Terms of service.
Terms and Conditions (T&Cs)
The following are the T&Cs of Lisa March Therapy. It states the rights and responsibilities we have towards each other.
The work we do together will be undertaken under UK laws and ethical guidelines.
At your free assessment, we will discuss and agree a number of options to tailor your counselling to your individual needs. We will agree the method and fee of your counselling, the pattern and frequency, and the day and time of your first session.
Table of Contents
Counselling Method and Fee Rates:..........................................................................................
Counselling Pattern and Frequency: .........................................................................................
Administration Contract:..........................................................................................................
Therapeutic Contract: ..............................................................................................................
Communication in between your sessions: ...............................................................................
Reviews: ..................................................................................................................................
Cancelations Fees: ...................................................................................................................
Ending Sessions:.......................................................................................................................
Referrals and signposting: ........................................................................................................
Confidentiality: ........................................................................................................................
The mutual right to feel safe: ...................................................................................................
Feedback & Complaints:...........................................................................................................
Emergency Contact: .................................................................................................................
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, May 2018): ............................................................
Gifts: .......................................................................................................................................
Open Times: ............................................................................................................................
Updated by Lisa March on 24.10.2024
Counselling Method and Fee Rates: Lisa March Therapy offers short-term and long- term counselling to adults (aged 18+) in the UK, in a variety of settings:
Online video and telephone calls are charged at £60 per session or £25 concession for student counsellors.
Payment must be made 24 hours prior to the scheduled session time and can be made via bank transfer to name: Lisa March, account number: 70620360 sort code: 30-90-89
“Pay what you can afford” - It is important to me that therapy is inclusive and available to all people regardless of their financial situation. For this reason I offer a “pay what you can afford” option for online or telephone appointments that take place on Wednesdays between the hours of 10am-2pm. To ensure fairness, clients who would like to use these sessions will have access to a maximum of 10 consecutive weekly sessions.
Video calls are held using Zoom or Microsoft Teams which is easy to use and encrypted. I will email you a calendar invitation 24 hours prior to our session time. To join the meeting, just click on the link in the invitation from any device, on the day/time of your appointment, you don’t have to download any software. If you have wifi/ techissues and either you can’t log in to start your session or you drop out during the session, then call/ text/ Whats App/ email me a message to let me know. I will wait for you to contact me, or re-join.
Telephone calls through apps such as Whats App or Signal are an option if you do not like video calls, or if you do not have strong or reliable wifi. I recommend using these apps as they are end-to-end encrypted and more secure than ordinary calls using a network. I will call you at the agreed time of your session. Please be ready to receive my call so that you get your full 50-minute session. If you miss my call, I will call you again after 5 minutes. If you miss this call, I will send you a text asking you to let me know when you are ready for me to call you to start your session.
Counselling Pattern and Frequency: Lisa March Therapy allows you to decide whether to have weekly or fortnightly sessions, and how many sessions to have. Together we will agree the day and time of your sessions. Each session will be 50 minutes long and will start and finish at the agreed time.
The pattern of your sessions may fall into any of these 3 options:
Option 1: you may prefer to book the same day and time for your sessions each week or each fortnight for a set number of sessions. This may suit you if you have a limited budget for therapy and/or have a short-term goal in mind.
Option 2: you may prefer to book the same day and time for your sessions each week or each fortnight indefinitely until you feel you have achieved what you needed from therapy. This may suit you if you are not sure how long you want to have counselling for, and if you want to invest in your mental wellbeing on a longer-term basis.
Option 3: you may prefer to have the flexibility to change the time and day of your session each week, and book one session at a time. This may suit you if your diary changes each week due to work, training, or family commitments. I have a digital calendar booking and payment link which makes it easier for clients to book and pay for sessions with this pattern preference.
Administration Contract: I will send you an email to confirm in writing our agreement for your Counselling. This is called an Administration Contract. The Administration Contract can be reviewed and renegotiated at any time by either of us.
Therapeutic Contract: In your first few sessions your therapy goals will become clearer. You will be able to identify what changes you would like to work on during your therapy. Your Therapeutic Contract is a verbal contract between you and me. It’s one simple and short sentence of your own words which pinpoints what you would like to achieve in your therapy.
You may have many goals in mind however it is important to focus on one goal at a time, and pick the one which feels like your main priority. Often if we start to change one thing, this creates movement in other areas of our life. We will review your therapy goal together at regular intervals, and you can update it whenever you wish with your counsellor.
Communication in between your sessions: You are welcome to send a brief message (email, text, What’s App, Signal) to me regarding the practical arrangements of your counselling sessions. I’m not available for any extra support in between your counselling sessions. You can ask for additional counselling sessions if required.
Reviews: I will invite you to informal mini reviews at regular intervals to check how the work is going, and to look at what you have gained, what has changed, where you want the direction of therapy to go next. The first review will be at 6 weeks, then approx. every 12 weeks (3 months). Either of us can request a review when it’s felt it may be beneficial to your therapy.
Cancelations Fees: If I need to cancel a session at short notice, I will try to replace this whenever I can. If you cancel your session 48 hours in advance there is no fee, and I will endeavour to rearrange the appointment where possible. Any appointments cancelled within 48 hours of your session, or any sessions which are not attended, will be charged at the full session fee.
Ending Sessions: The decision of when to end your sessions is ultimately yours to make, and we can discuss this together at part of your therapy. I believe that it is important for our therapeutic relationship to give some notice to end your sessions so that we can both prepare to say goodbye and review the work which has been accomplished. Therefore, I ask that you give at least 2 weeks’ notice if your sessions are weekly, and 4 weeks’ notice if your sessions are fortnightly.
Referrals and signposting: If something comes up in our sessions which I feel I do not have the experience or level of training necessary to provide you with the support you need, I will discuss this with you. Likewise, the help you need may be outside of the role of a counsellor. If this happens, I will offer to either refer you or signpost you onto a relevant specialist service.
Confidentiality: Confidentiality is one of the foundations of the therapeutic relationship. As a registered member of BACP, I abide by their Safeguarding Policy which gives further details about; confidentiality within the client therapist relationship, the law, the rights of the client, the duties of the therapist- exceptions to confidentiality.
I agree to maintain strict confidentiality within our client/counsellor relationship, provided that there is no threat to my own safety, your safety, your family members, or other members of the public. Nor in breach of any legal action (i.e. criminal, coroner or civil court cases where a court order is made demanding disclosure) or legal requirement (e.g.Children’s Acts).
Exceptions to confidentiality where I may need to talk to the appropriate agency* without your consent (if it was felt that the risk of not disclosing is greater than disclosing) are:
If you tell me or lead me to believe that a child, or vulnerable adult (a person with a diagnosed learning disability, a brain injury, or dementia) is at risk of being abused or neglected.
If you present an imminent risk of serious injury/ death to yourself.
If you threaten serious harm/ death to another person/s.
Wherever feasible, I will make every effort to contact you directly to discuss the proposed breach with the intention of keeping you informed and discussing any action that we could take together.
In accordance with codes of ethics and professional practice, I regularly discuss my client case load with my clinical supervisor. Any discussion about you would be anonymized so you could not be identified from the material discussed.
*Appropriate agencies include your GP, Child or Adult Social Care, or emergency 999 services.
The mutual right to feel safe: In order for your Counselling to work we both need to feel safe in the therapeutic relationship at all times.
I take your safety very seriously and abide by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Code of Ethics. The Code provides guidance for Counsellors and Psychotherapists and sets out the standards expected of them.
Equally, I reserve the right to end the session immediately if I feel threatened during a session by any client behaviour which is: sexualised, threatening, or intimidating, or appears under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Feedback & Complaints: I welcome and value all feedback from you about your experience of using Lisa March Therapy. You can provide feedback to me directly either during sessions, or by sending an email, text, Whats App or Signal message or call. I use feedback to reflect on my practice and how to make improvements. With permission from my clients, testimonials are used on my website.
*If you have a concern about my approach or practice, you should primarily talk to me as soon as possible. Ruptures within the therapeutic relationship can sometimes happen due to unconscious trauma which may play out between us. Together we can make what is implicit explicit by exploring what has occurred and this can lead to very deep healing and growth in the therapeutic work.
If you are not satisfied after addressing your concern with me directly, and believe I have broken the Code of Ethics then you have a right to make a complaint to BACP Complaints Process.
Emergency Contact: I will ask you to provide an emergency contact due to my commitment to BACP Safeguarding Policy, and in the unlikely event you become unwell during the course of your counselling session. This may be a friend, family member, or a professional person (such as a social worker, support worker, nurse or doctor). Your emergency contact must be aware that you are having counselling.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, May 2018): Please be reassured that Lisa March Therapy is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office which means all client details are recorded and stored legally and ethically.
Gifts: Due to the BACP code of conduct, I can’t accept gifts. However, testimonials via email are welcome for my website (and will be kept confidential).
Open Times: Lisa March Therapy current open times are:
Wednesday 10am-2pm
Thursday 10am-2pm
Friday 10am-2pm.
Closed at weekends, and all UK Bank Holidays.
Please be aware that sessions may be in progress during these times, so I will respond to any enquiries as soon as I am able, usually within a few days.
The T&Cs will be subject to review and will be updated as considered necessary by Lisa March, the Counsellor. You will be notified of any changes to these T&Cs.