Ethics and Privacy Policy

I follow Code of Ethics and Professional Practice published by the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

The full code is available on the UKCP website [hyperlink: https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/ ], under 'Standards, Guidance and Policy’.

I subject my work to regular supervision by certified supervisors.

Please note, there are no testimonials published on this site, as it is considered unethical by many therapy related professional bodies (including UKCP) and are not allowed under the ethical code I follow. Also, the Advertising Standards Authority require testimonials to be verifiable and that would compromise client confidentiality, which is a key requirement of the ethical practice.

Confidentiality is a fundamental part of psychotherapeutic relationship between therapist and the client. It allows the client to feel safe with exploration of challenging and difficult issues as well as disclosure of personal information, opinions and feelings. Therapeutic relationship must be based on trust, which means client should be reassured that the things he or she is sharing with therapist during the session will remain strictly confidential within therapeutic relationship.

However, it’s important to know that by law confidentiality isn’t (and cannot be) absolute in the following circumstances:

• clear indications that the client is intending to cause serious harm to himself/herself or to a child or another adult
• the client was involved or has information about any acts of terrorism, either planned or already taken place
• it is also compulsory to report potential radicalisation, money laundering and female genital mutilation to the appropriate authorities
• past of future criminal activity that has not been resolved in law, for example if the client confesses to be a driver involved in collision or discloses information about location of a missing child who is protected under police jurisdiction or is subject to an emergency protection order

In these circumstances I will work with you to see if we can work together to make appropriate disclosures.
Other than as required by law, I will routinely discuss your case with my supervisor (in order to ensure that you get the best service), my supervisor will have access to your details if I am suddenly unavailable (to contact you and offer you ongoing care) and I may talk or write to your GP (but I will not give any personal details beyond what you are working on).

It is considered unethical by many therapy related bodies (including the UK Council for Psychotherapy) to publish testimonies.

The reasons for that are these:

1. They can be fabricated (written by the therapist himself/herself or by the competitors on the third party review websites or social media platforms)
2. The Advertising Standards Authority require any testimonial to be verifiable and that would conflict with the confidentiality offered to the clients.
3. Each therapeutic relationship is unique, therefore one person’s experience is unlikely to match your own, so reading other peoples’ experiences may be misleading rather than helpful
If you would like more information about me and my services please feel free to contact me to discuss if I will be the right person to help you.

I am committed to diversity and equality and seek to ensure that no individual is discriminated against on the basis of age, disability, race, ethnic or national origins, sex, sexual orientation, religious belief or marital status. I do my utmost to provide a non-discriminatory environment where each individual is respected and encouraged to work towards and attain their personal goals