Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions of Practice

Agreement on therapy frequency and goals

At assessment areas for discussion and agreement include:

• The most appropriate type of therapy
• Time and frequency of appointments

Appointments sessions last for 1 hour, unless otherwise agreed. The aim is that therapy should end when client goals have been achieved, or when it is agreed that no further progress can be made. It is important that therapy should end with a planned session where possible, rather than by text or letter.

Fees and Payment

Fees are to be paid Parker & Jones therapy, normally after the session – apart from initial sessions which are paid for upfront, before your consultation. This will be payable by cash or card when at the clinic or via online invoicing.

If fees are to be paid through medical insurance, by another individual, or by an organisation on behalf of a client, the client accepts full responsibility for properly investigating these arrangements and ensuring their viability. Should therapy commence before this has been done, or such arrangements break down, the client accepts financial responsibility for any fees incurred.

Cancellation or rearrangement of sessions

It would be appreciated if sessions need to be rearranged/cancelled that it is done at least 24 hours before whenever possible. If sessions are cancelled less than 24 hours or the session is missed the normal fee may be charged for the session if the time slot is not filled with another client.

Appointment times and holiday dates will be discussed and agreed in advance. If a client arrives late, the session will still have to end at the agreed time. If a client behaves inappropriately (e.g. attending the session under the influence of alcohol or drugs) the session or contract may be terminated.

Confidentiality

Every effort is made to protect the identity of clients at all times. Records and notes are kept securely confidential – see privacy statement. If my client is encountered unexpectedly in another setting, I will not reveal that they are known to me unless the client acknowledges this first. Psychotherapy operates within a code of confidentiality where disclosure may take place if there is a legal or ethically recognised justification, for example in certain situations if a client is at serious risk of harm to themselves or others (e.g. suicidal risk, child protection), preferably with the knowledge and consent of the client. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this. Certain laws also provide for disclosure in situations relating to areas such as drugs and terrorism.​

Privacy Policy

Processing personal data

Your privacy is very important to us and we are committed keeping your personal information safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended including:

• Why I am able to process your information and what purpose I am processing it for
• Whether you have to provide it to me
• How long I store it for
• Whether there are other recipients of your personal information
• Your data protection rights.

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about our data protection policy.

The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. There are different lawful bases depending on the stage at which I am processing your data. I have explained these below:

If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.

If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.

GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. This type of information is called ‘special category personal information’. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between me and you).

Personal data is information about an identifiable individual. Common examples of what I record are: gender, age, email address and home or mobile phone numbers. I collect and use personal information in order to serve my clients. The purpose for collecting such information is to:

• Record who I am seeing
• To be able to effectively communicate with clients by email and telephone
• To make notes of sessions.

Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf.

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for seven years from the end of our contract with each other, then they are securely destroyed, as required by professional bodies and insurers.

Your Rights

You have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.

If I do hold information about you I will:

• Give you a description of it and where it came from;
• Tell you why I am holding its, tell you how long I will store your data and how I – made this decision;
• Tell you who it could be disclosed to;
• Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you.

To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to Hilary@parkerandjones.co.uk