TERMS AND CONDITIONS & PRIVACY POLICY

Thank you for considering booking sessions with me. 

This is the Terms and Conditions and Privacy statement which outlines the professional standards to which I work and then explains how we might work together including cancellation policies. 

I am a registered and accredited practitioner with the British Institute for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP); a UK based professional body for the therapeutic professions. To gain this membership, I had to fulfil multiple educational and practical requirements. As a part of my membership, I work very closely to their Ethical Framework which was designed to ensure all members were working to the best of their abilities with clients in a safe, principled way. 

You might like to know more about this and you can find more information on their website www.bacp.co.uk 

 You can also find more about my background and qualifications on my website; About me 

Session & Fee information

I am able to provide you a single free evalution session, subject to session availablity where we can discuss your particular case isues and decide if we would like to book further sessions to work together to address them. The free session is limited to one per client.

I am also able to provide single pre-booked sessions subject to session availability on an adhoc basis at standard rate of £65 per session or a block of five weeks of pre-booked weekly sessions at a discounted rate of £250 per block of sessions.

I will email you a PayPal invoice which you can pay by credit or debit card or via a PayPal account. Payment is due before the scheduled start of our sessions.

Should you wish to extend our time together, at the end of the adhoc or block of sessions we can discuss this and make further arrangements.

For all sessions we would work online together, via Zoom video call, for 50-minute sessions at the scheduled times. I will send you the link to follow for the Zoom meeting via email with a reminder four hours before the start of each of your sessions. 

Confidentiality (Privacy) 

The content of our work together is confidential, with two exceptions. Firstly, all BACP registered therapists attend regular confidential supervision with other qualified therapists. This is done to discuss a client’s situation and ensure that we are working in the most effective way we possibly can be to help that client reach their goals. This supervision is confidential, and everyone involved in the process is bound by that confidentiality. Secondly, if I believe you are at risk to yourself or others, or if a child’s welfare appears at risk, I may be required by law to break confidentiality.

Your data and its confidentiality is very important to me. I keep brief notes on our session and these too are confidential, as is any personal data you send me. All this information is stored on an encrypted cloud service which is password protected. I keep this data, in its original form, for one year from our last session. This is because sometimes clients wish to come back after they have stopped working with me and this saves us starting from the beginning by allowing me to refamiliarise myself with their information. After this it is deleted. If you wish your data to be deleted prior to this, this can be arranged. 

I conduct our work on a computer that used only for therapy work, has up to date antivirus software and is password protected.

Cancellation Policy & Technical Issues

Sometimes situations happen that are beyond our control. It is important that we both understand the arrangements for what to do in these circumstances 

In the event that I am forced to cancel or reschedule, I will tell you as soon as possible. If this is a planned event (such as a vacation) you will be advised a minimum of 48 hours in advance and we can work out when the next mutually acceptable time is for our next session. You will not be charged, and we can reschedule whenever is mutually agreeable or if applicable, add another session at the end of the weekly block session program. 

In the rare case that this is an unexpected cancellation in which circumstances beyond my control have forced me to cancel a session and not give you advanced notice (illness, power or internet outage etc) I will use your contact details to contact you ASAP and explain what is happening. You will not be charged, and we can reschedule whenever is mutually agreeable or if applicable, add another session at the end of the weekly block session program. 

I do not offer refunds on individual sessions in block bookings. 

If you have to cancel a session, please tell me as soon as possible by email to john@onlinecounsellingtherapies.com

If you have to cancel or reschedule a session and you give more than 24 hours notice, this will not count as one of your sessions and we can arrange to reschedule the session at the next mutually agreeable time or if applicable, add another session at the end of the weekly block session program. This is limited to one session in every block of five pre-booked sessions. 

If you have to cancel and do not give more than 24 hours notice or have exceeded one rescheduled session in a block of five weekly sessions, this will count as one of your sessions and it will not be refunded. In the event of a block booking we can continue with the next scheduled appointment in the block of five.

I do not offer refunds on individual sessions in block bookings.

Out of hours support

Sometimes people experience issues outside of their scheduled hours which are so distressing they feel they need help immediately. I do try to be available for clients in crisis but am not always free and so cannot always respond in the timescale a client might like or need. 

I endeavour to reply to client who have emailed me in crisis within 24 hours and it may be possible to arrange some further help then.

Confirmation of contract conditions

Please confirm on your booking form that you have read, understood and accept the contract conditions for working with John Kinley together with confirmation of your name, address, telephone and email contact details if they haven’t already been provided, for confidential client record only.