This Counselling Service Agreement sample outlines what we offer and what to expect from our counselling. You and your counsellor will talk through any questions you might have during your assessment. If you and your counsellor decide to go ahead to start counselling, they will ask you to sign a copy of this agreement. Please get in touch if you have any questions ahead of the assessment.

 

Counselling Service Agreement
Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds (SARSVL)

SARSVL’s Counselling Service provides a space to help you get a clearer understanding of yourself and your experiences. SARSVL is a member of Rape Crisis England and Wales and an organisational member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), meaning that its Counsellors work within the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. All Counsellors are qualified practitioners who specialise in providing counselling in the field of sexual violence.

This agreement between you and SARSVL’s Counselling Service begins when you start your first session.

 

Your Counselling Sessions

You and your counsellor will agree the number of offered counselling sessions and how they will be held (online or in person in our offices). Sessions usually last 50 minutes, are usually weekly and take place at the same time unless otherwise agreed. All appointments are free of charge and you and your counsellor will do regular reviews of how the work is going together.

 

Attendance, Cancellations and Missed Appointments

Regular attendance helps people get the most from counselling. We can usually accept up to two sessions cancelled in advance. If you miss more than two sessions, your counsellor will discuss with you if there is anything preventing you from engaging in counselling at the moment and will explore with you whether this is the right time for counselling for you. You may lose any further sessions that you cancel.

If you are running late, please let us know as soon as you can. If you are running more than 15 minutes late, we might need to re-arrange the session.

If you miss two appointments in a row without contacting us, your counselling place may be offered to somebody else and we will assume that the counselling service is not right for you and close your file. If this happens, you are welcome to get in touch any time in future when you feel ready.  If your counsellor is unable to attend an appointment we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know.

Any breaks or holidays can be discussed during our sessions, with the aim of providing as much notice as possible and a break of no more than three consecutive weeks.

Remote Counselling

If counselling takes place online, please join from somewhere private where you feel comfortable talking and use headphones where possible. We won’t be able to go ahead with the session if there is anybody else present with you (including children). If you are attending the session from somewhere else other than the address you gave to us, please let the counsellor know, as this is important in case of emergency. Please note that we are unable to provide sessions if you are joining from outside of the UK.

If technical difficulties interrupt a session, we will do our best to reconnect and call you on your phone number.

If you are running late, please let us know as soon as you can. If you are running more than 15 minutes late, your counsellor will leave the virtual room and assume you are not attending, unless we hear from you.

 

Working Together

We hope counselling feels like a space where you can be open about what is important to you. Your counsellor will listen without judgement and support you to make sense of your experiences in a way that feels right for you. If you have any concerns about the counselling or feel that something isn’t working well, we encourage you to bring this into the conversation so t we can think about it together.

 

Contact between sessions and additional support

You are welcome to contact SARSVL counselling regarding appointment changes, cancellations, changes to contact details and other practical matters between your sessions. Counsellors cannot provide counselling support by phone, email or text between sessions.

If you need extra support between sessions, you can contact:

• SARSVL Helpline on 0808 802 3344
• Rape Crisis 24/7 Support Line 0808 500 2222, chat online at 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk

If you need urgent or emergency support, please contact 999, NHS 111, your GP, your local crisis team or A&E.

 

Confidentiality

The Counselling Service at SARSVL is committed to offering a safe and confidential service and will always strive to protect and support your confidentiality. All information you share with us is treated with respect and in line with SARSVL’s Confidentiality Policy. If you would like a copy of this policy, please ask your counsellor.

Everything you tell us will normally stay within SARSVL unless you give us permission to share information with another person or organisation. We will always try to discuss this with you first and agree a way forward together.

There are some situations where, because of our safeguarding responsibilities or legal obligations, we might need to share information even if you do not want us to. These situations include:

• A significant and immediate risk to you and/or another person.
• Concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child.
• Concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a vulnerable adult.
• Situations where we are required by law to share information.

Before sharing information, we will always seek to gain your consent and discuss our concerns with you wherever possible. However, we have a Duty of Care and may need to act to help keep people safe. If information needs to be shared, we will only share the minimum amount necessary.

If we have concerns about your safety, or the safety of another person, and you are also receiving support from another SARSVL service (for example Advocacy, Pathfinder or Peer Support), we may share relevant information internally with that service to help coordinate support and safeguarding.

Another situation where we may be legally required to share information is if we receive a Court Order requiring us to release counselling records. This is rare, and wherever possible we would discuss this with you before any information is disclosed.

All counsellors review their work regularly in professional supervision. This means they discuss aspects of their work with a specially trained supervisor to help ensure counselling remains safe, ethical and effective. Supervisors are bound by the same confidentiality requirements as counsellors.

If you need an interpreter for appointments, they will also be expected to follow the same confidentiality requirements as your counsellor.

 

Sharing information between SARSVL services

SARSVL has three main service areas: advocacy (ISVA), counselling, and helpline. Each of these areas also offers different support options. For example, in the counselling service, you could have one-to-one counselling, be part of a group, or have support from our Pathfinder worker etc. During your time at SARSVL, you might be involved with more than one of these support services.

In general, SARSVL aims to keep information-sharing between services minimal, so your information stays as confidential as possible. Sometimes though, we might need to share information about you internally with another SARSVL service you’re involved with. This will usually be about keeping you and others safe, and/or responding to emerging needs and making sure we’re offering you the right kind of support for you at the right time. We’ll usually try and discuss this with you and reach an agreement together about what information will be shared. The main exception to this would be where we have safeguarding concerns (* see the Confidentiality section above). If you want to update one of your SARSVL workers about more general or less major things, you should still let them know directly. We will not routinely share that kind of information between SARSVL services.

Here are some examples of times we might want to share information between different SARSVL services:
We might want to share

·      Risk and safeguarding concerns about you or someone else (as above)
·      Major life updates e.g. a close bereavement or significant health diagnosis
·      Significant changes in living circumstances e.g. if you become unhoused or move out of the area
·      Criminal Justice System outcomes
·      Changes in your support plans e.g. if you have a change in your social worker, support worker or any relevant partner organisation that is part of your support plan
·      Resources you have developed with one service that might help you engage with another SARSVL service e.g. communications plans or adjustments agreed between you and a worker

We will not usually share

·  The content of your counselling sessions
·  Things you share in a support group
·  Messages between you and another worker

 

Note-Taking, Record Keeping and Data Protection

To provide counselling, SARSVL needs to collect, store and protect some information about you. We do this in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We keep:

• Personal information, such as your contact details, so we can provide the service and contact you when needed.
• Clinical information, including your assessment and counselling notes, which help us provide safe and effective support.

• Records of contact and communication between you and SARSVL.
• Monitoring information, such as questionnaires and feedback forms, which are used anonymously to help us improve our services and report to funders and Rape Crisis England & Wales.

Your information is stored securely and is only accessible to authorised SARSVL staff who need it as part of their role.

Counsellors keep professional notes about the counselling work. These notes will not normally be shared without your knowledge or consent. If we receive a request for your counselling records from the police or a court, we will discuss this with you wherever possible and follow SARSVL’s legal and professional responsibilities.

You have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you at any time. We will respond to requests in line with data protection legislation. In some circumstances, there may be legal or professional reasons why certain information cannot be disclosed or must be provided in a particular way. If this applies, we will explain this to you.

Counselling records are retained securely for seven years after counselling ends, in line with SARSVL’s GDPR and Privacy Policy, after which they are securely destroyed.

If you would like more information about how we use, store or protect your data, please ask for a copy of SARSVL’s GDPR and Privacy Policy.

 

Important information if you are considering or have reported to the police

We believe your counselling notes should remain confidential and will always try to protect your privacy. If you have reported sexual violence to the police, there are times when counselling records may be requested as part of a criminal investigation.

You do not need to delay counselling because you have reported to the police. Your wellbeing is the most important thing, and it is your choice whether you access counselling, when you start, and what you choose to talk about.

If the police request your counselling records, we will normally discuss this with you first and seek your consent before sharing any information. Your counsellor will carefully review your notes and will only consider sharing information that is relevant to the case. Before any part of your notes are sent to the police, your counsellor will ask you to read and check the extracts we are going to share. We would not normally release your counselling notes without your consent. But, in rare circumstances, a judge might order SARSVL to disclose records.

If information is shared, it may be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), disclosed to the defence if legally required, and might be referred to during court proceedings.
At the end of your counselling your counsellor will check with you whether you are happy with the information recorded in your session notes.

Your counsellor will be happy to discuss any questions or concerns you have about counselling notes and the criminal justice process.

 

Ending Counselling

Towards the end of counselling, you and your counsellor will review the work you have done together and discuss any ongoing support that might be helpful. You are free to end counselling at any time. We understand that sometimes people might want to take a break from counselling and come back at some other time. If that would be the case please talk to your counsellor to agree the best next steps. In either case it is important to have a closing session/s to say goodbye, as this is an integral part of the therapeutic process.

 

Complaints

• If you are unhappy with any aspect of the Counselling Service you can make a complaint formally or informally directly to SARSVL. For more information please consult the Complaints Policy, which is available upon request.
• If you are concerned about the Counselling Service’s professional conduct you can also contact BACP’s Professional Conduct Department on: 01455 883378 or professional_conduct@bacp.co.uk.