The aim of counselling is to enable you to come to a better understanding of yourself and the situation you are in. Counselling is talking to someone outside of your situation on any issues that may be concerning you. It means that you can be heard and really listened to in a safe relationship where you can feel trust. It’s time out to talk about how you feel and helps you to look at things in a different way – maybe you can find some answers to your questions.
There doesn’t need to be any major problems. People want to talk to a counsellor for all sorts of reasons. It doesn’t matter how large or small your problem is, counselling can help you to gain control over issues that you may not feel happy with.
What is Confidentiality?
Confidentiality is a means to providing safety and privacy to our clients and here at Off The Record we know how important the chance to speak to someone in confidence can be. As members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy we follow their code of ethics and practice and all our counsellors are trained and receive regular supervision.
Exceptional circumstances may arise where we believe that you or someone else is in danger. In that case, we may have to break our confidentiality agreement with you but if this decision is made we will keep you fully informed. This would only happen after consultation with one of our senior members of staff who are all qualified supervisors. Of course, this will be fully discussed with you if you want to use our service.
Most counsellors make very brief notes to remind themselves of what has happened in the session. The notes do not identify you and are kept locked away. They are destroyed immediately after you stop coming for counselling.
Our philosophy is to value and respect people who come to us and we aim to provide a warm receptive environment with friendly and non-judgemental staff. We all strive for high standards of counselling and clear policies to protect our clients in all of our work.