FAQ
There might be questions you have which I have not answered anywhere else and so I would hope you would be able to find the answers here. However, if not, please do send me an email to ask.
Am I the right counsellor for you?
Choosing the right counsellor is an important step in your healing journey. Research informs that it is the relationship built between client and therapist that is one of the most important factors to the success of therapy. My personal view is that if you initially feel relaxed when answering the questions in the assessment, you will feel relaxed in our work together.
How long will counselling / psychotherapy take?
This is a million-dollar question and so hard to answer. Some clients come in wanting to work on just one thing, which may take just a few sessions and then they will exit therapy knowing they can return at any time. However, this is not the norm for clients that I see. Most clients I work with tend to be longer term, coming in for a while whilst they unravel, and work through, their life journey.
Can I come back?
Yes. Whoever the client, I have an open-door policy to return (subject to appointment availability).
Is it weak to attend counselling or to need help with relationships?
Absolutely not! This can be a pre-conceived judgement that you place on yourself, or that you feel society dictates. It takes courage and strength to reach out and say that something about how you are living is not working for you. This is especially true of couples and twos who come in for relationship counselling.
Are sessions confidential?
Private practice is brilliant as, subject to a few legal and ‘do no harm’ policies, no-one gets informed of you attending unless you want to tell them (*see Limits to confidentiality below). What this means is that your doctors will not know you have sought counselling. So, for example, if you feel you are using alcohol inappropriately, have suicidal thoughts, etc. then it remains your choice as to who you tell.
(Note: This will be different for EAP work as you would have already contacted the provider giving your own information. I do not write client reports for any of the EAPs I currently work with).
Limits to confidentiality
There are a few laws which over-ride confidentiality (drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism) so if I was to be told about any of these, I would breach confidentiality.
Duty of care - if you were to disclose in sessions a situation where you, or someone around you, was at risk then I may have to over-ride confidentiality yet I would always endeavour to talk to you about this first.
I am an ethical BACP accredited member and I have supervision every 3 weeks and I may, if appropriate, mention you by Christian name in supervision.
Couple counselling…. one screen or two?
If you are in couple counselling it can be beneficial to be in the same room as this replicates face-to-face therapy. This is for several reasons: -
1. To get a true sense of what each of you is feeling.
2. To experience each another’s body language.
3. To be able to ground together at the end of the session, even if you take a 5 minute break.
4. To be ‘in’ the couple experience together.
However, we do not live in an ideal world, and work/life balance can mean you are in two places and therefore on two screens. This is not problematic yet I do suggest finding time after the session to come back together and re-attach to one another.
Remember, two screens are better than none!
Why are there no testimonials on my website?
I believe truly in client confidentiality and that a client’s experience is unique to them.
For me, to say to a client/clients’ ending ‘could you give me a few words about our work together to use for marketing’ feels very inauthentic and ‘me’ centred, and this is not who I am as a counsellor.
Contact Outside of Sessions
Contact outside of our sessions is accepted for practical reasons, i.e., re-arranging a session.
My preferred method of contact is email as I have noticed when I turn my work phone back on messages have gone missing.
Social Media
Trust, confidentiality and privacy are of concern. I do not accept friend requests from current or former clients, which includes Linked-In, as this compromises confidentiality and privacy and may blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship.
I use social media pages in my private practice to enable the sharing of posts that I feel are of interest to other social media users.
Remember you are responsible for what you write and whilst you may want to write about your counselling experience, please do not name me personally in any of your writings.
Insurance
I have Public Liability Insurance and home insurance that covers client visits.
Complaints
I am a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and I work to the Ethical Framework which is set out as standard for British counselling and psychotherapy.
If you have a complaint about my work, I would ask you contact me in the first incident and then, if we were unable to resolve it, it would be directed to the BACP (the professional body responsible for issues of conduct).
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Privacy Policy
I am registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). As such, I need to inform you what data I collect from you, how I store it and how I share it (copy of my ICO registration available on request): -
What happens on an initial enquiry?
On emailing me, the data I will receive is your email address, name, contact details and then, likely, brief details of your enquiry. This is received into a business Gmail account which is password protected and accessible only by Kate Heavey.
Alternatively, you may opt to call and leave a voicemail on my work phone which is code protected and only accessible by me.
Initial assessment
Individual Counselling: -
I go through a two-page document where information is asked regarding your occupation, relationships (family and friends), medication, general well-being (diet, alcohol, drug usage, sleep), mental health (suicidal thoughts, traumatic events, significant life events) and then your goals / expectations of counselling are gathered.
Couple Counselling: -
I email a 5-page document to each individual prior to the assessment requesting reason for coming to counselling; current feelings within relationship; impact of relationship on mental health (i.e. medication, alcohol intake, physical / verbal abuse, traumatic events, significant life events whilst in relationship), current concerns in relationships, relationship history and what is hoping to be gained from couple counselling.
Contractual Information
When you are a client, the data you will be asked for in the contract, how I store it and when it may be shared.
Name, address, phone number, date of birth, GP/surgery, medication and who to contact in the event of an emergency (their name and phone number).
Reasoning: To work ethically and safely knowing that, if for any reason I needed to contact you, or if I was concerned about you, or if there was a medical emergency during our sessions, that I have the appropriate information to act in your safety (duty of care). Please know I would always discuss this with you before contacting anyone, unless at the time you were unable to give consent.
Will I share your data and, if so, who with and for what purpose?
As a BACP member my work is supervised to ensure I am working ethically at all times. If you were mentioned in supervision, you would only ever be discussed by your Christian name promoting confidentiality.
Additionally, I pass all my current client’s Christian names (with telephone number) to my supervisor once a month so, in the event of an emergency, you would be contacted by them.
Outside of supervision, your data would only be shared on a ‘need to know' basis. I will not sell it or use it for unethical reasons. If my notes were subpoenaed by court, I may have to share it. I may have to share it if you, or anyone you tell me about in your sessions, is at harm of risk. In these cases, I may have to pass your information to your GP or to the police. Again, I would endeavour to discuss this with you before going ahead and contacting anyone, unless at that time you were unable to give consent (subject to confidentiality in signed contract).
As discussed in our initial session, and signed in your contract, if you disclose law breaking activities (currently money laundering, terrorism and drug trafficking) then I will share your personal information with the police.
How will I store your data?
Your data is kept on paper in a locked filing cabinet and/or on a password protected laptop. You are manually assigned a reference number with your contract being kept away from bullet point notes so you will never be identified. Your phone number is kept in my work phone which is code protected. Your email address is kept in my Gmail password protected work account.
Client documents held
Paper - Contract. GDPR. Brief bullet point session notes.
Electronic - Christian name and telephone number. Email address details.
How long will I store your data and how will I dispose of it?
Current law and my insurance company dictate that I keep your signed contract and brief bullet points of sessions for 7 years after which time your notes will be confidentially shredded.
After 2 months your telephone number will be deleted from my work mobile.
Your rights under the GDPR
You are entitled to be informed of what I keep and to have access to your information, making any corrections. You can withdraw your consent at any time of my using your personal information (noting, in this case, our work would cease as I would not be insured to continue working with you). And you can request I delete your information (although I cannot guarantee this due to my insurance needs).
Please note, in your first session, along with your contract, you will be asked to sign a copy of my GDPR to confirm you are aware of the data I have collected, what will be stored and how it may be shared.
If you have any questions, please let me know.