Professional standards
I am bound by the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists (BABCP) – these standards can be viewed here.
As part of these standards, I am required to engage in continuing professional development, and receive ongoing clinical supervision in order to maintain full accreditation with the BABCP.
Initial agreement
At our initial meeting(s) we will work together to identify the problems that you would like help with, how they trouble you, when and how they started, as well as any other treatment or support you have had or are having now. At the end of this period (the assessment) we will agree on your goals for therapy, decide if I am likely to be able to help you, and if you would like to continue working with me.
You are not contracted to any specific number of sessions, and you may terminate this contract without further notice at any time you wish.
Duration and frequency of sessions
Sessions usually last an hour. Sometimes it is clinically useful to have 90 minute, or shorter sessions and we can discuss that if relevant.
Sessions are typically held once a week, although this may be more or less often depending on your therapy needs. Any changes to session frequency will be discussed and agreed with you in advance.
If you are late for one of our sessions, we will be able to meet for the scheduled time but will not be able to continue beyond the time we had scheduled to meet.
Fees and payment
Therapy sessions for self-funded clients are charged at £95 for a 60 minute session, and £140 for a 90 minute session. Fees for clients covered by health insurance companies may vary. Payment should be made in advance of each session, preferably by bank transfer. I usually provide an invoice for all work undertaken at the conclusion of treatment, but can do so earlier on request. If your therapy is being paid for by a health insurance company, I will not be able to commence any work with you until either written approval has been received from your insurance company, or you are able to provide me with the relevant authorisation code.
Format of appointments
All appointments will be conducted via Microsoft Teams, or an alternative platform if you are unable to access this. A video link will be sent to you by email in advance of your appointment.
It is strongly recommended that you find a private space and are not in a busy or public setting when attending a video appointment. I reserve the right to end a video call with you if you are not in an environment that is suitable for a therapy session.
Cancellations, non-attendance and breaks in therapy
If for any reason you need to cancel an appointment, you must give at least 24 hours’ notice where possible – you can do this by contacting me on the details above. If you make a cancellation less than 24 hours before your appointment, you will be charged for a full session.
If an insurance company is paying for your treatment, they may be liable for any charges in the event of a cancelled appointment, and therapy could be suspended depending on their policy.
If you do not attend an appointment without giving any notice, I will be unable to offer further appointments until you have paid any outstanding session charges.
If for any reason I need to cancel an appointment, I will aim to give you at least 48 hours’ notice, and where possible I will try to offer you an alternative appointment. You will also be notified of any planned holidays taken by myself in advance, and I would ask that you let me know of any upcoming breaks in therapy, such as a holiday or otherwise at least two weeks in advance.
The therapeutic relationship
Psychological therapy can often be demanding, frustrating, and emotional. Sometimes you may find treatment difficult or even want to end therapy. You may find that some ‘tasks’ you are given are very challenging and you should feel able to tell me this and to ask me for support. I want to hear about how you think treatment is going and how you are experiencing it and will ask you to review your treatment with me regularly.
It is important that you understand the reasons behind our treatment together and if you feel unhappy or unsure about any aspects of the treatment, please try to tell me during our sessions. This gives both of us the chance to try to address the issue(s) and to resolve it/them. If you have serious concerns about my conduct or your treatment and cannot resolve this with me, you can complain to my professional body.
You can contact me between sessions by emailing me at phoenixminds@proton.me. If a telephone call is preferred, please request this via email in the first instance.
I do not offer an emergency service so please allow up to 2 business days for me to reply to your email. If, during a session, I become concerned about you harming yourself we will discuss what to do and how to seek help in an emergency.
Please do not contact me on social media – our relationship is professional and it is not appropriate or ethical for me to have a non-professional relationship with you. This would be a breach of my professional ethical code.
Confidentiality, supervision, and note keeping
The BABCP Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics require that I maintain your confidentiality and keep information about you safe and secure.
To protect you, as my client, to ensure safe and ethical practice, and to maintain my accreditation I am required to have continued training and to engage in regular supervision. I may, therefore, discuss your case with my supervisor. I would not use any identifying details. My supervisor will also be bound by the Code of Practice and confidentiality of their accrediting body.
I will take notes during and/or after our sessions and will keep these securely, in accordance with the Data Protection Act (2018). I may also ask you to complete questionnaires about your experiences and/or symptoms and this will form part of your clinical notes. You can inspect these if you wish; just ask during one of our sessions.
Your clinical notes are also kept confidentially. I will discuss them only with my clinical supervisor. In limited circumstances I can be required to share your clinical records in court, by a judge. If this were to happen, I would let you know.
If we agree to work together, I will normally contact your referrer to confirm that we have started our work, and to outline the goals of our therapy. At the end of therapy, I will contact them again to tell them that we have completed our work together.
There are some limits to confidentiality. I may be required to break confidentiality if I consider that there is a risk you may harm yourself or others. I am required to break confidentiality if I become aware of acts of terrorism, adult or child safeguarding issues, or serious illegal activity. You should therefore be cautious about sharing any information with me that may mean I have to break confidentiality. If I am considering breaking your confidence for the reasons outlined, I will normally discuss this with you first.
If you have been referred by an outside agency, for example a solicitor or insurance company and there is a civil court case pending, for example if you have been injured in a road accident, under the Data Protection Act (2018) I may be obliged to supply copies of our therapy records to an appropriate party, providing you consent.
Recording of sessions
As part of my ongoing supervised practice, I may at times request to audio or video record our sessions to share with my supervisor – this is standard practice for all BABCP accredited psychotherapists. I will always ask for your verbal consent before recording any session, and your therapy will not be affected if you decline to have sessions recorded. Any audio or video recordings that are made will be stored securely and erased at the end of our time working together, or at any time before this at your request. You can ask to stop a recording, or for any recordings during a session to be deleted at any time by speaking with me directly. You will have the opportunity to provide written consent for sessions to be recorded along with your confirmation of this therapy agreement, and this can also be withdrawn at any time.
Letter and report writing
On occasion, it may be that you need a letter, report, or other document completed on your behalf for a third party, such as GP letters, or reports for an insurance company. I will try to support you where I can with requests such as these, and depending on the time required to complete them, it is likely that an additional charge will apply. This will be discussed with you on an individual basis, depending on the nature of the request. If I am unable to complete a letter, report, or document I will discuss this with you directly.
Ending therapy
We will discuss your progress regularly and you should be aware when we approach the end of treatment. Before we end, we will discuss how to prevent relapse and any other professional help or support that might be useful.
I will not end our treatment suddenly or without discussing this with you unless there are exception circumstances.
Please note any threats or acts of violence will invalidate this agreement and your therapy will cease. Sessions will not take place if you arrive under the influence of alcohol or non-prescribed medication.