Confidentiality
I will ensure my practice honours and respects your confidentiality. What we discuss remains private. During therapy you may disclose harmful thoughts towards yourself or others. If at these times I am concerned about your or others safety, I will discuss appropriate options for us to take together. If we see each other in public, I will not approach or contact you. I will follow your lead to uphold your confidentiality.
Supervision
As part of my practice and to ensure I am maintaining best practice I attend supervision. The purpose is to improve the quality of the work I do with clients. As part of supervision I will discuss the people I see with my supervisor. During these conversations I will not reveal your identifying information. Please note that my supervisor also follows confidentiality, by keeping our conversation private.
Permission to discuss
During our time together there may be points where I need to liaise with other professionals and people in your life to help improve your wellbeing. Before doing this, I will seek your permission. Together we will be clear about what you are okay and not okay for me to share with the named person.
Clinical notes
I will be taking notes during our time together. These notes will be kept in a lock filing cabinet. To protect your identity, I will use a code rather than your name on the notes. I will keep your notes for 10 years and then they will be shredded. Notes and information kept on my computer are password protected.
Sharing of notes
Depending on how counselling sessions are funded I may need to report to external providers such as ACC. Any reports or notes that I will be sharing with external provider will be reviewed by you first.
Cancellation or missed sessions
If you are unable to attend a session for whatever reason, please let me know as soon as possible. If you cancel with at least 24 hours’ notice, there will be no charge. However, if you notify me after 24 hours there will be an 60% charge for the missed session. If you have missed or cancelled three sessions in a row, we will discuss how to support you to engage in the counselling sessions with more success. I will inform you as soon as possible if I need to reschedule or cancel our appointment.
Online therapy
Please be aware of the location of our therapy session and who has access to your email account. Be aware of who is in earshot during the therapy sessions. I recommend using headphones and in a private space. Please inform me before we begin if there will be any possible interruptions or other people in the household, we need to be aware of during the session.
If I have done something you do not like
It would be great if we can discuss together any difficulties. It is better to talk about the difficulties than you stop coming to the counselling sessions. If talking is too difficult, please know you can use other forms of communication such as email. If you would like to make a complaint about my practice or something that happened in therapy, please visit the Social Work Registration Board New Zealand.
Outside of therapy contact
I am currently working two days a week. If you need to contact me regarding therapy sessions, please email or text me. My home does not have good cell phone reception, using email or WhatApp will ensure I get your message. If you need additional support outside of our therapy session, please let me know. We can develop a support plan for you. Due to only working two days a week there will be delays in getting back to you. If in a crisis and unable to get a hold of me, please contact:
111 – Police
0800 LIFELINE (543 354) – Lifeline
0800614614 – Wairarapa Rape Crisis
0800044334 – Safe to Talk