Staff Counselling

The service is here to support all LSE staff in their work. You may wish to use counselling to look at any personal difficulty or work-related issue, for example:

• bereavement
• relationship problems
• depression
• stress
• anxiety
• self esteem etc

The service offers the opportunity to discuss these and many other issues in a confidential space.

LSE recognises that counselling can be a beneficial way to support its staff members to work to the best of their ability.

Members of staff use the Counselling Service to help them with a variety of issues.  Sometimes a problem is quite clear, e.g. a bereavement or relationship problem, whereas some people may be dealing with stress, anxiety or depression, which impacts on their well-being.  Often there is a sense that "things are not quite right" or people feel low in confidence or self-esteem, which prevents them from achieving their potential.  These are all valid reasons to make use of the Counselling Service.

Counselling takes place in a room which is private and free from interruption. The session usually lasts for 50 minutes, and the first session is an opportunity to clarify what you need and to see how counselling may be useful. Sometimes, one session is sufficient, or, if not, further appointments can be arranged. We can offer up to 6 sessions.

We understand that there may be times when you are unable to attend your appointment. If this situation arises, we ask that you give the service as much notice as possible to enable us offer the appointment to someone else.

If you need to cancel an appointment we will do our best to accommodate this and rearrange the appointment.

If you do not turn up on two consecutive appointments without giving a reason, we will assume that you no longer wish to continue counselling and any ongoing appointments will be cancelled. 

Should you wish to resume counselling you can contact the service in the usual way.

No. You will be asked to complete a registration form that asks for contact details and other relevant information such as gender, ethnicity etc for anonymous statistical monitoring purposes. Counsellors keep brief summaries of sessions, and these are kept in a locked filing cabinet accessible only to the staff counselling service.

Counsellors will not inform a third party of any details relating to your attendance at the Staff Counselling Service.  Confidentiality is an important part of the work.  However, it can sometimes be useful for other people to know, for example, line managers can perhaps re-negotiate your work load if that is adding to your problems, or colleagues can help look out for you in the work place, but this is not always appropriate and it is entirely your decision as to whether or not you tell anyone.

There are some situations in which counsellors may have to pass on personal information which include:-

•  when it is believed that someone is at serious risk or
• when required by law to disclose

Consent to disclose any information is sought from the client if at all possible.  The Service works to the Ethical Framework for Good Practice as produced by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) www.bacp.co.uk

The Staff Counselling Service recognises the importance of confidentiality for all staff using the service. It is recognised within UK law that counsellors owe a duty of confidence to the client due to the special nature of the relationship, and that maintaining the trust and privacy of personal information is a legitimate expectation for the client. 

We offer a confidential service. 
View the LSE Confidentiality Policy here.

The Staff Counselling Service offers a confidential space where staff can talk about issues that may be causing concern. All the counsellors follow strict codes of ethics (BACP/UKCP/BPS) and operate within the Ethical Framework of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (www.bacp.co.uk) The service complies with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Information about all counselling clients is kept confidential. Information is stored about the name and contact details for each client, together with records of the dates of all appointments. This data is stored on a system used by the counsellors and administrators. 

All staff working for the Staff Counselling Service, including administrators, are required to sign a contract to maintain the confidentiality of every person using this service. Whilst the service is located within TLC, no information will be shared with any member of TLC, or any other person within the School.

Nothing will be divulged to anyone outside the service without your expressed consent. Under normal circumstances, nothing you say goes beyond the counselling room unless you want it to, and you say so explicitly. Of course you still have the right to share whatever you like from your experience of counselling with anyone you choose.

A counsellor may only pass on information in exceptional circumstances:

1. where the counsellor has the express consent of the client to disclose the information, or
2. where the counsellor believes the client, or a third party is in serious danger, or
3. where the counsellor would be liable to civil or criminal court procedure if the information was not disclosed.

Consent to disclose any information is sought from the client if at all possible.

The Service will also collect evaluation data from clients, using evaluation forms. None of the information supplied by any user can be linked up to their personal notes, and neither will it be disseminated in any form that may identify a client. Data from both the audit and evaluation programmes will be used to determine an overall view of the service, and this may be circulated across the School and in other public documents, such as annual reports.

Data protection

Counsellors keep brief notes on counselling sessions. Other information is securely kept:

• Client contact details are held on computer
• Emails are retained
• Confidential information is stored securely within the service, kept for six years and then destroyed, by securely shredding the information
• Anonymous statistical information is kept electronically and used to aid the efficient running of the service

Under the Data Protection Act (1998), clients have a right of access to all notes kept on them. If those notes contain references to other individuals these may not be available to the client, as protection is also granted to third parties. If a client's file includes a letter or additional information from the person responsible for their clinical care, usually their GP or psychiatrist, consent from the relevant practitioner must be obtained before the correspondence is disclosed.

The service will not provide access to client records if requested by other parties, unless this is with explicit consent of the client, or unless directed by a court order. Any other request for copies of the counsellor's notes will be refused.

In no circumstances will the original copies of notes be provided to the client or any other party, even with the consent of the client. Counsellor's notes will be stored for a period of six years and then will be destroyed within a secure and confidential process.

Supervision

In line with professional requirements, counsellors may discuss their work with an external supervisor. In this process, the identity of the client is not revealed. The purpose of these meetings is to help the counsellor reflect on their work. All counsellors receive supervision of counselling in accordance with BACP guidelines.