Important Information
To be read and agreed within the first meeting with the counsellor.
Confidentiality
Counselling is a private and confidential form of help. I hold information about clients and the counselling they receive in confidence.
This means that I will not normally give your name or any information about you to any other parties. However, there are exceptional cases where we might ethically or legally have to give information to relevant authorities, for example if we had reason to believe that someone, especially a young person, is at serious risk of harm or to prevent a miscarriage of justice.
If you come with a partner, the counsellor may suggest seeing each of you individually. It is important for you to know that what is said in those individual sessions will be confidential and not shared with your partner or family.
Face to Face Sessions
Sessions to be held at 30 St Pauls Terrace, York, YO24 4BL.
Parking is available on St Pauls Terrace but I will require your car registration in advance and will incur an additional cost of £1.50 as have to purchase a visitor permit. There are some parking bays on Watson Street which you can park for upto 2 hours, or you can park on part of St Pauls Mews which doesn’t require a permit. You can also park on Wilton Rise which is just around the corner from St Pauls Terrace. Alternative options close by : The Nunnery Lane Car Park, The Train Station or the Knavesmire or New Lane just off Acomb Road near West Bank Parking which has on street parking that’s free and is around 10 min walk.
Sessions are for 60 minutes. I ask you to not arrive earlier than 5 minutes to the start of the session as I work from home, and I don’t have a waiting area.
No recording of the sessions is to take place without prior discussion and an agreement, that is ok to do so by both parties.
I do have a dog in the premises, if you have allergies or a dislike / nervous of dogs, then I can ensure she is kept in a separate room throughout the session. Alternatively, you may want to consider having the sessions either by phone or Zoom.
What to expect in the first session
If this is your first experience of counselling, it can feel a bit daunting. Please don’t worry, it will be fine. The first appointment is what we call an Assessment Session, which gives me a chance to check that I am the best person to help you and gives you a chance to work out if counselling feels comfortable and right for you.
Often it is the first-time people have spoken about their situation and maybe you won’t want to tell me everything straight away. That is fine too. The sessions will always move at a pace that you are happy with.
COVID
I have carried out a risk assessment prior to seeing clients face to face, as set out by the BACP guidelines in line with the Government guidance to ensure that it is a safe environment to offer counselling.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance and support – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
COVID-19 resources (bacp.co.uk)
I will be monitoring the situation and in the event of the situation changing it maybe, we will have to suspend face to face work for a period. We can then discuss alternative arrangements.
I reserve the right to suspend face to face sessions should I feel that it is putting myself or you at risk and alternative arrangements can be discussed re sessions via Zoom or Telephone.
Cancellation policy will still apply. If I have any symptoms, I will inform you as soon as possible by email or phone and in that instance, there would be no charge for the cancelled session.
I ask you to respect the premises, as is not just my place of work, but also where I live. I will keep the environment as safe as possible, for you the client, but also for myself.
Insurance
I have Professional Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance through
Balens Ltd, Bridge House, Portland Road, Malvern, Worc.
Policy Number: ZUR-TIS/20/11/23
Payment & Charges
Sessions are 60 minutes and costs are:
£45 Students and Young people.
£50 for Individual counselling 18 upwards.
£65 for Couples.
£65 for Individuals for Porn / Sex Addiction work.
Parking on St Pauls Terrace incurs an additional £1.50 per session.
Payment should be made prior or on the day of the session. A bank transfer can be made to
Jason Gillery
HSBC
Sort Code – 40-47-31
Account No: 24454480
BIC: HBUKGB4109Y
IBAN: GB65HBUK40473124454480
Reference – ‘your surname’
Alternatively, a payment can be made via debit / credit card via a payment link. If you would prefer to pay via this method, if you can let me know prior or on day of the session, I can email you a payment link, so payment can be made via the iZettle.
Face to face session payment – can be made in cash, by credit / debit card on the day of the session, or via bank transfer prior to the session.
Cancellation Policy
Less than 24 hours’ notice full charge for the session will apply.
Data Protection and GDPR
The information about confidentiality (above) in no way contravenes your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 or the GDPR 2018 to access personal date that I hold on you. I keep confidential records about our clients. All records are kept securely and are only seen by the counsellor.
These records are subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR 2018. Your personal and sensitive personal data will only be used to provide the service to you and for managing and quality assuring the service. Records are kept for a period of 7 years and are then destroyed.
I recognise that on rare occasions our clients may wish to exercise their rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR 2018 and make a subject request in respect of their personal information held by us. Often during counselling information is provided by more than one individual. In these cases, I will only release information if consent has been given by all the individuals involved.
I am registered with the Information Commission Office (ICO) as requirement when handling personal data whether that’s paper form or electronically, via email, text etc.
ICO registration no ZA521966. https://ico.org.uk/
Reports and Client records
Occasionally I may be asked by our clients or by external agencies such as Social Services or the NHS to write reports on the progress made in counselling. I am not normally able to do this because of our duty of confidentiality to clients and because I am not trained in the specialist areas of diagnosis or social work assessment. However, I can in some circumstances on receipt of written consent from the client(s), who attended counselling, provide brief information about the dates and number of sessions attended.
In addition, I may also be asked by clients, their solicitors, the police, and the courts for access to the client records. These are not suitable as evidence in legal proceedings, and I reserve the right to resist legal requests to produce the records in court. I do this in order, to protect our duty of confidentiality to all our clients and preserve our reputation as the provider of confidential counselling.
Codes of ethics and practice
All our counsellors are required to comply with the code of ethics and practice appropriate to the work they undertake.
Relationship Counselling, Individual counselling and Young People counselling are covered by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s (BACP) Ethical Framework for good practice.
BACP membership: 00738352
Sex Therapy is covered by the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapy’s (COSRT) Code of Ethics and Principles of good practice
COSRT Membership No: 2547
I have monthly supervision myself to ensure good practice and undertake regular Continual Professional Development.
By signing the consent form below, you acknowledge that you understand and agree with the above and our subject access policy for counselling notes. You can either electronically sign the form and email it back to me or an email confirmation of receipt and agreement will also be taken as agreement to yorkshirecounsellingservices@outlook.com
Confidentiality and Protection Statement
This section is retained for our records.
By signing you agree that you have read, understood and accept the attached document.
Name_____________________ Name_________________________________
Signed___________________________ Signed________________________________
Date_____________________________ Date _________________________________
