Client confidentiality will be explained to you at your first session, or at your free consultation if you would prefer to understand it more thoroughly before making an appointment.
Safeguarding
Client confidentiality is taken very seriously and will only be broken if The Green Rooms Counsellor/Psychotherapist/Coach believes that you or another person / other people are in danger of serious harm, or if required by a court of law. Where possible this will be discussed with you beforehand.
Professional Supervision
Your Counsellor/Psychotherapist/Coach undergoes regular ‘professional supervision’ where they discuss their client work in order to be able to offer their clients the best possible service. You will not be personally identified during this process.
Public Health
Public interest is the general welfare and rights of the public that should be recognised, protected and advanced. Disclosures in the public interest, based on the common law, are made where this is essential to prevent a serious and imminent threat to public health, national security, the life of the individual or a third party, or to prevent or detect serious crime.
This clause may become relevant if your Counsellor/Psychotherapist contracts SARS-CoV-2, the virus which can lead to COVID-19. They may be obliged to inform the NHS of people they have been in contact with. They would share your name and contact details, but not the context in which they know you. Your confidentiality as a client would be protected. You may be contacted by the NHS.
Your Counsellor/Psychotherapist would do their best to inform you if they disclosed your details to the NHS, but they may be prevented of doing so by their own health or other unavoidable reasons.
Clinical Will
Counsellors/Psychotherapists will endeavour to let you know as soon as possible if they are not able to attend your arranged appointment.
All Counsellors and Psychotherapists have a Clinical Will. This is an arrangement with another professional which permits the other professional to contact the Counsellor/Psychotherapist’s clients in the event that they are not able to work and not able to contact their clients personally. Personal information is not given to the professional, only the client’s name, phone and/or email address. This ‘breach of confidentiality’ is covered by the client agreement:
“Your confidentiality is taken very seriously and will only be broken if your Counsellor/Psychotherapist believes that you …… are in danger of serious harm ….”
If a client’s Counsellor/Psychotherapist disappeared without contact, many clients would experience this as serious psychological harm.
Previous to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, in the rare event of a Clinical Will being used, it was highly unlikely that the other professional would also have been unavailable. At this unprecedented time of medical risk there is an increased chance that Clinical Wills will fail to operate as intended. However, please be assured that our Counsellors and Psychotherapists will regularly stay in touch with the named person in their Clinical Will regarding one another’s health.
We understand that a Counsellor/Psychotherapist not turning up for your arranged appointment would be very worrying and unsettling for you, and we offer unreserved apologies if this should happen. The fee you paid will be returned to you in full.
