Terms / Counselling Agreement

Thank you for choosing to work with Aga Detlaf Counselling (BACP registration number 418237, MBACP). This agreement sets out what you can expect from our work together, and what I ask of you in return. Please read it before your first full session — do ask me anything that's unclear.

Sessions

• Sessions are 1 hour long.
• Available formats: Face-to-face, online (Zoom), and telephone — agreed together, based on what suits you best.
• Working hours: Mon, Tue, Wed: 16:30–19:00. Thu, Fri: 9:30–19:00..
• Sessions are usually weekly, at the same day and time, by agreement between us.
• Free 15-minute call before the first full session, so we can check the fit before committing to ongoing work.

Fees and payment

£50 per hour, for online, telephone, or in-person sessions. Payment by bank transfer only, required 24 hours before the session. No concession or reduced-fee rate is offered.

Cancellations

Cancellations require at least 48 hours' notice. Payment is taken 24 hours before each session. If less than 48 hours' notice is given, the session fee is not refunded.

Contact between sessions

You're welcome to email or text me between sessions for scheduling purposes. This isn't a crisis or emergency service — see the crisis support notice on the Contact page for urgent matters.

Your information

Session notes and records are kept securely and confidentially — see the Privacy Notice for how long records are retained and how they're stored.

Ending our work together

There's no minimum commitment — ending is an open invitation to discuss in session whenever it feels right for you.

If you're unhappy with something

If you have any concerns about our work together, please raise them with me directly in the first instance — most issues can be resolved this way. I'm a registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and work within their Ethical Framework; if you'd like to take a concern further, their Professional Conduct Procedure is publicly documented at bacp.co.uk.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is central to counselling. This policy explains what you can expect from Aga Detlaf Counselling (BACP registration number 418237, MBACP) regarding what's shared in sessions, and the specific, limited circumstances where that confidentiality doesn't apply.

My commitment to you

What you say in sessions stays between us. I won't tell anyone else who you are, that you're seeing me, or what we discuss — including friends, family, employers, or other professionals — without your explicit consent, except in the specific situations below.

Limits to confidentiality

There are a small number of circumstances, required by law and by the BACP's Ethical Framework, where I may need to break confidentiality:

• Risk of serious harm. If I believe you are at serious risk of harming yourself, or that someone else is at serious risk of harm from you, I have a duty to act on that — which may include contacting emergency services or another appropriate person.
• Legal requirement. If a court of law orders disclosure of my records, I'm legally required to comply.
• Statutory duties. UK law places specific disclosure duties on me regardless of client consent in a small number of areas — most notably suspected terrorism-related activity (Terrorism Act 2000) and suspected money laundering (Proceeds of Crime Act 2002). These are standard legal obligations on any practitioner, not a practice-specific choice.
• Vulnerable adult protection. If I have concerns about the safety of a vulnerable adult, I have a professional and legal duty to report this to the appropriate authority.

Clinical supervision

In line with the BACP's Ethical Framework, I discuss my work in regular clinical supervision, as all BACP-registered counsellors are required to. Anything I discuss in supervision is anonymised — your name and any identifying details are never shared.

Online and telephone sessions

• Video sessions run over Zoom, using its waiting room feature — you'll be admitted at your session time. Please join from a private space where you won't be overheard.
• Telephone sessions: please also find a private, uninterrupted space before we begin.

Sharing information with other professionals

I won't contact your GP or any other professional about you without your consent, except where one of the limits above applies.

Records

What records are kept, how they're stored, and how long they're retained is covered by the website's own Privacy Notice, rather than restated here, so there's one place these details live rather than two that could disagree.

Questions or concerns

If anything in this policy is unclear, or you'd like to discuss it before starting sessions, please ask. If you have a concern about how your confidentiality has been handled, see the "If you're unhappy with something" section above for the complaints route.