​Membership and Qualifications

• All of our therapists hold appropriate qualifications, which can be viewed on their profile page. 

• All of our therapists are members of professional governing bodies, including the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), and the Confederation of Scottish Counselling Associations (COSCA) and adhere to their Ethical Statement and Codes of Conduct.

 

Accessibility and Eligibility of the service

• Our service aims to provide short and long-term therapy for a wide range of issues; however, we are not a crisis service. Should a client be actively suicidal, they will be encouraged to contact the emergency services. Crisis support may also be found at the Mental Health Hub at NHS 111; the Samaritans at www.samaritans.org or by calling 116 123; or by contacting Breathing Space at www.breathingspace.scot or on 0800 83 85 87.

• Should our service for any reason be unsuitable and we have to decline working with a client, we would always aim to suggest an alternative service which may be better able to meet your needs. We do not advise undergoing therapy with more than one service at a time, as this can interfere with the therapeutic process.  Therefore, we do not work with anyone currently undergoing treatment with another therapy service.

 

Data Protection Policy

• All of our therapists are responsible for keeping client session notes and ensuring these are held securely and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR 2018). Personal details are also held securely, separately from session notes, to ensure anonymity. All notes and personal details are kept either in a locked cabinet to which only Consider It Therapy therapists have access or in a password-protected file on a password-protected computer. These are stored for up to 7 years after our sessions end before being destroyed.

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Confidentiality​

• All sessions will be conducted in confidence. All of our therapists follow strict ethical codes of conduct from our governing bodies. These can be viewed at BACP and BABCP. These policies aim to ensure we provide a secure, respectful, and trusting relationship and space in which you can share. Therefore, everything we discuss in our sessions is confidential, except in the following circumstances:

  •  You disclose something that, based on our professional judgement, suggests that you or someone else is at risk of serious harm.

  • You disclose something we have a legal obligation to share with the relevant authorities, such as information about an act of terrorism or a child safeguarding issue.

In these cases, we would always aim to make a shared plan about how to report the issue.  However, this may not always be possible, and in exceptional circumstances, we may have to break confidentiality without your consent.

• As therapists, we each take part in clinical supervision with an appropriately qualified therapist. In these sessions, we may discuss client work in a way that does not identify you. This helps us ensure we are providing the best and most ethical service possible for you.

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Code of Ethics

Everyone at Consider It Therapy will treat service users, colleagues and freelance contractors as individuals, respecting their rights to privacy.  This means we will:

• Ensure we have written consent from clients before beginning our journey

• Maintain appropriate boundaries

• Ensure lines of communication are clear and open

• Challenge discrimination

• Be polite and considerate

• Listen and take into account any feedback given

• Be open and transparent in all we do and set out to achieve

• Continue our professional development as part of our commitment to supporting clients' mental health journeys

• Provide information when requested in a timely and understandable way

• Work collaboratively with partners, colleagues and freelance contractors

• Practice only in the areas in which we have appropriate knowledge, skills and experience

• Keep updated with new laws and regulations to ensure compliance and prudence

• Respect confidentiality and ensure we work to General Data Protection Regulations (May 2018) – see above

• Deal with Complaints, Comments and Compliments as appropriate

• Act in an honest and non-judgemental way

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Therapy Sessions

Supervision and compliance

• All therapists will receive regular clinical supervision and be compliant with all the practice and legal requirements of their professional and accrediting bodies.

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Complaints, Comments, Compliments

We welcome any feedback offered to us so we can ensure continued professional practice that will make our clients want to recommend our services and return to us when needed. 

 

A copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.  We encourage clients to discuss any concerns they may have with us. Details of our complaints procedure can be found in the client contract.