How do I contact you?
Click here to e-mail
Or call/text 07939 393567
I will return your call/text as soon as possible.
Please read through my Digital Policy , so that you are familiar with how I handle contact with clients.
What experience do you have?
After three years as a teacher and ten years of ministry as a priest, I began working in couple counselling in 1995, as an individual counsellor in 1999. I qualified as a psychotherapist in 2001 and as a supervisor in 2003.
I have worked in private practice, as a relationship counsellor with Marriage Care, for five years as HIV/Gay Men's Sexual Health Counsellor at PACE and as an affiliate counsellor in Employee Assistance Programmes, provided by BUPA, Ceridian Lifeworks and Right Corecare, among others.
I have worked extensively around gender, sex and relationship diversity. I am a Member of the Directory of Pink Therapy.
I conduct supervision with individuals and groups.
I have produced and presented many workshops and retreats throughout the country.
What are your professional qualifications?
I hold a Certificate in Marital Counselling (1998) from the University College of Ripon and York St.John, Leeds
I hold a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2001) and a Diploma in Supervision (2003), each accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), from The Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education, (CCPE), which is a member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
Throughout each year I take part in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) across a range of psychological approaches.
Are you accredited to a professional organisation?
I have been registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) since 2002.
My work was successfully audited by UKCP in May 2010.
I am a Service Provider with BUPA and AVIVA.
I am listed in the directories of UKCP, Counselling Directory, Counsellingpages and Pink Therapy.
Do you subscribe to a code of professional ethics?
My therapeutic work is conducted in accordance with the Codes of Ethics and Practice of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for data protection.
Are you professionally insured?
Yes I carry full professional liability insurance.
Do you receive ongoing training?
Yes. In the past year I attended training days on therapy in the time of Covid-19, CBT for insomnia, working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, exploring dreamwork and understanding the supervisory relationship.
Do you receive regular supervision?
Yes.
Where are you located?
I now now work online and by telephone only.
Please see ONLINE THERAPY
Please Click here to e-mail
What is your availability?
I am currently available online from Monday to Thursday.
Please give some sense of your preferred day and time when you contact me.
I am not able to see clients at weekends.
What about confidentiality?
Our work together is confidential.
I aim to be fully compliant with current GPDR legislation and to let you know how I use and protect the data you give to me. Please read through my Privacy Policy, which explains fully why I collect and keep specific data and what I do with it.
I hope to offer you choice and control in the way your data is used. You are invited to consent to my keeping specific data. Consent is not a precondition of the services I offer. You can withdraw consent at any time, without detriment.
In exceptional cases, ( eg. if a client reveals current abuse of children or intention to cause serious physical harm to him/herself or others), counsellors have a professional and ethical duty to inform clients that they may find it necessary to take this information outside of counselling. For this reason, I may request the name and address of your General Practitioner. Any action is discussed with you first.
The email contact form on this website is not available to WebHealer staff and is not stored on its systems. The message has the same security level as normal email.
I have ongoing supervision to support and ensure my practice is safe. When I share client material or images this is always done confidentially, protecting your identity.
What are your fees?
I ask people to pay what they feel is affordable to them within the following parameters:
Individual therapy I work within a range of between £60 and £80 for a 50-minute session.
Couples counselling I work within a range of between £60 and £100 for a 50-minute session.
Supervision I work within a range of between £60 and £75 for a 50-minute session and between £80 and £100 for a 1.5 hour session
Fees are payable per session by BACS and may be paid after each session or in advance.
An appointment missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice will be charged in full.
What happens if I have to cancel an appointment?
If you are unable to make an appointment for any reason please inform me in good time and I will make every effort to reschedule within the same week.
An appointment missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours notice, and/or if you have not called to find an alternative space in the same calendar week will be charged in full.
If you miss 2 sessions without contacting me, your contract may be terminated and all charges applied.
You will not be charged for sessions if I am away or forced to cancel.
How long do sessions last?
Individual and couples sessions are 50 minutes long and begin at the time booked. Supervision sessions are either 50 minutes or 80 minutes long.
If you arrive after the start time, the time you have lost will not be made up at the end of the session.
Sessions are normally arranged on a weekly basis, at the same time and at the same place, but I offer some flexibility for those whose patterns of work are subject to change.
How do I arrange an appointment?
Click here to e-mail or call me on 07939 393567
There will be an answerphone for your message if I am unavailable and I will return your call as soon as possible.
Can I refer myself?
Yes you can. Sometimes people are referred by their family doctor, their Employee Assistance Programme or by a friend, or they can refer themselves.
Sometimes a check-up with your GP is a good idea to see if a problem, such as depression or anxiety, has an underlying medical cause.
Do you work with couples?
Yes I do. Relationship counselling is available online. It is not my usual practice to work with a couple if I have already formed a therapeutic relationship with one of the individuals in a couple. I work with couples from the start, together.
Learn more
Do you work with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people?
Yes I do. I have worked extensively with gender, sex and relationship diversity Learn more
Sexual diversity counselling provides a confidential, non-judgemental and friendly space in which in which you can feel safe and secure when discussing gender and sexual diversity. I support a legal ban of conversion therapy and would prefer that therapy training institutions align with the Memoradum of Understanding against Conversion Therapy in the UK and comparative measures in other countries. I have worked extensively with sexual diversity clients, including five years as HIV/Gay Men's Sexual Health Counsellor at PACE.
Do you work with clients who have medical insurance?
I am a registered Service Provider with BUPA
Please obtain a valid Pre-Authorisation Number from your healthcare provider before scheduling a first appointment with me.
Unfortunately BUPA do not cover the cost of cancelled/missed sessions; only appointments that are kept. BUPA clients will be billed for missed sessions and for excess payments.
Do you work with clients on the telephone or online?
Yes - please see my online therapy page.
As a rule I prefer to arrange a first meeting with a potential client online before agreeing to work on the telephone.
What happens at a first session?
Our first session together is an assessment:
- to put you at your ease about the whole process of therapy
- to allow you to describe the issue you would like to explore
- to allow me to discover something of your personal history
- to answer some of the questions you might have about therapy and how I work
- for both of us to see if we can work together
- to help you to clarify your goals in coming to therapy
- to sketch out how we might work together, moving forward.
If you are unsure whether or not to continue with therapy, you are under no obligation to continue beyond a first appointment, although the usual fee will be charged for it.
If we do agree to work together, I will offer you an informal contract, which explains the timings of sessions and what happens in the event of cancellations or missed sessions.
What actually happens in the course of a session?
The normal format is that of a conversation, in which you are free to speak about whatever you wish, in complete confidence.
I respond in a constructive and non-judgemental way.
Sometimes the conversation will flow; sometimes it may move into silence.
Occasionally I may suggest working in a non-verbal way, with pens and paper, for example, or by focusing attention on what you are feeling in your body.
It is difficult to be more specific than that, because so much depends on the issues you bring, the goals we set for our work together and the ways in which our personalities interact.
How does counselling draw to a close?
If a set number of counselling sessions have been agreed, the contract comes to an end when they are completed, although the number of sessions may be extended beyond the number first proposed, by mutual agreement.
Notice of two to four weeks should normally be given before ending therapy, so that we can review our work together and make an satisfactory ending.
What is your Privacy Policy?
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for data protection.
Following guidance from my governing body, the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), I aim to be fully compliant with current GPDR legislation and to let you know how I use and protect the data you give to me. I wish to be transparent with regard to the processes I have in place. Identifiable information, if shared, will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
CONSENT
I hope to offer you choice and control in the way your data is used. You are invited to consent to my keeping specific data. Consent is not a precondition of the services I offer. You can withdraw consent at any time, without detriment.
ENQUIRY FORM
In sending an enquiry form from my website you are consenting to my use of the information you provide therein. Enquries submitted through the contact form are sent directly to me by email and then deleted from Webhealer's systems. They are retained only until they are confident they have been successfully delivered.
NOTE-KEEPING
I do not keep process notes. When I decide to do so, I shred and dispose of this confidential material as soon as possible, often after supervision. I keep minimal content notes which I hold for seven years. After this time frame, they are disposed of securely. You have a right to see the information I hold about you should you wish to. You have a right to change any information which you consider to be incorrect. Though there are some details I need to keep due to legal and professional obligations, you can ask me to delete all/any of the information that I hold by emailing me at stephenweaver@me.com
I occasionally use creative interventions, but any drawings or art done in session is yours. I will store this material safely and dispose of it in a timely manner. I will never use any of your data/artworks for writing, publishing, research or training purposes.
DATA STORAGE
I promise to keep all sensitive data safely. This involves my anonymising, using passwords and encrypted documents. I keep all written notes in a locked document store and dispose of them after seven years. No one but myself, as data processor and controller in my practice, has access to the information gathered and held during our work together.
While we work together, I store your name, phone number and email address in an encrypted database, which is protected by a password. When we discontinue working, I retain your name, phone number and email address, together with the location, starting and ending dates of our work together in the same protected environment.
I do not store any of your personal details on my mobile phone. I only contact you in response to you or concerning appointments. I dispose of client emails, phone and text messages on a weekly basis. I do not engage with clients through any social media.
SUPERVISION
I have ongoing supervision to support and ensure my practice is safe. When I share client material or images this is always done confidentially, protecting your identity.
CLINICAL WILL
In the event of a sudden cessation of practice - eg through an accident or death,- I have appointed a professional executor to manage things on my behalf. This is arranged for your welfare as my client and every step is taken to ensure GDPR standards are met.
What is your Digital Policy?
SOCIAL MEDIA
I do not maintain an active social media presence and nor do I engage with clients’ social media presence.
EMAIL
I am not currently using an e-mail encryption programme, so any emails we send to each other may be vulnerable to viruses or human error. For this reason, it is best to be thoughtful about what you include in emails to me, and which email address you choose to use with me. Often, it is best to rely on email for non-confidential communications like setting up appointment times and things like that. In an effort to keep psychological material confidential, it is best avoided in emails unless we discuss it beforehand. Please let me know your preferred email address at the commencement of our work together.
If you choose to communicate with me by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of Internet Service Providers. Furthermore, they can be vulnerable to viruses and unintended forwarding or replication. If you are concerned about the confidentiality of your emails, you may wish to contact me by telephone instead.
I check emails only at fixed times during office hours – I avoid checking them on weekends and holidays. I try to respond to all emails within 24 hours upon opening them. If I am away for an extended period, you will receive an automated response.
Emails should never be used in the event of an emergency, in which case you should contact emergency services.
TEXT MESSAGES
Feel free to contact me by text message to alert me if you are running late for a session or for similar reasons. However, because of the lack of context of text messages, it is generally not the best method for communicating with me about more important matters, so please do phone and leave me a message.
As a private practitioner I am unable to offer an emergency service, even by phone. Should you experience an emergency please contact either the emergency services or if you are feeling suicidal, ring The Samaritans: 116 123. If you feel that this may be an issue, please discuss it with me.
VIDEO CONFERENCING
I make use of Zoom - a secure, reliable conferencing tool, available for Windows, Mac, iOS or Android, which can be used either on a computer or a mobile phone. Unlike Skype, Zoom has no contacts list and I simply send you a link each time. Each conversation is protected by a unique password that is unavailable to anyone but yourself. When the conversation ends the password and the link expire, so there is no means of tracing your use of the service.
If you would like to make use of remote therapy, we would first sound out your expectations of working in this way and then carefully run through all the practicalities involved.
When engaging via video conferencing, we both agree not to record sessions.
It is also crucial that the space from which you are conferencing with me is safe, secure, and private.
