Prior to starting your art therapy sessions, I will share with you a contract, that both the therapist (myself) and the client (yourself) have to sign, as an agreement. I will usually send this via email. Here are some of the things you might expect to see in your contract:
Confidentiality
The therapist has a legal duty of care towards their clients, and always works in their best interests. The therapist has a duty to uphold confidentiality at all times. This means that nothing the client mentions to the therapist in the session will be shared with others, unless the law asks for it (when a client has a court order, or for safeguarding purposes).
Consent
The client will need to give consent to their therapist, so that the art therapy sessions can go ahead. In schools, consent forms are usually filled in by the parents of the clients. Therapy cannot start without the consent of the parent or legal guardian of the child or young person. Children aged over 16 can consent to their own art therapy sessions.
Referrals
Adults can self-refer themselves to art therapy sessions. In schools, it is often the teachers who can refer the children and young people to therapy. Referrals and guidance for referring someone to therapy, are provided by the art therapist.
Cancelling a session
Please cancel a session up to 48hrs in advance, so as not to get charged for it. There may be a possibility of rescheduling a session during the same week, if the therapist is notified in advance. To cancel a session, you can call me or send me an email, but I would have to know at least 48hrs in advance. If a client does not show up for a session, the client will still be automatically charged for the session, unless they had an emergency. Clients will not get charged if they had an emergency situation during the hour of their session.
Example: if you can’t come to a session on Wednesday at 10am, you must call on the Monday before, by 10am, to notify the therapist.
Professional Boundaries and Respect
Therapists have a duty of care towards their clients, and must always act in the best interests of their client, maintaining their respect and dignity. A therapist always works ethically and effectively, adhering to professional boundaries at all times. Professional boundaries are in place to protect both clients and therapists, and require a clear understanding of the limits and responsabilities of both. The following boundaries must be respected at all times, and not crossed: no sexual advances or physical touch, no harmful behaviour, no phones to be used in the sessions and no contact of client and therapist outside of the therapy hours. The only contact that should happen outside of therapy hours is for legitimate and important purpose, which either has to do with changes to the therapy sessions, such as informing the therapist of an absence. Boundaries are agreed with the client in either a contract or verbally, during the first session. It is the therapist’s responsibility to hold the boundaries, maintain and monitor them, and to ensure clarity for clients.
Payments
One of the following payment options will be agreed verbally with the client. The client can choose to make a bank transfer (advised) or pay in cash, for their therapy. They have the option of paying:
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Per Session
To schedule a session or book an appointment, you can either call me or send an email to nicolewooding.arttherapy@gmail.com. You will pre-arrange with the therapist on which dates you will schedule the art therapy. The chosen day and time of the sessions will remain the same throughout the art therapy.
Safeguarding
The only time the therapist will breach confidentiality is when the client is considered both a risk to themselves and others. If the client also discloses something that the therapist judges as unsafe, and is exposing the client to harm, then the therapist will have to maybe alert the Safeguarding lead or the Local Authority about this (ex: if the client discloses that they are being threatened, and are at risk of being abused). In a school, the therapist will contact the Safeguarding team of the school, to let them know that the client is at risk.
Complaints, questions or concerns
Any concerns, questions or complaints about the therapy or therapist should be discussed directly with the therapist. The therapist will work with you to find a mutual solution. Any conflict that may arise will be handled in a professional way, in the best interests of the client. If you are unhappy with any element of the work, please raise this with the therapist in first instance. If you still remain unhappy, you should contact the HCPC (The Health and Care Professionals Council), they are responsbile for issues of professional conduct: www.hcpc-uk.org, such as breach of confidentiality issues.
Artworks
Your artworks are also confidential and are an integral part of the therapy. You do not need to share them with anyone. In the last session we have together, you have the option of keeping or discarding your artwork. Artworks will be dated, and stored in a safe and confidential place. The client will get a chance to review all of their artworks in a session towards the end of therapy. You can also look at previous artworks during any art therapy session.
Client data
The therapist might request the client for biographical information (name, address and date of birth), personal contact details (email address, phone number) and an emergency contact. The therapist might also collect sensitive data for an assessment or from a client’s referral. The therapist has a legal obligation to ensure that the client’s data and information is stored securely, in a password protected file or a locked cupboard. The therapist will follow GDPR guidelines whilst processing and storing their client’s data. Client names might be shared in clinical supervision session, but only with the consent of the client, otherwise the information stays anonymised. The therapist will also keep some brief session notes, which will also be anonymised. You may request to see a copy of your data. Data from feedback forms will not be disposed of.
Deleting the client’s data and artworks
The client’s personal information will be deleted once the therapy has come to an end. In case the client does not want to take home their artworks, or destroy them, the art therapist will hold onto them for 5 weeks, before disposing of them. Session notes are kept for up to 5 months after termination of art therapy.
Schools – please refer to separate page with information for schools here
Art Psychotherapists work as members of the school’s team and contribute to reviews and multi professional meetings. They also liaise with other professionals involved in any safeguarding issues and attend case conferences and review meetings.
