Counseling Services Guide & Practice Policies
This guide explains the counseling we offer, what sessions cost and how long they run, how confidentiality works and where its limits lie, our cancellation policy, and where to turn in a crisis. It is a reference document — there is nothing to fill in or return. The specifics that bind us are the ones stated in your signed consent and treatment agreement.
Section 1 — Services We Offer
- Individual therapy for anxiety, depression, stress, grief, trauma, and life transitions
- Couples and relationship counseling
- Family sessions where a shared issue is best worked on together
- Structured approaches including CBT, DBT skills, ACT, and person-centered work, matched to what fits you
- Sessions in person or by secure video, depending on what suits your circumstances
Section 2 — Fees & Session Length
The figures below are indicative. Your own fee, including any agreed sliding-scale rate, is confirmed in writing before we begin.
| | |
|---|
Initial intake / assessment | | Flat fee for the first appointment |
Individual therapy session | | |
| | Per-session fee, higher than individual |
| | A limited number of reduced-fee places, by discussion |
- Payment is due at the time of each session, by card or bank transfer unless we have agreed otherwise.
- Where we are out-of-network, we can provide a superbill for you to submit to your insurer.
Section 3 — Confidentiality & Its Limits
What you share in therapy is private. We do not disclose that you are a client, or anything you tell us, without your written consent — with a small number of exceptions that the law and professional ethics require:
- When there is a serious and imminent risk of harm to you or to another identifiable person.
- When we learn of abuse or neglect of a child or a vulnerable adult, which we are obliged to report.
- When records are lawfully required by a court order.
- When you ask us in writing to coordinate with your physician, psychiatrist, or another provider.
Wherever possible we discuss any disclosure with you first and share only what is necessary. Email, text, and video carry their own privacy risks, which we will talk through before using them.
Section 4 — Cancellation & No-Show Policy
- Please give at least 24 hours notice to reschedule or cancel without charge.
- Cancellations inside 24 hours, and missed sessions, may be charged at the full session rate.
- The time is held for you; late notice means it cannot be offered to anyone else.
- If a genuine emergency prevents attendance, tell us — we take real circumstances into account.
- Frequent cancellations may prompt us to pause and talk together about how therapy is fitting into your life.
Section 5 — Crisis & Emergency Resources
Therapy sessions are not an emergency service and messages are not monitored around the clock. If you are in crisis, please use one of these routes right away:
- If life is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number or go to the nearest emergency department.
- Contact your local or national crisis or suicide-prevention line, which is staffed 24 hours a day.
- Reach out to a trusted person who can be with you, and let your therapist know at the next opportunity.
Your therapist will go over the specific local crisis numbers with you and help you build a personal safety plan.
Section 6 — What to Expect in Therapy
- The first few sessions are for getting to know your situation and agreeing what we will work on together.
- Progress is rarely a straight line. Some sessions feel like a breakthrough; others simply lay groundwork.
- You set the pace. You can pause on any topic and return to it when it feels right.
- We review how things are going from time to time and adjust the plan as your goals change.
- If the fit is not right, we will say so and help you find someone better suited — that is part of good care.
This guide is general information about our practice and is not a substitute for the personalised advice you receive in session. Please ask us about anything here that you would like explained further.