People seek counselling because there is something in their lives or relationships, which they would like to change. I believe that counselling is a shared experience where I facilitate my clients to develop solutions that respect the client’s right to choose the course that they feel is best for their own situation. My expertise is in helping you develop your expertness. After all, no one knows your life situation more intimately than you. You are the expert, when it comes to your life situation. My job is to help you develop the ideas, strategies and solutions that you will need to address the concerns in your life. It is important for you to know however, that the counselling process involves change and the road that leads to change can sometimes have twists, turns, hills and valleys. For some people, this means that they may feel an increase in distress and uncertainty, at times. Any change that occurs within individual, couple, or family counselling can also have an effect on other relationships you might have. Some people may not be happy with the changes you choose and, in this light, it is possible that your counselling may have an effect on other relationships. One of the goals of counselling is to support you through this process of change.
In your first session, you will be asked to discuss the concerns and goals, which prompted you to seek counselling. I will tell you the kind of help I can offer within my expertise, and I will design a treatment plan, which you will have the opportunity to review and refine.
In subsequent sessions, we will be constantly reviewing your goals and concerns to insure we are moving in the direction and at the pace that feels appropriate for you. After our session is over, I will take a few minutes to write some notes summarizing our conversation and my reaction. You will also be invited to provide your comments and reflections.
In general, the information we discuss in our counselling session is confidential and may not be revealed to anyone without your written permission, except where disclosure is required by law.
If a child under the age of 16 years old is in need of protection from physical, sexual, or serious emotional abuse, which may include neglect, exposure to violence in the family or even exposure to shouting and verbal abuse, the Children’s Aid Society must be contacted. The Children’s Aid Society will then note the report, decide whether the incident requires further investigation and then, depending on the situation and if they choose, investigate the matter to their satisfaction.
Disclosure may be required in the following circumstances:
- Where there is reasonable suspicion of child or elder abuse or neglect;
- If a judge orders the release of information during legal proceedings, the information must be released.
- If, during our sessions, you reveal that you were abused by a professional who is governed by the Health Professions Act (medical doctor, psychologist, etc.)
Aside for the legal exception to confidentiality, there are other important exceptions and considerations, which you should be aware of:
- If all parties involved give me written permission to share information with another person(s) or organization, then the information will be shared as requested.
- Where a client presents a danger to him/herself or to others: If you are clearly at risk to hurt yourself or others then I would need to call on others to help ensure the safety of anyone who might be involved. This would include things like a risk of suicide, assault, or homicide.
- I am ethically bound to balance the interests of all family members (i.e. something that is blatantly harmful, unfair or unethical) even if you are seeing me for individual counselling and if, for any reason, I believe that our session cannot be beneficial, I will inform you and suggest that counselling be concluded. For this reason, if, in my opinion, you have told me something that I believe has shifted the balance of interest within the family or has made me believe that continued therapy cannot be advantageous, then I will give you a choice to:
- Share this information with other family members yourself
- Allow me to share this information with other family members.
- Terminate therapy
Sessions are 50 minutes long and the frequency of your visits will be based on your need, and my availability. Sessions can be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, depending on the situation. The regular fee is $80 per session. I will give special consideration to clients who face financial difficulties on a case by case basis.
There may be times when you need to cancel or reschedule a session. In this case, please provide at least 24 hours’ notice to allow other clients the opportunity to use your time slot.
I will keep a written record of our meetings. You have the right to see these notes and you can request to receive copies of our session notes. Your input into our session notes is valued. Many times, clients can benefit greatly by taking a copy of the session notes home after the session in order to help them remember some of the things we talked about so they might apply it later in the week. It is important to note that if you choose to receive a copy of the counselling session notes, then it is your responsibility to ensure the confidentiality of your copy as you see fit. Your record will be kept for a minimum of seven years or in certain circumstances, longer. Then your records will be destroyed.
- To be treated with respect and dignity and to ask questions about any aspect of the counselling process.
- To receive services that are sensitive to your culture, class, religious belief, gender and sexual orientation.
- To decide what to tell me and to leave counselling whenever it makes sense to do so.
- To lodge a complaint if you consider any aspect of your counselling to be unsatisfactory.
I invite all of your thoughts and concerns about your counselling experience. At times, I might give you evaluation forms throughout your counselling in order to help encourage our discussion and I will often “check-in” with you to see how this experience is going for you.