What you are entitled to expect

Counselling is a health and disability service, so the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights applies to your work with this practice. The Code gives you ten rights. In plain terms, you are entitled to:

• Be treated with respect, including respect for your culture, values and beliefs
• Be free from discrimination, coercion, harassment and exploitation
• Dignity and independence
• Services of an appropriate standard, provided with reasonable care and skill
• Be given information in a way you can understand, and to have an interpreter where you need one
• Be told the truth about your situation, including the options and the likely outcomes
• Make your own decisions, to give or refuse consent, and to change your mind
• Have a support person with you, unless that would affect someone else's safety
• Have these rights apply if you are ever asked to take part in teaching or research
• Complain, and to have that complaint taken seriously and dealt with fairly

What that means here in practice

• You can ask what my training and registration are, and I will tell you
• You can ask why I am taking a particular approach, and expect a straight answer
• You can decline to answer any question, or to discuss any subject, at any time
• You can bring a support person to a session
• You can ask for a copy of your records
• You can stop counselling whenever you want, without giving a reason and without being talked out of it
• You can ask to be referred to somebody else, and I will help rather than take it personally

If something is not right

Please tell me first if you feel able to. A lot of problems are misunderstandings, and they are usually fixable in the room. Raising it will not damage the counselling, and it will not cause offence.

If you would rather not raise it with me, or you are not happy with how I respond, you have several independent options and you do not need my permission to use any of them:

Consent

Counselling only happens with your informed consent. That means you understand what is being offered, what it involves and what the alternatives are, and you agree to it freely. Consent is not a form you sign once. You can withdraw it at any point, for any session or for any part of the work, and doing so will not affect how you are treated.

Where a young person is receiving counselling, they are involved in decisions about their own care to the extent appropriate to their age and understanding, and confidentiality is explained to them directly at the start.