These terms explain how we will work together. Please read them before you book. If anything is unclear, ask me and I will explain.

1. About me

I am Dr Sherylin Thompson, a Counselling Psychologist. I practise at Unit 68 Cannon Workshops, 3 Cannon Drive, Canary Wharf, London E14 4AS, and online.

In these terms, “I”, “me” and “my” mean Dr Sherylin Thompson. “You” and “your” mean my client.

2. Other documents

Alongside these terms, there are two other documents:

• My registration form, which you complete in WriteUpp, my secure practice management system. It collects the details I need, and has a separate section where you choose whether I use AI to help write my notes. Your current choice about AI-assisted note-taking is recorded in your registration form and may be changed by you at any time.
• My Privacy Notice, available at psychologist.city/privacy. It explains how I handle your personal information. It is for your information and is not part of our agreement.

3. Accepting these terms

These terms are available on my booking page and my website. By booking a session after they have been made available to you, you accept them. Our agreement starts when you book your first session.

If you are already working with me, these terms replace my previous terms from 9^th October 2026. Booking or attending a session after that date means you accept them.

4. My services

I offer individual therapy and relationship counselling. Sessions take place in person at the address above, by secure video call, or by telephone. We will agree the format together.

The video platform I use is named in my Privacy Notice.

5. Professional standards

I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) [PYL29559. I am a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) 182895 and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) 704779 

I work in line with the ethical codes and standards of all four bodies. These are available on their websites.

6. Starting therapy

The first three sessions are an assessment period. During this time we will consider together what you need and whether working with me is likely to help. After this period, either of us may decide not to continue.

Your first appointment may not be available as a regular weekly slot. My availability is shown at www.psychologist.city/book. If you need a particular day and time throughout your therapy, please email me to ask about a block booking.

Weekly sessions are usually recommended, particularly at the start of therapy. We can review and adjust how often we meet depending on clinical need and by agreement.

We will review our work together regularly, including your goals, your progress and any concerns.

7. Working together

Therapy is a collaborative process. Your active participation and commitment are essential to its success.

I ask you to attend sessions regularly and on time, and to engage as honestly and openly as you can.

Therapy can involve exploring difficult feelings and experiences, and this may be challenging at times. I will offer a safe and supportive space for that work. If anything in our sessions feels too much, or not right for you, please tell me, so that we can talk about it.

8. Sessions, cancellations and absences

• Sessions last 50 minutes unless we agree otherwise in writing.
• Please give at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel or rearrange a session. If you give less notice, the full fee is payable.
• Sessions start and end at the agreed time. If you arrive late, the session will not be extended.
• If I need to cancel a session, I will give at least 48 hours’ notice where I can. You will not be charged for a session I cancel.
• I will give at least four weeks’ notice of planned absences. Please give me at least two weeks’ notice of yours.
• If you do not attend an online session and I am unable to contact you within the session time, the session will be treated as attended and the full fee will be payable.

9. Fees and payment

If you are paying for your own therapy. My fees are shown on my website. Payment is due before each session unless we have agreed otherwise. You can pay by bank transfer or by card through a secure online payment service. I review my fees once a year and will tell you before any change.

If a health insurer or another organisation paying for your therapy, such as an employer, is funding your sessions:

• Please complete my registration form in full, and tell me straight away if any of the details change. Missing or out of date details can delay claims. They may mean I have to cancel sessions at short notice, charge you for any shortfall, or end our work.
• You are responsible for managing your claim. This includes checking that each session is authorised, arranging further authorisation when needed, and paying any excess.
• If your funder does not pay for a session, the fee becomes payable by you straight away. I will not pursue your funder for payment. Please contact them directly to resolve any problem.

To claim payment, I must send your funder the information it requires. Insurers may require detailed clinical information before authorising or continuing treatment.

This may include your diagnosis, symptoms, relevant history and current circumstances. I send only what is needed for the claim. More detail is in my Privacy Notice.

10. Confidentiality

What you tell me is confidential. I will not share it without your agreement, except in the following circumstances:

• where I believe disclosure is in the public interest because there is a risk of serious harm to you or to others
• where there is a safeguarding concern about a child or an adult at risk
• where the law requires it, for example a court order, or the legal duty to report information about terrorism

Where I can, I will talk with you first before sharing anything.

I discuss my work in clinical supervision, as my professional bodies require. I do this without using your name or details that could identify you.

With your agreement, I may write to your GP or another professional involved in your care.

11. Your records

I keep a confidential record of our work, as my professional bodies require. It is kept for seven years after our work ends, then securely deleted.

My Privacy Notice explains what I hold, where it is stored, which services handle it for me, how long it is kept, and your rights, including your right to see your record.

12. AI-assisted note-taking

With your permission, I use an AI tool to help me write my session notes. You can choose AI-assisted notes from a recording of the session, AI-assisted notes from my own dictation after the session, or no AI at all.

You make your choice in the AI section of my registration form. I will confirm it with you at our first session before I use AI. Saying no will not affect your therapy in any way. You can change your mind at any time by telling me.

If you are already working with me, I will ask for your choice on a separate form.

13. Recordings for supervision or training

At some point I may ask your permission to record a session for supervision or for professional accreditation. This will always be a separate request, with its own consent form. Saying no will not affect your therapy in any way.

CCTV may be in operation in some areas of the building where I practise, for security.

14. Relationship counselling

In joint sessions, both of you need to be present before the session can start, unless we have agreed otherwise in advance.

Records. When I work with a couple, I keep one record of our joint work, which contains information about both of you. Each of you has the right to ask to see the information I hold about you. If one of you asks, I will share what relates to you. I will only share what your partner has said with their agreement, or where the law allows it. I may withhold information if I believe sharing it would cause serious harm to either of you.

Individual sessions. I do not usually see partners individually during relationship counselling. If I do, it will be for a clinical reason, and we will agree ground rules first. What you tell me in an individual session is held in confidence, within the limits in section 10. I do not operate a ‘secrets policy’. I may encourage you to share something with your partner where it affects our joint work. Notes of individual sessions are kept separately from the joint record.

AI-assisted note-taking. I will only use AI in joint sessions if you both agree. Each of you makes your own choice, on your own registration form.

15. Contact between sessions

You can contact me between sessions by telephone or email. I aim to respond within two working days.

Please keep sensitive personal detail out of email where you can. If you tell me something by email that is important for your care, I will copy it into your record.

I do not provide a crisis or emergency service. Emails, voicemail messages and text messages are not monitored continuously and should not be used in an emergency.

If you are in crisis, please contact:

• your GP
• NHS 111, and choose the mental health option
• Samaritans, on 116 123, at any time of day or night
• 999, or go to your nearest A&E, in an emergency

16. Video and telephone sessions

I use secure services for video sessions and take reasonable steps to protect your information. Please make sure you have a private, safe space for our sessions, and a reliable connection.

If we lose connection, we will both make reasonable efforts to reconnect or continue by telephone. A session missed because of a problem on your side will not be refunded.

I am not responsible for the security of your own device, internet connection or surroundings.

17. Alcohol and drugs

If you attend a session under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, I may ask you to leave, and the session fee will be payable. Continued substance use may lead to the end of our work.

18. Professional boundaries

Our relationship is a professional one. To protect it, I will not have any other kind of relationship with you, whether social, business or personal. This means I will not:

• connect with you on social media
• enter into business arrangements with you
• accept invitations to your events
• accept you onto any training I provide
• knowingly accept as a new client a close friend or family member of a current or former client

19. Reports, letters and legal proceedings

Because of the importance of confidentiality, I do not usually provide reports, letters or evidence for legal, regulatory or conduct proceedings relating to you, unless a court orders me to.

Therapy is not suitable if its only purpose is to obtain a letter, for example about mitigating circumstances for a university or an employer. Please take such requests to the relevant institution. I will consider any request for a letter individually, and only where it fits the aims of our work.

Please tell me straight away if you become aware of any legal proceedings that may involve me or our work together.

20. Online content

Anything I publish online, such as articles or social media posts, is general information. It is not a substitute for professional advice.

21. Ending therapy

We will decide together, through regular reviews, how long our work continues. Our work may end:

• by agreement between us
• by you, at any time, with at least one week’s notice
• by me, if I believe you are not benefiting from our work or your needs are outside my expertise. I will give reasonable notice and, where appropriate, help you find other support

If you attend fewer than half of your booked sessions in a two-month period, I may review with you whether to continue, and may end our work.

22. Complaints

If you are unhappy with any part of our work, please tell me first. I will listen and try to put things right between us.

If we cannot resolve it, you can complain to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) through its Professional Conduct Procedure, at www.bacp.co.uk.

Complaints about how I handle your personal information are covered in my Privacy Notice.

23. Changes to these terms

I may update these terms from time to time. I will give you at least four weeks’ written notice of any change. If you continue to book or attend sessions after the change takes effect, you accept the updated terms. If you do not accept them, you may end our work in line with section 21.

24. Limitation of liability

I do not guarantee any particular outcome from therapy.

I shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss arising out of or in connection with the services.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes my liability for death or personal injury caused by my negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot be limited or excluded by law. Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

25. General

Notices. Notices under these terms must be in writing, sent to the addresses given in these terms or to any other address a party notifies in writing. Email is sufficient.

Severance. If any provision of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, it shall be modified or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall continue in effect.

Waiver. A waiver of any right under these terms is effective only if it is in writing.

Third parties. These terms do not confer any rights on any third party.

Entire agreement. These terms, together with your choice in the AI section of my registration form or on my AI consent form, make up the entire agreement between us, and supersede any previous terms. The Privacy Notice is provided for information and does not form part of this agreement.

Dispute resolution. The parties shall first try to resolve any dispute through discussion. If we have a disagreement about these terms, we will first try to resolve it by talking. If that does not work, we may agree to try mediation. Nothing in this clause prevents either of us from going to court.

Governing law and jurisdiction. These terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them (including non-contractual disputes or claims), are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.

26. Contact

If you have any questions about these terms, please contact me at sherylin@psychologist.city or on 07940 516 806.