I like to have these available for people who find it helpful to have access to this information ahead of time, but it is in no way required to look at any of it in advance.
before our first session
You can download this document as a .pdf here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y-Q9Mm9CpABOjWcJ9nAQiFMvHkogWXkY/view
Meeting on-line for counselling/therapy is a bit different to meeting in-person. If we were meeting in-person, you would travel to get to my office; I would welcome you and show you around; we'd be sitting in armchairs in the same room; we'd have glasses of water or cups of tea or coffee. It would be part of my job to manage the physical space, ensure privacy, and guard against interruptions. It would be outside your daily life in many ways; and when you'd leave, you'd have some time to transition back to your daily life.
When we meet on-line, you're likely still in the same physical space that you are in in your “regular” life.
I invite you to think about ways to make the space you're meeting with me from, and our meeting together on-line, something a bit separate from your daily life.
The basics:
An email address where we can correspond confidentially to arrange sessions and take care of other business.
A reliable internet connection.
Access to Zoom (more information below). If you deeply dislike Zoom, or Zoom is an accessibility problem for you, let me know and we can see about using another platform.
A private, quiet, suitable place to meet.
A non-moving surface to put your device on, without a window or light behind you. This is an accessibility issue for me.
Some additional considerations:
Where you will be sitting, and where your device will go.
I invite you to think about what space would be good for you to meet with me; how to make sure you have enough privacy with minimal interruptions; and also how to make that space comfortable – for example, a reasonable chair, a cushion on the floor, something to drink, tissues, and anything else that will help you be present, whether it's a comfort object or fidget, journal or notepaper and pen, etc.
You may wish to use headphones or your device's speaker. If you're comfortable using headphones, I recommend this, as it minimises feedback and sound distortion. You are welcome to try either or both and see what you like better, and to use different things at different times.
Our first session
At the beginning of our first session, I have some legal and ethical items I need to share, and then I have an intake form where I ask a standard set of questions to help get a sense of what brings you and if I am an appropriate person to work with you. The rest of our session will be more of a free-flow conversation. Subsequent sessions will likely be much less structured, depending on how we choose to work together.
I usually ask us both to take the time between our first and second sessions to think about if we are potentially a good match and wish to work together. If we both agree, we will formally contract at the beginning of our second session. You will have a copy of this to consider ahead of time and we will go over it together.
During sessions
We will usually meet on Zoom. I will email you a confidential, secure link for our sessions.
I will be in my study for our sessions. I live with two cats who go where they wish and who may join us from time to time. For additional privacy, I use a white noise machine, and for my comfort, I usually wear headphones during our sessions. You may occasionally be able to hear noise from the street outside my residence or the hallway of the building.
You can use Zoom for free from a computer, tablet, or phone. There are two main ways to do this:
Download Zoom to your device, and either click on the meeting link I will send you, or enter the meeting information in the app: https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting
Using a web browser and clicking on the meeting link I will send you. More information here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/214629443-Quick-start-guide-for-the-Zoom-web-client
Further information is available at https://zoom.us/
before our first session
Information I need from you before our first session.
You can fill this form out here:
https://forms.gle/Mwo1zyeA2Aitd9oY8
Or, you can download a .pdf of this form here, fill it out, and email to me:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13_ohy3uhvextXgr5FTsa-b1pCC0DqpNF/view?usp=drive_link
Information this form requests:
What is your email address?
What is your full name?
What name would you like me to call you?
What pronouns would you like me to use?
What is your date of birth?
What is your address?
Is there a phone number where I can message you in case I need to rearrange a session at the last minute, if we lose the internet connection during a session, etc.?
What is the name of your emergency contact person?
What is your emergency contact's relationship with you? (For example – they are your doctor, friend, partner, family member, etc)
What is your emergency contact's phone number?
I consent for Stasa Morgan-Appel to hold this information for the purposes of counselling/psychotherapy, in compliance with GDPR. [tick box]
Please type your name again as your electronic signature
Today's date
Examples of the kinds of things we'll talk about in our initial session.
Beginning:
Did you get the Orientation & How This Works document?
Review confidentiality
Review your Client Information Sheet
How would you like to pay (bank transfer or card)?
What is your living situation?
What is your occupation/how do you spend your time?
Do you have any medical issues you would like me to know about?
Are you taking any medications that affect your ability to think or affect your mood?
Have you had any experiences with counselling or self-help before? How was it? Do you have any preferences, or anything you know does or doesn't work for you?
Do you have any previous psychological history that you would like me to know about?
Have you ever made plans to end your life, or tried to end your life?
Tell me a little bit about your relationship with alcohol and/or other drugs?
Tell me a little bit about your support system?
Tell me a little bit about what brings you?
What would you like to get out of counselling/therapy?
Do you have any particular fears, worries, or hopes for this process?
Is there anything else you would like me to know? me a little bit about your support system?
We will review this in session, and if we agree to work together, we will both sign copies.
Sessions will take place on Zoom (or another GDPR-compliant platform we agree to use), usually once a week, at a regular, specified time we arrange, and will be scheduled for 50 minutes.
I will send you a confidential, secure link for your sessions via the email address you have provided.
We have agreed to:
___ time-limited counselling/therapy for 12 sessions, with an option to renew
___ open-ended counselling/therapy (no fixed number of sessions; we agree when to end)
___ other:
An email address where we can correspond confidentially to arrange sessions and take care of other business.
A reliable internet connection.
Access to Zoom (or other GDPR-compliant platform we agree to use).*
A quiet, private, suitable place to meet.*
A non-moving surface to put your device on, without a window or light behind you. This is an accessibility issue for me.
*More information about this is available in a separate document.
[My email address and mobile number]
Email is generally best, but please text or leave a voice mail for last-minute issues, if you're running late, etc.
As of [date], my fees are: initial session, [amount]; subsequent sessions, [amount].
Payment can be made by bank transfer (preferred), and by card. I will email you the required information.
Payment from the previous session is due before the next session unless we have made other arrangements.
Payment is due in full for non-emergency cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice.
Lateness: If you're running a little late, we can usually still meet. If you can text me to let me know, that's very helpful. If you arrive more than 20 minutes past the start of a 50-minute session, we will need to reschedule.
Cancelling and/or rescheduling: Please notify me at least 48 hours in advance, by email, whenever possible. For last-minute cancellations, please text.
Planned absences:
I will let you know as much in advance as possible for any planned absences such as breaks, holidays, legal/cultural/religious holidays, etc.
Whenever possible I ask that you let me know at least two weeks in advance of any planned absences.
Frequent lateness and/or cancellations: If you are frequently late or unable to attend sessions, we will check in about what's happening and together come up with a way forward.
Your information, and what you share in sessions, is confidential, with a few exceptions.
Supervision:
I meet regularly with my clinical supervisor, whose job it is to help me make sure I am practicing safely and ethically, and I share anonymised information about client work with them.
I sometimes also participate in group supervision, a confidential group where counsellors/therapists meet together, usually with a clinical supervisor, and share anonymised client work there.
I also participate in a counsellors/therapists' peer consultation group, where I sometimes also share anonymised information about client work.
Exceptional circumstances: In exceptional circumstances I may break confidentiality. These could include:
Consent: Where you as a client give consent for your confidentiality to be broken.
Safety: Where you or I believe that you, or another person, is at serious risk of harm. If such a situation arises, I will make every effort to discuss the situation with you so the two of us together can decide on a course of action.
Court order: In extreme cases, if I am legally compelled by a court of law. Should this situation arise, I would make every effort to discuss this with you if possible.
Legally required: In extreme cases, if a specific law makes disclosure to authorities mandatory. Should this situation arise, I would make every effort to discuss this with you if possible.
Sudden unavailability: If I become suddenly unavailable for a prolonged period, my practice executor, who is another qualified therapist, will have the means to access client information, and would contact you to advise you of the situation.
We may encounter each other outside our sessions, in on-line spaces or in person. I will keep confidential that I know you and how (ie, that you are my client). I leave the choice of whom you share that with, and whether you acknowledge that in shared spaces, up to you.
If we expect to encounter each other in shared spaces, we can talk together in advance about how we think we would like to handle the situation.
If we do encounter each other in shared spaces, we can also check in with each other afterwards about how it went, and whether we'd like to do anything differently in the future.
Please see separate document.
I am an Accredited Registrant Member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (MNCPS Acc.). I work under their Code of Ethics, which you can read or listen to here: https://nationalcounsellingsociety.org/about-us/code-of-ethics/.
I have professional liability insurance through Towergate Underwriters.
There may be some issues that arise in our work that I do not have the experience, training, or supervision to address. If our work moves beyond my areas of competence, I will tell you that, and also discuss the situation with my clinical supervisor. You and I would then discuss together whether we can continue our work, if you would need to seek a different kind of professional or a more experienced professional in addition to working with me, or if you would need to seek a different kind of professional or a more experienced professional instead of working with me.
If you have any concerns about our work, I will be happy to discuss these with you so we can resolve them together. This can have many results, including minor changes in how we work together, completely changing our approach, or even mutually deciding to stop working together.
If we are unable to reach resolution, you may contact NCPS via the contact form on their website (https://nationalcounsellingsociety.org/help/contact) or through their complaints process (https://nationalcounsellingsociety.org/have-a-concern/complaints-process).
Client's signature
Client's printed name
Date signed
Counsellor/therapist's signature
Staṡa Morgan-Appel
Counsellor/therapist's printed name
Date signed
You can fill this form out here on-line:
https://forms.gle/9SyveQ73RK7zNrW19
Or, you can download a .pdf of this form here, fill it out, and email to me:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bHv7MIEukSMXZwdx_79y7L_y2pOtXODs/view?usp=drive_link
The information I keep either on paper in a locked file cabinet, or electronically in a password-protected, multi-authenticated, GDPR-compliant format, includes:
Personal information, such as your name, date of birth, address, and contact details.
Your signed contract with me.
Our email correspondence.
Background information relevant to the counselling process.
Confidential case notes.
A log of the dates of our meetings.
Payment information.
This document.
I will keep this information for five years after the end of our last session, then destroy all records at that time. You can request to see in writing the information I hold on you.
Client's signature
Client's printed name
Date signed