Counselling is a space for clients (see the definition of a client, below) to express themselves either by talking or writing, to be heard and feel understood with the goal of changing the way they feel, behave, see or think about things or themselves. This involves a willingness from the client to be reflective, share their thoughts, feelings and fears with the Therapist. In order to do this safely both Therapist and Client enter into a psychological contract. This aims to provide a clear understanding of the limits of confidentiality and boundaries for both parties to work safely within.
This agreement is made between your
Counsellor & Client
Who agree to work together under the practice of counselling and understand the limits of confidentiality where there is a risk of harm to self or others. The client has been provided with the Privacy and GDPR statement and understands the data and purposes of data being held. The client was directed to the terms and conditions on the website prior to the initial meeting and has been provided with a summary of the contract at the beginning of the first counselling session. Engaging with the sessions thereafter is implied agreement to the contract.
An assessment is not the same as counselling work and as such is not covered by this agreement in the same way. You only become a client, covered by the ethics once an assessment has been completed and we have agreed a suitable treatment plan and you have been offered counselling and you have paid counselling which has commenced. The privilege of confidentiality is awarded when an assessment has been undertaken and paid for.
Our work is bound by the ethics and principles laid down by the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). These membership bodies make recommendations on how to optimise the therapeutic work for clients.
Your privacy is really important to me. Your contact details will only ever be used for appointments and sending agreed resources. Arriving no more than a few minutes before your appointment will reduce the likelihood of clients crossing paths or meeting anyone other than your Counsellor. To protect your therapeutic journey and privacy, social media connections are appropriately limited.
The work that we do together is private and confidential.
This means that you can not share the content of our therapeutic work in the public domain in any format, not screenshots, not pictures, not emails, not material from sessions, or any other angle of our work in any way without written permission, this is because most of our materials are covered by copyright laws.
It goes without saying that insights you have as a result of being in therapy are yours to share verbally with family and friends as part of your self-development. Insights that are shared with clients are used for the benefit of the wider mental health community, this is how we improve our treatment and develop as practitioners, this may mean that something we say to you to help you understand a situation better (such as an analogy), may be published or appear in a pubic domain.
With confidentiality, there are some limits to the degree of confidentiality that counselling can offer any client. These are explained as follows:
All BACP & NCPS registered Counsellors have regular Supervision. What this means to you is that themes from sessions are taken to regular consultation with a supervising counselling therapist qualified in this process. The consultation is for my practice (rather than seeking instruction on working with you). This is to ensure your best interests are always at the heart of our work together.
Brief notes are kept about the material shared in the session and comply with the new general data protection law. Counselling notes could be requested for submission by a court of law.
Counselling is not above the law. In the UK, specific laws tend to lend themselves to adult counselling. They are: Equality Act 2010 Data Protection Act 2018 Human Rights Act 1998 Terrorism Act 2000 Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.
All information exchanged in the pursuit of counselling is confidential within the team. This means that we may share details about your enquiry within the team to ensure we suggest the best therapist to match your needs and availability. No data will leave our organisation except if your enquiry warrants this by law or you request it in writing. If you are concerned about any aspect of our work and contact an ethical body we reserve the right to share correspondence and clinical notes to clarify the situation.
Some clients are aware of what is going on and want to make changes. This is not the case for everyone.
Others might just feel the increased pressure building, this can happen with any kind of unrest or trauma (small or large). This can lead to feeling almost helpless, with emotions overflowing; maybe outbursts of frustration or anger, maybe flooding of overwhelm becoming stronger and more frequent so much so that they cause an anxiety.
Whilst at the other end of the spectrum others are forced into therapy when one day things go too far and intervention is the only option left.
There is no right or wrong time to start therapy. But there may become a point when the risk of an outburst or overwhelm might threaten the status quo, our job, our sense of sanity or the relationships we care about and love, so much, that we make the step into therapy.
Where ever you wish to start, your therapist will start where you want to start and travel as far as you wish to go, on this journey, providing what you present is within their scope of their training. This can usually be established by looking through the website or asking the question upon enquiry.
I think of the therapeutic journey as similar to a road trip. Even without travel anxiety, if it is a long trip, you might pack a drink and a few essentials, a coat, spade if it is snowing, a snack.
In counselling the therapist will make sure we have the essentials to keep you safe enough for the journey, especially watching out for any PTSD triggers.
We then set the sat nav - your destination or goal and press go. As you may have found with most electronic routing apps, you can come off at the wrong junction, take a back road or the main road, it won't matter. Google maps will keep you on track for the end goal. Therapy is like that too. Your therapist is trained to pick up the themes of your work regardless of if you choose to bring past, present or future topics.
One thing I would like to reassure you is that I will not ask you to talk about any past trauma in detail, especially in the first session. Healing does not need to involve retraumatising you. In fact any good therapist will know that it is not necessary to go into details about your traumatic events unless you are actually choosing to process that material. It is ok & sometimes helpful to give your therapist bullet point headings about your past. But this does not mean you need to spend lots of time on upsetting subjects.
But when we change the relationship we have with our past we automatically change the present experience.
Clients present with all sorts of symptoms for example PTSD, depression, irritability, loss of interest, numbing, decreased concentration, insomnia, emotional overwhelm, hopelessness, shame and worthlessness, loss of memories, mistrust, stress, anxiety, panic attacks, inability to tolerate uncertainty, low self confidence, substance abuse, disordered eating, self destructive behaviours or indecision. For the client stuck in the midst of symptoms it can often feel difficult to work out where these symptoms have come from.
Firstly, it is the job of your therapist to listen to what is going on for you currently. Your therapist will try to imagine what it is like to wear your shoes just now.
From there you both will work out what the goal of therapy might be.
While your therapist is here to guide and support you, therapy is a collaborative process. Your role is to engage in reflection, communicate openly, and take an active part in the work we do together.
If there is a big 'T' or small 't' trauma lurking in the background which requires a bit of help to settle, your therapist will help you identify it and help you work with it so it doesn't feel so distressing.
If at any point a referral seems more appropriate your counsellor will advise you of the ethical requirement to refer on to a more appropriate service.
Copyright © 2009 to 2025 Trauma Informed ltd trading as Counselling Wiltshire, Rated therapies,
- All Rights Reserved. Company Number 10842054