Client Confidentiality

As a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), WAVES counsellors abide by its Ethical Framework for Good Practise.

The client/counsellor relationship is a confidential one in which personal disclosures are not revealed to any third party, and are kept within the agency, unless the following exceptions were to occur:
1. There was a child protection issue (in which case a safeguarding referral would be made)
2. You were going to cause harm to someone
3. There is a drug trafficking issue
4. There is a terrorist issue
5. A money laundering issue
6. The perpetrator of the domestic abuse is a police officer
7. The perpetrator of the domestic abuse has access to firearms
8. Or you are going to cause harm to yourself (you could be considered a suicide risk)

If any of the above were the case then we would inform the WAVES manager and your doctor or the appropriate agency.

We would inform you first whenever possible and you’d be aware what was going to happen before it happened and your permission sought whenever possible. However, it is important that you know that if you refuse permission, the information will still be passed on.

I understand my name will be kept on the WAVES database and that no-one outside of the of the agency has access to this.

 

​

Wellbeing Opt In Agreement

During your assessment and counselling sessions we will ask you a series of questions to assess your overall wellbeing and safety. This is a tool that is used between yourself and your counsellor as part of your counselling journey, to acknowledge and review changes over time.

​

You will be assessed on how you feel you are able to cope with everyday matters that may be affected by the issues you wanted to address when coming to WAVES for counselling.

​

The information you provide will also be used as evidence to other partner agencies, potential service funders and service commissioners that the work we do at WAVES can make a real difference to the lives of people who have been supported by us. No personal information will be included in any funding or commissioner reports.

​

You will be asked to complete this questionnaire at every session during your counselling.

Below is a copy of the questions that you will be asked. This is scaled from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’, with ‘neither disagree or agree’ in the middle.

1. I feel I have some control in my everyday life.

2. I look after myself.

3. I am able to recognise my achievements.

4. I feel I have choices.

5. I feel I am able to make choices.

6. I feel I have the right to be happy.

7. I like myself.

8. I feel confident.

9. I am able to cope with stress.

10. I feel able to manage my emotions.

11. How safe do I feel.

12. I do not feel that I would be better off dead and I have not felt like hurting myself in some way.

​​

​

WAVES Counselling Contract

The Counsellor/Client relationship is built on trust, it is a process where you work in partnership with your Counsellor and you both have responsibilities in ensuring that best outcome is obtained from your counselling sessions.

​

All Counsellors have supervision (either group or personal) where individual work is reviewed. In this instance the identity of the client is not revealed.

​

If you are not comfortable with your Counsellor for any reason please either talk to your Counsellor, phone 07815 136743 or email WAVES and we will try to rectify the situation and pass you onto a new Counsellor if necessary as soon as one is available.

​

If you have a complaint about WAVES or would like to see our complaints policy, please email wavescounsellingproject@live.co.uk with the subject of attention for WAVES manager, or text or call us via WAVES number on 07771 299490

​

Agreement Statements

• I understand that for domestic abuse counselling I will have up to 12 sessions (6 free sessions followed by 6 paid sessions) of counselling; and for low cost counselling I will receive up to 18 sessions of £25 each.

• I agree to attend booked sessions

• I agree I will give my counsellor as much notice as possible if I am unable to attend any booked session

• For domestic abuse clients receiving six free sessions followed by six sessions at £10 per session, I understand that if I give less than three hours’ notice or do not attend a free session, this will count as one of the free sessions. For the paid sessions, if payment is not made at least 48 hours in advance, the session will be forfeited. If a pre-paid session is cancelled with 24 hours’ notice or more, the fee will be carried forward to the next scheduled session, if not the fee will be forfeited; however, if a pre-paid session is booked and cancelled within 24 hours or more but no further session is booked, the fee will not be refunded.

• For low-cost counselling, I understand that payment must be made no later than 48 hours before the session start time. If I cancel a pre-paid session less than 24 hours before the scheduled start time, the session fee will be forfeited. If I cancel a pre-paid session with 24 hours’ notice or more, the fee will be carried forward to the next booked session. If a session is cancelled with 24 hours’ notice or more and no further session is booked, the fee will not be refunded.

• I understand that if I fail to attend three sessions or cancel three sessions without good reason then my Counsellor will contact me to inform me that they will be returning my file to the office and it will be closed. I understand that if I am able to commit to the counselling at a later date I can contact the office to re-refer myself at any time.

• I agree to attend sessions at the regularity agreed with my counsellor.

​

And finally

If you would like more counselling, you are welcome to re-refer yourself back to us 3 months after your sessions have ended. Please contact WAVES through www.wavescounsellingproject.com. We cannot guarantee that the same counsellor will be available to you.

​

I understand that sessions cannot be audio or video recorded by myself, the counsellor or anyone else present within counselling sessions i.e. phone, video or face to face without a joint agreement between the counsellor and the client.

​

 

​​THE EXCHANGE OF PERSON – IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

PRINCIPLES

All information that you provide to the WAVES Counselling Project is stored on the Lamplight Case Management System together with details of the service you have received, for 7years after which the information is then deleted off of the case management system safely and securely.

Information that you provide is kept within WAVES and The Cornwall Refuge Trust. Unless there is an exception to confidentiality or if we are required to share information outside of WAVES by law.

Sharing some types of very sensitive personal information is strictly controlled by law. Anyone who receives information from WAVES is also under a legal duty to keep that personal information confidential.

​

INFORMATION COLLECTION AND SHARING

Where there are other ways in which it may be useful and important to share your information, your consent will be sought for these separately.

​

To receive the current service, for local research and service planning, and in order to support you, information will be collected by our service to enable assessments to take place and an appropriate counsellor to be allocated to you.

​

We collect information about you on behalf of our funders to be monitored, to make sure we are completing all of the required aims of the project, but also to prove that the service is needed in Cornwall, by producing the statistics to acquire more funding to keep the project running.

We also collect information to help with the DASV (Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence) strategy. However, by the time any reports are written, it is always in the form of ‘total numbers’ of people and nothing in this information could be used to identify you.

​

Your information is very useful for helping us to plan and develop the service so that it can best meet your needs and the needs of others.

​

Local programmes/ services

Another use of your information could be for a referral to be made into other local programmes and services. It may be that your counsellor identifies that you are eligible or would benefit from other services in Cornwall.

​

If this is the case your counsellor will let you know which programme you are eligible for and the counsellor can then refer you to these programmes. This will only be done if you give your consent for your information to be passed on to other services in order to provide you with any other appropriate support.

​

Services may include; other specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence services, drug and alcohol treatment services, mental health services, accommodation etc.

​

Note: these services will only be provided with sufficient information about you to allow them to make contact with you, and to see if you are eligible to join the programme concerned.

​

ALL INFORMATION

Your data will be stored securely and every effort will be made to safeguard your identity. You also have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of the information we hold about you, please contact your counsellor.

​

We may use anonymous information about you to provide statistical analysis and inform research projects that will improve services for you or others. We may also contact you to ask if you would like to participate in specific research studies or initiatives in the future.

​

This agreement complies with the requirement for explicit consent to be given under relevant and current legislation.

​

CONSENT

I wish to access WAVES Counselling and I have been made aware that I must give my consent for my personal details to be shared between WAVES staff and the other appropriate services listed that contribute to my support.

​

I understand that I have the right to request that information about me is not shared with others as specified. If I exercise this right, I understand and accept that this will mean that I may not have access to the full range of any services available to me. I understand that I have the right to change my mind at any time and update who I wish to share with.