Counselling Agreement

The Aim of counselling is to provide you, the client, with the opportunity to talk about any problems or difficulties you have that are bothering you and to explore your thoughts and feelings in a safe place, without judgement.

The objectives of the counselling are decided by you and what you want to achieve. These will be regularly reviewed, with the expectation that objectives can and may change as the counselling progresses.

Counselling has no guaranteed outcomes and can be a challenging process. If you have any concerns about your counselling, please do speak to me.

My Commitment to You

  • I will endeavour to offer a healthy therapeutic relationship to enable your concerns to be worked through and will maintain all respectful boundaries as appropriate to therapy.

  • I will facilitate the beginning, continuation and appropriate ending of the therapy process.

  • I will offer regular sessions lasting 50 minutes.  I will be available at the agreed time, start and end on time, and offer a quiet, appropriate and undisturbed space.

  • I will collaboratively review the therapeutic work and relationship with you regularly.

  • I will work with you to enable you to gain insight into your concerns and to support you in making appropriate decisions, holding high regard for your autonomy.

  • I will provide therapy to the best of my professional ability adhering to the BACP ‘Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions’.  A copy of this is available online at www.bacp.co.uk/ethical_framework.

  • I will respect confidentiality within good practice, by sharing only issues with anonymity in my own supervision and following statutory requirements.

  • I will only contact other parties for the purpose of promoting your welfare.  In general, your agreement will be sought, the exception is where you are a danger to yourself or others.  For further information on the handling of your personal information, please see my privacy policy www.cau12.com/ed-magee-privacy.

Your Commitment to Me

  • To attend all agreed upon sessions and to be punctual (if you are late, sessions cannot be extended)

  • To pay for all sessions, within 48hrs, at the agreed rate.

  • To accept that the full fee is payable for sessions that are:

    • missed without notice

    • cancelled or postponed by you on the day of, or the day before, the agreed session.

  • To discuss with me when you feel you are ready to end therapy.  Both of us have the right to end the therapy at any time, but this does not discharge either of us from the terms relating to confidentiality or outstanding fees.

  • To let me know if you are in or are considering entering another therapeutic relationship.

  • To be aware of a need for commitment to change to get the most out of therapy and to be aware that you are responsible for the decisions you make and the actions you take as a result of therapy.

  • To make any complaint to me first and only contact BACP, ICO, or other parties if your issue cannot be resolved satisfactorily.

Further Information

You might like to also review these additional documents:

If you are in crisis

If you are in crisis it is vital to get immediate help.

If your life is at risk right now and you feel you might attempt suicide or have seriously harmed yourself - call 999 or head to A&E.

If you are safe and need someone to talk to you can get support here:

call NHS Mental Health Crisis support on 111

call Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

text 'HANTS' to 85258

If you're under 19, you can also call 0800 1111 to talk to Childline. The number will not appear on your phone bill

To accept the terms of this Working Agreement, please complete the online form you can access by clicking on the following button.

Click here to accept the above terms