Younger sibling 17 years and under referral

Please read and confirm at the bottom of this agreement

Child Counselling Personal Agreement

Face to Face Sessions

Our children’s counselling sessions are carried out face to face at our office.

Number and duration of individual sessions

Initially your child will be offered 8 sessions of therapy with one of our counsellors who are experienced with working with children. Sessions will either be carried out on a weekly or fortnightly basis and last for around 50 minutes.

Appointment and Cancellation policy

Appointments will be made at the end of each counselling session or via telephone/e-mail. We will endeavour to send a reminder 24 hours prior to your appointment, however it is your responsibility to ensure that your keeps his or her appointment. If your child fails to attend an appointment without notifying us, we will try to contact you to re-book and to see if there are any issues that may be affecting your ability to attend. If we are unable to make contact within one week, the counselling will end. If more than two counselling sessions are cancelled within a block of six sessions, the counselling will be reviewed and possibly ended.

Confidentiality

The counsellors at Love, Jasmine adhere to the BACP Ethical framework and. All information you provide is confidential and will not be shared with third parties, except in exceptional circumstances, which are: –

1. If we concerned that your child is at risk of harming themselves or another person
2. If we believe that another child or protected adult is at risk of harm or abuse
3. If the courts instruct us to give information
4. If your child shares information about a proposed act of terrorism or another illegal act

If we feel it is necessary to break confidentiality, then we will discuss this with you first unless this may put the child at greater risk. If we believe there is a significant risk to the wellbeing of the child, we will contact the relevant safeguarding teams.

Counselling Records

During the counselling process, anonymous case notes will be made describing any themes of the session. Anonymous case notes will be kept for 5 years as a legal requirement.

Supervision of Counsellor’s work

For best practise, all counsellors at Love Jasmine attend regular, monthly supervision. Supervisors are not part of Love Jasmine and confidentiality boundaries are maintained in accordance with the BACP ethical framework. Supervision allows for consultation with an appropriately qualified counsellor about the therapeutic work and ethical standards. No personal information is shared, or identity disclosed.

As an organisation, we hold quarterly peer supervision sessions. These supervision sessions allow for peer to peer support and the sharing of good practise. It also allows for caseloads to be shared should a counsellor no longer be able to work at short notice.

Ending your child’s counselling

You can end your child’s counselling whenever you feel it is appropriate, and you can do this by informing your child’s counsellor or by contacting the office.

Limitations to counselling

It is important that your child is able to engage with the therapeutic process and if we feel your child is not able to engage, for whatever reason, then we may have to suspend the counselling until such time as your child is able to actively participate.