Frequently Asked Questions

Counselling is a talking therapy offered on a confidential, one to one basis, within the boundary of a contract, agreed by client and counsellor, with no judgement.

Our counselling contract will set out the boundaries of how we will work, covering things such as;

• Confidentiality
• How I store your information, so I am GDPR compliant
• The length and frequency of our sessions
• The price of our sessions
• How to cancel and what happens if you cancel
• Complaints

We talk through this contract together and you are able to add things to it if you so wish.

The BACP stands for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. The BACP is a professional association for counsellors and psychotherapists. They work to ensure clients are protected and can receive safe, ethical counselling from appropriately qualified counsellors. See the BACP website for more details.

As a registered counsellor I adhere to their ethical framework for good practice and their professional conduct procedure. This code of ethics has been put in place to ensure I am working safely, it can be viewed on the BACP website at www.bacp.co.uk/ethical_framework

I provide a free 30 minute consultation then it is £50 per session. See the Fees page for more details.

50 minutes to an hour

We have a talk about what brought you to counselling and what you want. I will explain how I work and what I can offer. We will discuss if you want to work with me, confidentiality, dates and times for our sessions, how your information is stored and any concerns/questions you may have.

I work out of Counselling in the Community at 15 Waterloo Rd, Blackpool (FY4)

The content of our sessions is confidential. There are some exceptions to this, such as if your or someone else's life is at serious risk, there is criminal activity or a safeguarding risk. I will discuss these exceptions further at our initial meeting and you can ask any questions about it at any point. Any other information will not be passed on without your consent. All your personal information is stored securely according to GDPR (2018) regulations).

If you are unable to attend a session please try to give at least 48 hours’ notice, I will endeavour to do the same. I reserve the right to charge the full session fee for late cancellations within 48 hours notice. If you don’t attend a session and have not contacted me I will charge the full fee.

I can still work with you if you have a mental health diagnosis depending on your individual need. We would need to discuss your needs at the initial consultation. If you are receiving care from the mental health team I may need permission from you to communicate with them (though I will not be discussing the exact content of our sessions).

If you are not happy with the service, feel my way of working isn’t working for you or you wish to make a complaint please discuss it with me in the first instance. Formal complaints can be submitted to the BACP. The British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) has more information and information sheets on things such as how to get the best from your therapist and what to therapists mean by professional boundaries.