk-and-talk therapy, dress in weather-suitable outdoors attire.
7. For online and in-person sessions, ensure we’re comfortably but appropriately dressed.
8. Limit physical contact between us unless agreed for ethical therapeutic purposes.
9. Make payments before sessions and refunds within 2 days of cancellation.
10. Commit to ending therapy in a planned way (see Cancellations and no-shows for my necessary limits to this).

Ending therapy

At this stage, it probably seems too early to discuss ending therapy! However, many clients do not need extended or ongoing therapy, and beginning to plan our ending might be part of understanding the scope of what you want to achieve and how best to get there in an appropriate timeframe. No matter what we agree, we will review our progress every 5 or 10 weeks (depending on your preference), and work towards ending your therapy in a way which is sensitive, gradual, and when you feel confident to continue your growth independently. At our last session, we will review what we have learned, and what you’ve found most helpful towards what you wish to achieve. You’ll have the chance to take away any paper notes or artefacts, or we can shred them before you leave.

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaint about how I handle your therapy or your personal data please do not hesitate to discuss it with me - I always welcome any suggestions for improving myself and/or my data protection procedures.

If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have provided therapy, this can be addressed to the BACP at www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/protecting-the-public/professional-conduct/how-to-complain-about-a-bacp-member/

If your complaint is regarding how I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.