Terms & Policies

CONFIDENTIALITY POLICIES:

As a member of the Australian Counselling Association, I abide by their Code of Ethics and Practice. This code can be found here. Everything you discuss in our session is confidential however there are situations where this confidentiality is limited. 1. If you threaten harm to yourself or others. 2. If we believe a child or protected adult is at risk of harm or abuse. 3. If the courts instruct us to provide the case notes from our sessions. 4. If you are happy for me to talk to another professional (i.e. your doctor or case worker) whereby I will ask you to sign a release of information form and 5. If you disclose to me a serious criminal act. I do keep records and these are also confidential.

NUMBER OF SESSIONS:

We will discuss together how many sessions we feel may be needed to work through your issue. I will regularly check whether the counselling is effective for you and we will discuss alternative approaches or referrals if necessary. The techniques we maybe using together include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Person Centred Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, Tapping Techniques, Behaviour change, Talk Therapy and Narrative Therapy. We work through one issue at a time for clarity and then move on to any further issues you may wish to address.

CONTACT BETWEEN SESSIONS:

Email and telephone contact will be primarily around practical arrangements of sessions. Simone Albert Food Allergy Counselling cannot offer crisis or emergency services out of office hours and you may be directed to Emergency services. I ask that you contact me between 9am and 6pm Monday to Saturday only. I will only contact you within business hours.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

If for any reason I have to cancel a session I will aim to provide you with 48 hours notice, I hope that you will be able to do the same with me. Emergencies do happen, and you will not be charged for missed sessions however, I will endeavour to arrange an appointment for the same week so that you do not lose momentum with your counselling.

TERMINATION OF COUNSELLING SESSIONS:

This is mutually agreed on where there is no more work or issues to work on. I retain the right to end your counselling at any time if I feel it is no longer appropriate for you and will endeavour to refer you to a suitable alternative service if necessary.