Counselling Contract

Counselling Approach – Person Centred

We believe that our clients have the desire and the capacity to grow towards fulfilling their true potential, and that they are the experts on their own lives. Therefore, we will not give you direct advice or offer solutions, but will work with you to help you understand yourself more fully and to find your own inner resources. With greater self-awareness, confidence and trust in yourself, we hope that you will be able to make constructive changes, leading to a more satisfying and meaningful life.

Ensure that you have reviewed our Services at GerardDunning.com/counsel

Confidentiality

Everything you share with us in the course of our work together will be treated as highly confidential. However, there are a few circumstances in which we may be required to break confidentiality:

• • If we consider you to be at risk of seriously harming yourself or someone else
• • If your counselling records have been requested by a court of law
• • In professional debriefing with our assigned Supervisor
• • If another party or agency has requested your information, and you have agreed and provided your written consent to this

Mandatory reporting is the legislative requirement for selected classes of people to report suspected child abuse and neglect to government authorities. See Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998

It is strongly recommended that all devices capable of location tracking and/or audio recording be switched off or not brought to Counselling sessions. Likewise, for remote sessions via Phone or Video, please take care to secure your environment and make it free from interruption, distractions or disturbances.

Sessions

Our initial contract will run for 6 sessions, after which we will review the counselling process and negotiate further sessions as appropriate. Normally we will meet on a weekly basis at a regular time. The duration of a counselling session is 1 hour for in-person. Video or Phone sessions can be requested.

Wellbeing Check-Up Sessions are single sessions with no commitment to ongoing therapy.

Payments / Cancellations

See On-Line Session Booking for current rates. On-site and other non-clinic services may incur higher fees.

Payment will be taken at the beginning of each session, or paid in advance and may be made by cash, EFTPOS, or Credit Card. Late cancellation fees are payable as follows:

• • 0-24 hours’ notice – full session fee payable
• • 24-48 hours’ notice – 50% of session fee is payable

Record Keeping

We will take notes during or after each session to help us keep track of our progress together. Some note taking may also include an audio record of our session. This will only be taken with your agreement to do so.

All notes will be stored in a private and secure digital location and may be viewed by you if you so wish. Your counselling records will be kept by the service for a period of seven (7) years from the date of your last contact with the service. This is a legal requirement under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002

Email / Telephone Contact

Email or telephone contact will be limited to practical arrangements only. We will not enter into telephone or email counselling except by prior arrangement. No other forms of electronic contact are used.

If you are faced with an emergency in between sessions, please contact the appropriate emergency service. In a life threatening situation, call 000 without delay.

Ending Counselling

Normally, the end of counselling would be by mutual prior agreement. However, you have the right to end your counselling at any time. If at any time we feel that our counselling is no longer appropriate for you, we will discuss this with you and may suggest discontinuation or a referral to a more appropriate service. We would appreciate you letting us know if you decide not to return to counselling, giving at least 48 hours notice or late cancellation fees may apply.

Accreditation

Gerard Dunning is an accredited member of the Australian Counselling Association (member #27034). For any matters concerning Code of Ethics and Practice, contact The Australian Counselling Association, or download a copy of the code here.

Contact

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 02 4306 7665
Web: GerardDunning.com/counsel

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Please provide your details to agree to this Counselling Contract

This form is legally binding. Please provide accurate details. Electronic signatures are legally recognised in NSW, Australia and are provided for by the Electronic Transactions Act 2000 and the Electronic Transactions Regulations 2017. Got questions? Call us on 02 4306 7665

First Name

Last Name

Your Email Address

Phone

The following medical and emergency details are optional:

Emergency Contact Name

Emergency Contact Phone

Medical Contact Details (GP)

Emergency Medical Information

Do you agree to the terms of this Counselling Contract and do you allow Gerard Dunning to collect and retain the information supplied by you for the purposes of providing Counselling Services to you?

I Agree to the Terms of this Counselling Contract. My details are true, accurate and not provided under duress.

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