Terms Conditions and Useful information

Registration, code of conduct and complaints

I am registered as a counsellor with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and as a trainee pscyhotherapist with the UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy) and The Gestalt Centre, London. This means that I am bound by their ethical frameworks. It also meant that you have a right to raise concerns or complaints against me as a practitioner. I would however encourage you to discuss any concerns with me first.

As part of the requirements of the BACP and UKCP I engage in regular supervision. This involves me meeting with a member of the profession who is bound by the same ethical framework. During supervision I discuss all of my cases to ensure I am providing an appropriate and safe service to my clients.

Confidentiality

Our work is confidential. This means that I will not share details of anything we discuss except in the following circumstances:

1. Where you request for me, and I agree, to share details with a third party;

2. Where the law requires me to make a disclosure – either because of a statute or because of a court order;

3. Where I have reason to believe that there is a risk of harm to yourself or to others.

In each of these circumstances I would seek to discuss the matter with you first and agree a way forward.

I also discuss my clinical work with a supervisor on a regular basis. These discussions are confidential. Finally, I provide access to contact details to a clinical executor. This person will contact you in event of me becoming unexpectedly unable to attend our appointment and unable to contact you myself (for example in the event of an accident). The clinical executor will only access contact details if this occurs. 

As part of additional training I may also discuss cases in a training group. This will be done in an anonymized format. I may also request to record sessions as part of my training, if so I will discuss this with you separately and ask for your signed agreement.

For the avoidance of doubt I do not consider issues relating to immigration status to require me to breach confidentiality, and would not break confidentiality for that reason. I am committed to providing a space that is as safe as possible for those with concerns around their immigration status. 

Privacy

Please see privacy policy.

Contact

In case there is a need to contact me between sessions, for example to cancel or rearrange an appointment the best way will usually be via email at marc@marcmason.co.uk. If email is impractical, for example to notify me that you are running late for an appointment, or that you are having difficulty connecting to an online session, then a text message or a call to my mobile number may work best.

I do not generally offer counselling or therapy between sessions, and do not engage in therapeutic work over email. If you do require an additional session then this can be requested, ideally in an email setting out your availability. I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide this.

I do not generally check emails or take calls outside of normal office hours (9am-5pm weekdays) except around the times of appointments.

Cancellation and breaks

Sessions: If you cancel with 48-hours notice there will be no charge for your session. If you cancel with less than 48-hours notice or do not attend then your session is chargeable.

Course of therapy: You are free to cancel all further sessions at any point (subject to the 48-hour notice period above). However, I would always encourage you to have at least one closing session. By this I mean one session after the point we are both aware that the work is coming to an end, in order to process the ending.

Periods of absence

I will always endeavor to give you at least 2 weeks’ notice of any cancelled sessions. Where there are likely to be more than 2 weeks of absence I will endeavor to give you 4 weeks’ notice. There may however be times where this is not possible due to circumstances beyond my control.

Where you are taking a break or holiday normally I will just require notice as described above. If these breaks amount to more than 3 weeks over any 2 month period or 8 weeks over the course of a calendar year then we will negotiate these breaks, and I am likely to ask you to pay a retaining fee for me to hold that appointment slot for you. 

Frequency and duration of sessions

I normally work with clients on a weekly basis for sessions lasting 50 minutes each. If we decide on a different way of working I will confirm this by email.

Payment

My fee will be agreed at our initial session, and confirmed by email. I review my fee annually and will give you at least two weeks’ notice of any increase in fees. If a reduced fee has been negotiated based on your circumstances I would expect to be informed of any change to these circumstances, at which point the fee may be renegotiated. For clarity, where a fee range is quoted on the website, the top of this range is my standard fee and lower rates are discounted rates for individual clients, to allow for affordability. 

I request that you pay for sessions promptly and in any case within 5 days, or 24 hours before our next session (whichever is soonest).

Where services are provided remotely any contract between us is governed by the law of England and Wales and fees are invoiced and taxed in the UK.