Everything that you tell me during therapy sessions remains confidential between us, with the following exceptions:
Like all psychologists I am required to have regular clinical supervision and may take to supervision anything which we discuss in your therapy. The aim of supervision is to ensure that I provide the most effective therapy for you. If you have agreed to be recorded, I may take recordings of sessions to supervision.
When required by law, which is very rare.
I may contact your GP or other professionals involved in your care if I believe that there is a risk of serious harm to yourself or others. This includes issues relating to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. I may do this without consultation with you if you are not able to discuss options with me.
Sessions will last for 60 minutes from the start of your appointment time. If you are late joining a session, we will still finish the session at the usual time. I may use a range of therapeutic approaches including EMDR, CBT and Gestalt Psychotherapy. The fee for each 60-minute session is £120.
Payment to be made by bank transfer to:
Account Name: Jennifer Susan Arthern
Account Number: 65860873
Sort Code: 40-47-67
Please make the payment in advance of your session and use the date of the session as the reference e.g. 05.03. Your name will appear anyway as the person making the payment.
My professional organisation (The British Psychological Society) requires me to keep records of the therapy. You are welcome to see my notes at any time except in the rare instance that I consider the information I have written may be detrimental to your mental health. If you have agreed to be recorded the recordings are stored securely and erased after use. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and I understand General Data Protection Regulation and abide by this for the storage of all data. Information held digitally is encrypted. Please do not email me any confidential information unless it is password protected with a password we have agreed verbally. Data collected will be kept for 7 years in line with my insurance company and professional organisation policies.
If you are unable to attend a session due to illness or unforeseen circumstances, please let me know as soon as possible. If you cancel a session with less than 48 hours’ notice I will charge you £50. Please note that the cancellation fee is not a judgement about whether the cancellation was avoidable or for a valid reason but is simply a practicality as I will not be able to offer the appointment to anyone on my waiting list at such short notice.
I will take holidays during the year and will let you know the dates in advance. Occasionally, due to illness or other unforeseen events, I may have to cancel a session at short notice.
You have my email address if you need to contact me regarding appointments. If I am not available, I aim to reply to your email within 24 hours Monday to Thursday and during the weekend, on the next working day. My usual office hours are 8am – 5pm Monday - Thursday. I am not available outside these hours or when I am on leave and I am not able to read or respond to emails during these periods. Unfortunately, as I work on my own, I am not able to offer a crisis service. In the case of an emergency relating to your mental health please call the NHS helpline on 111, Samaritans on 116 123 or contact your GP practice or attend A&E. Telephone contact between sessions relates to practical arrangements about appointments. If you require any reports, I will charge separately for these. I will not contact your GP without your specific permission unless there is a serious issue relating to risk of harm to yourself or to someone else.
I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and an Accredited EMDR Consultant/Supervisor (EMDR UK Association). You can confirm my status by contacting any of these organisations (contact details at the bottom of this document). If you have a complaint against me which it has not been possible for us to resolve through discussion then please contact one of these organisations.
