Terms & Conditions - Support Network Ltd
Support Network - Therapy Terms
These Therapy Terms are our standard terms which apply to the services we provide to you (known as the “Services”), by us, Support Network Ltd whose registered address is:
The Granary, Crowhill Farm, Ravensden Road, Wilden, Bedford, MK44 2QS
At the end of this document, you will find some consents that we are required by UK data protection laws to obtain from you. These consents explain how we collect, use, and protect your personal information during therapy.
Please read through the entire document carefully before signing to indicate your acknowledgement and acceptance. If you have any questions on any part of this document, please do not hesitate to ask before signing.
1. Professional Information:
1.1 All Clinical Psychologists practising within the UK must be registered with the Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC) in order to maintain their practising registration, and must continue to demonstrate compliance with a range of HCPC minimum standards of conduct, performance and ethics. Dr Emma Ellis is registered with the HCPC, registration number PYL04106.
1.2 Dr Emma Ellis is also accredited with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) and must continue to demonstrate compliance with a range of BABCP minimum standards of conduct, performance and ethics.
1.3 We may engage associate clinical psychologists to carry out some of the work involved in providing our Services. These associates are qualified professionals who adhere to the same professional standards and confidentiality obligations as our in-house clinical psychologists. Rest assured that all associates are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and are bound by the British Psychological Society's code of ethics and conduct. By engaging with our Services, you consent to the potential involvement of associate clinical psychologists in your care. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to discuss them with us.
1.4 Dr Emma Ellis has completed the standard EMDR Europe Accredited Training. Our EMDR practice is conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the EMDR Association UK.
2. Services
2.1 The Services we provide include individual therapy, psychological assessment, cognitive behavioural therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. We do not provide crisis intervention or psychiatric medication management.
2.2 EMDR is an evidence-based, therapeutic approach used to process distressing memories and trauma. The initial sessions focus on history-taking, stabilisation, and preparation; trauma processing will not begin until we are satisfied you are ready to do so safely. If we consider that a longer stabilisation period is required - for example where there are significant levels of dissociation or difficulties regulating emotions - we will discuss this with you before proceeding. EMDR is not suitable for all clients. We will assess for contraindications on an individual basis prior to commencing EMDR and will discuss the risks, benefits, and any relevant precautions with you before treatment begins. As with all therapy, outcomes cannot be guaranteed and individual responses vary. If at any stage we have concerns about your safety or the appropriateness of continuing EMDR, we may pause or discontinue trauma processing and will explain our reasons to you.
2.3 The duration of therapy varies depending on individual needs and therapeutic goals. We will regularly review progress and discuss treatment plans with you.
2.4 Either party may end the therapeutic relationship at any time. We recommend providing two weeks' notice where possible to allow for appropriate closure.
2.5 We may end therapy if we determine it is no longer beneficial, if there are clinical or ethical concerns, or if professional boundaries cannot be maintained.
2.6 Following the end of therapy, we cannot provide ongoing personal or professional support outside of the therapeutic relationship. We can provide referrals to other professionals if appropriate
2.7 A contract is formed between us when: (i) you sign these Therapy Terms; (ii) we confirm your first appointment; and (iii) where applicable, payment is received.
3. Consultations:
3.1 Consultations shall be by appointment only. Details of the consultation timings, length and fees shall be made available to you in advance of the consultation.
3.2 Initial consultations can be made by emailing the practice or messaging via the website enquiry form.
3.3 Subsequent appointments can be made during your consultation with us by email.
3.4 If you know you are going to be late for an appointment, you should contact us to tell us. If you arrive later than 15 minutes after an appointment time, we will try to provide the Services you have booked but if we decide that we cannot, the appointment will be treated as cancelled without notice by you and you may be charged (See Cancellations below). This is the case no matter whether the appointment is for a face-to-face, online, or telephone session.
4. Online Sessions:
4.1 Sessions may be provided online via a pre-agreed livestream service (for example HelloSelf, Zoom, Teams).
4.2 When using a third-party supplier for online sessions your personal and special category data will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy, and may be subject to the privacy policy of the third-party supplier. We will not be liable to you for any costs or losses incurred by you as a result of using any third-party online provider for the purposes of attending a session virtually with us. You should make yourself familiar with such provider’s own terms and conditions and privacy policy https://www.helloself.com/terms-and-conditions https://www.helloself.com/member-privacy-notice
4.3 If we provide any of our Services as a livestream, we will use all reasonable endeavours to start at the time scheduled. If the start is delayed by circumstances beyond our control, we will not be liable for any such delay.
4.4 In some limited circumstances, we may need to suspend the provision of an online session for one or more of the following reasons: (i) to fix technical problems or to make necessary technical changes; or (ii) in the event of illness or other circumstances beyond our control.
4.5 In the event of any of the circumstances listed above occurring, then we will use reasonable endeavours to give as much notice as possible to you.
4.6 Ahead of your online session, we ask you to plan where in your location you will sit for the meeting. It is important that the connection to the internet is as strong as possible.
4.7 It is important that you ensure the space is private and that you cannot be interrupted or overheard. You are strongly encouraged to make any necessary arrangements with anyone you may normally share the location with to ensure that your protected space can be achieved.
5. Recording of sessions:
5.1 To maintain our high-level professional accreditations, we are required to audio or video record some therapy sessions to be discussed within our clinical supervision. It is important to note that there is no expectation or requirement for you to agree to this, but please let us know if you would feel happy for your session to be recorded for this purpose.
5.2 We are occasionally asked by clients if they can record our session to listen again in their own time. You must not record the session without discussing and agreeing this with us first. It is not permitted, under any circumstances, that any agreed recording is shared with others or in any social media platform.
6. Cancellations:
6.1 For cancellations made with fewer than 24 hours' notice, a full session charge will apply. This policy applies to face-to-face, online, or telephone sessions.
6.2 If, due to exceptional circumstances you cancel an appointment without giving at least 24 hours in working days prior notice we will consider the circumstances and, in our discretion, decide whether to waive any charges.
6.3 If you cannot attend in person, an online or telephone consultation will be offered instead.
6.4 Cancellations with fewer than 48 hours’ notice, or failures to attend are likely to be counted as one of your designated appointments, where funding is via a health insurance company, your employer or is provided as part of a legal process. You should check with your health insurance policy to ensure you know when they will and will not cover your costs.
6.5 We may cancel an appointment booked by you at any time before the time and date of that appointment in the following circumstances: (i) the required personnel and/or required materials necessary for the provision of the Services are not available; or (ii) an event outside of our reasonable control occurs. If we cancel an appointment in such circumstances, we will refund to you in full any advance payment that you have made to us for that appointment.
6.6 We will use all reasonable endeavours to start appointments at the time you have booked, but the start may be delayed by the overrun of a previous appointment or by other circumstances. If the start is delayed by 20 minutes or more, you may cancel the appointment and we will refund you in full any deposit or other advance payment that you have made to us for that appointment.
6.7 If we are prevented from or delayed in performing our obligations by your act or omission or by any circumstance outside our control, we will not be liable to you for any costs, charges or losses sustained or incurred by you that arise directly or indirectly from such prevention or delay.
7. Third-party venues
7.1 If consultations are held in person at a third-party venue, you agree to comply at all times with that venue’s policies and rules about that venue (particularly fire safety and health and safety rules).
7.2 You are responsible for your own belongings that you take to any consultations. We will not be liable for any loss, damage, theft or destruction of any of your belongings.
8. Fees & Payment:
8.1 We will let you know in advance what our fees are. These will either be in accordance with our current price list or as otherwise notified to you.
8.2 Payment of our fees will be due or invoiced either before or at the end of a consultation. We will let you know when you make the appointment when the fee for that session will be due and payable.
8.3 You may pay us for Services (and for any deposit or other advance payment on account of that payment) using any of the following methods:
If you have signed up for the HelloSelf option please see: https://www.helloself.com/terms-and-conditions
Alternatively by BACS transfer to the following account:
Name: Support Network Ltd
Bank: Starling Bank
Sort Code: 60 83 71
Account Number: 73205102
8.4 Clients are requested to use the reference number on the invoice, so that the payment can be easily identified.
8.5 All prices of Services shown in the price list are exclusive of VAT (which is not chargeable).
8.6 We may alter our prices without prior notice. Increases made between the time when you book an appointment and the date of the appointment will not apply to your appointment on that date.
8.7 Chasing unpaid invoices attracts an administration and interest charge of 8% above the Bank of England base rate from the due date until the final settlement date. We may suspend the provision of our Services to you in the event that any due fees remain unpaid.
9. Confidentiality:
9.1 The information discussed in our consultations with you is of a confidential nature. We provide a safe place in which you can share your feelings and thoughts with us.
9.2 Our commitment to client confidentiality is not affected by who pays for the service provided by us.
9.3 We will ensure that any confidential information you disclose to us shall not be disclosed to any person except as permitted in this section.
9.4 We may disclose confidential information relating to you:
i. to our employees, advisers, other healthcare professionals or social agencies who need to know such information for the purposes of carrying out our Services to you:
ii. as may be required by law, a court of competent jurisdiction or any governmental or regulatory authority;
iii. if we believe that you are at risk of harming yourself or others;
iv. if we have concerns that a child or vulnerable adult is suffering or is at risk of suffering significant harm, abuse, or neglect (in accordance with our safeguarding obligations under the Children Act 1989/2004 and the Care Act 2014);
v. where necessary for the prevention, detection or prosecution of serious crime; or
vi. if we have concerns about human trafficking or modern slavery.
9.5 Where possible and safe to do so, any breach of confidentiality will be discussed with you first. However, there may be circumstances where informing you in advance would place you, a child, a vulnerable adult, or others at greater risk, or could prejudice the prevention or detection of serious crime, in which case we may need to disclose information without prior discussion.
9.6 We shall not use your confidential information for any purpose other than to perform our obligations under these Therapy Terms.
9.7 We shall ensure that any person to whom we disclose your confidential information in this section also complies with these confidentiality obligations.
9.8 It is a requirement for all Clinical Psychologists to have regular Clinical Supervision sessions in which they discuss their work in a safe and confidential space with an equally or more experienced colleague. All work that is discussed in these sessions is completely anonymised. Supervisors are bound by the same professional and ethical regulations as our practitioners and do not discuss clinical material outside of the supervisory context.
10. Safeguarding:
10.1 We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our clients, particularly children, young people, and vulnerable adults. We have a comprehensive Safeguarding Policy in place which all our practitioners adhere to, and which is regularly reviewed and updated in line with current legislation and best practice guidelines.
10.2 Our safeguarding procedures are designed to ensure that all clients receive our services in a safe environment, free from abuse, neglect, or harm. We maintain a duty of care to protect clients from physical, emotional, sexual, financial abuse, and neglect.
10.3 All our Clinical Psychologists receive regular safeguarding training and are aware of their responsibilities under relevant legislation including the Care Act 2014, Children Act 1989/2004, and Mental Capacity Act 2005.
10.4 If we have concerns about your safety or the safety of others (including children or vulnerable adults), we have a professional and legal duty to take appropriate action. This may include sharing information with relevant agencies such as social services, the police, or other healthcare professionals, even if this means breaching confidentiality. Where possible, we will discuss our concerns with you first unless doing so would place you or others at greater risk.
10.5 If you have any concerns about safeguarding matters, please discuss these with your therapist.
11. How We Use Your/the Patient’s Personal Information (Data Protection)
11.1 We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy which we can provide on request: www.snetw.com/privacy-policy
11.2 We are registered as Data Controllers with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
11.3 In certain circumstances, we may be required to share your personal and sensitive data for medico-legal purposes. This includes instances where your therapy is part of a legal process, such as personal injury or medical negligence claims, or if required by a court order. In such cases, consent may not be necessary. We will ensure that any data shared for these purposes will be done in accordance with applicable data protection laws and only to the extent necessary for the medico-legal purposes.
11.4 We retain all therapy records for 7 years following the end of treatment, or until age 25 for clients who were under 18 (whichever is longer), in accordance with professional guidelines.
11.5 Records are securely destroyed after the retention period using certified document destruction services, secure shredding and secure digital deletion.
11.6 In the event the practice closes, you will be notified in advance about arrangements in relation to your records, including options for transfer to another practitioner or secure destruction.
12. Use of Artificial Intelligence
12.1 Artificial Intelligence (AI): We integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies into our service offerings to enhance efficiency, productivity, and the quality of our services. These AI tools may assist with a variety of our business tasks.
12.2 We ensure that the use of AI is transparent, and that clients are informed about the extent to which AI tools are used in the course of delivering our services. The tools we are using are set out in the table below. Where the tool is provided by a third party provider, they will be acting as a data processor for us, and so we have included a link to their privacy policy which you should read to check you are comfortable with their use of your data.
AI Tool Name: Copilot
Provider: Microsoft
Purpose: To assist in drafting and reviewing documents
Privacy Policy: 365-copilot-privacy
12.3 Any data processed by AI tools will be handled in compliance with applicable data protection legislation. Please see our Privacy Policy for further information about the data we are collecting and processing when using these AI systems. We will ensure that all AI tools used are configured to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of client data. Please be assured that we implement security safeguards to protect any data input into these AI systems.
12.4 You have the right to request further details regarding our use of AI in your particular case and you may ask us to review how your personal data is processed by AI tools and request corrections if necessary. Please contact us at hello@snetw.com if you would like to exercise any of the above rights.
13. Note-keeping
13.1 We will keep an electronic copy of notes from each of the sessions. We will also keep a copy of your contact details.
13.2 We retain ownership of notes but we are happy to discuss their contents with you and you also have a right to access them formally. Should you wish to do this, please contact us in accordance with the Your Rights section of our Privacy Policy.
13.3 If we need to send emails that contain detailed information about your therapy (for example to yourself or to your GP), we will attach the information as a password protected word document, with the password sent separately. We encourage you to do the same if you need to email us detailed information.
13.4 It is possible for the courts to access notes should they need to in relation to a matter of public interest. In this unlikely event, you will be informed before the notes are released.
14. Limitation of Liability:
14.1 We will provide our therapy services with reasonable care and skill in accordance with professional standards.
14.2 We will be responsible for any loss or damage you suffer that is a reasonably foreseeable result of our breach of these terms or our negligence.
14.3 We will not be responsible for:
14.3.1 Loss or damage that could not reasonably have been expected when we agreed to provide services to you; nor for
14.3.2 Any loss caused by factors outside our reasonable control.
14.4 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our responsibility for:
14.4.1 Death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
14.4.2 Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
14.4.3 Any other liability that cannot be excluded under law
14.5 Therapy is a collaborative process, and outcomes can vary between individuals. While we cannot guarantee specific results nor promise to provide a diagnosis, we are committed to providing professional, ethical care in accordance with established clinical standards.
14.6 Your consumer rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and other consumer protection legislation are not affected by these terms.
15. Changes to these Therapy Terms:
15.1 We may from time to time change these Therapy Terms without giving you notice, but we will use our reasonable endeavours to inform you as soon as is reasonably possible of any such change.
16. Complaints and Standards:
16.1 We are committed to providing as helpful and compassionate a service as possible to meet the needs of all our clients.
16.2 We always welcome feedback from our clients and, whilst we shall use all reasonable endeavours to provide a high standard of service, care and treatment to all clients and patients, we nevertheless want to hear from you if you have any cause for complaint. If you have any complaint about our Services or any other complaint about us, please raise the matter with our Director who can be contacted at complaints@snetw.com.
16.3 You may wish to raise your concern directly with the Health and Care Professions Council, should you feel you have encountered an issue of fitness to practice. This can be done at www.hcpc-uk.org/concerns/raising-concerns/
17. Crisis management and emergencies
17.1 The type of psychological work offered is not suited to managing emergencies or crisis.
17.2 We do not provide any out-of-hours emergency support.
17.3 If you require urgent help between appointments then please contact your GP, use the NHS 111 service for advice, phone 999 or attend A&E. You can also contact the Samaritans’ anonymous helpline on 116 123 or Childline on 0800 1111 (for those under 19 years).
18. Therapeutic Boundaries
18.2 We cannot accept gifts from clients beyond nominal value items (under £10). This helps maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
18.3 We cannot provide therapy to individuals with whom we have other significant personal, professional, or business relationships.
18.4 We do not engage in social relationships with clients during or after therapy. This includes social media connections and social events outside of therapy. We do not connect with clients on social media platforms and ask that you do not send friend requests or contact us through social media channels.
19. General
19.1 We insist that we do not meet you face to face if you are experiencing symptoms of an infectious illness. Online or telephone sessions can be arranged instead, should you be well enough.
19.2 Appointment times or other queries can be clarified by contacting emma.ellis@snetw.com.
19.3 During planned absences (holidays, training), we will provide you with 2 weeks advance notice where possible. Emergency cover arrangements can be discussed if needed.
19.4 If you need to contact us between appointments, please do so by email. We do not provide therapeutic support outside of therapy sessions. However, we aim to respond to emails within 24 hours during working hours (Monday – Friday 9am-5pm).
19.5 If we are unable to continue providing services due to long-term illness, retirement, or other circumstances, we will assist with appropriate referrals and transfer of care arrangements where clinically appropriate
19.6 If you have any questions regarding these Therapy Terms, please do not hesitate to discuss with us, either in a session or by contacting us.
19.7 If we do not enforce a right straight away, that doesn’t mean we have waived it. If any part of these terms is found invalid, the rest still apply.
19.8 If a court or regulator decides that any part of these terms is invalid or unenforceable, the rest of the terms will still apply.
20. Governing law and jurisdiction
20.1 These Therapy Terms are subject to the laws of England & Wales and the jurisdiction of the English Courts.
20.2 As a consumer, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law in your country of residency.
Your Consent and Agreement
If you wish to indicate your agreement to these terms, please click the link below to download the form. You will then need to return the signed form by email.