Telephone Counselling Agreement

This document will be used in conjunction with the Confidentiality Agreement you signed when you started your counselling at Crew, and the fundamental conditions of this will still apply. If you would like to see a copy of the standard Confidentiality Agreement, please ask your counsellor.

In addition to the Confidentiality Agreement, the following conditions will now apply, due to counselling being telephone based:

Hardware

• Telephone counselling, and any other telephone contact, will be carried out by your counsellor from a mobile phone that is used for work purposes only. It will be security locked and will have anti-virus installed. This mobile phone will be securely stored in a lockable box out with your counsellor’s working hours.

Data

• Only your initials, reference number and phone number will be stored in your counsellor’s mobile phone and data will only be kept for as long as is necessary and in line with purpose.
• Your counsellors will keep data in relation to contact and uptake on spreadsheets that are password protected and stored on an encrypted, secure server.
• Counsellors will take written notes after sessions and these will be stored in a lockable storage box.

Confidential Setting

• Your counsellor will carry out your telephone counselling sessions alone in a quiet room, with no risk of interruptions, that is sufficiently sound proofed to ensure confidentiality.
• We ask that you endeavour to create a similar environment at your end, but we appreciate that this may not always be possible.
• We ask that you are not actively driving a vehicle at any point during any of your sessions. It is fine to participate in sessions if you are in a vehicle parked in a safe place with the engine off.

Audio Recording

• Your counsellor will not audio record any contact with you, or any part of your sessions and we respectfully ask that you please do the same.

Alcohol or Substance Use Before or During Sessions

• If you chose to drink alcohol or take drugs before or during a counselling session, your counsellor will be required to end the session early, as it would be unethical for it to continue, particularly if you are unlikely to remember what was discussed. The next session will be scheduled as normal, with a standard reminder text sent the day before if required.