Safeguarding Policy

Where you will find this policy: 

  1. Attached to contract 

  2. Online at www.samepage.org.uk/

  3. Upon request: kat@samepage.org.uk

Please note that this is the Safeguarding Policy for adults over the age of 18. The young persons’ (under 18) contract is available by request.

1) Overview

Confidentiality and safeguarding are extremely important to me. What you say in sessions will be kept confidential unless:  

(in the case that you are OVER the age of 18) 

  1. You disclose to me that you are at risk of harming yourself or others. 

  2. You disclose a child or vulnerable person is at risk of harm. 

  3. You disclose information about serious crime, including terrorism, money laundering, and/or drug trafficking. 

  4. A judge or coroner make a legal order for the release of client notes. 

 

If any of the above are disclosed, I will call my supervisor, who is an experienced counselling and supervising professional with additional safeguarding training and responsibilities. My supervisor will support me to keep you and others safe in this instance. My supervisor is also committed to confidentiality and works under an ethical body. 

2) Vulnerable Adults

Many of the same parts of this policy will remain the same if I identify that you are considered a vulnerable adult/adult at risk. Please note that, in this case, I may need to break confidentiality if I am concerned that you or others are at risk of harm, without direct disclosure of this from you. I will try to include you in this process if it is appropriate and safe. If you are over 18, I will contact your GP, adult services and/or other relevant services if I am concerned that you or someone else is at risk. 

You can learn more about what a vulnerable adult/adult at risk is here: https://safeguarding.wales/en/adu-i/ 

2) Informed Consent

Your informed consent is important to me. It matters to me that you understand how safeguarding support looks in action (generally) when entering into therapy with me. 

Below are some examples of how I may respond to/my supervisor may help me in a safeguarding scenario. These are not all the scenarios that may happen, and I may need to respond in a different way in a different situation. These are purely examples to aid your understanding and ability to give informed consent: 

If you let me know you are risk of harming yourself, my supervisor will support me to assess the risk (I will do an initial assessment with you in session). She will then recommend a course of action and support me to complete this. This might be supporting you to call a crisis line for additional support, helping you access your GP or another medical professional environment, or requesting a welfare check on you in your home by the local social services or police.  If you are in an immediate crisis or emergency, I will skip these steps and call emergency services immediately. 

I appreciate these options may feel scary or even unnecessary to you and if you’re ever unsure or worried about talking to me about risk or harm to yourself, please tell me. Your safety is my highest priority, and so I must respond appropriately if you disclose you are at risk of harming yourself. I will always try to include you as much as I can in this process and when it is safe to do so. 

Please note that mentioning suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm does not necessarily mean I need to call my supervisor. I will conduct a risk assessment and, if the risk high, it is only in this instance that I will call my supervisor. Thoughts of self-harm and suicide, or prior actions of harm to self, are very normal concerns to bring to therapy sessions and I am equipped to help you talk about your feelings and experiences independently when the associated risk to you is low-medium. 

 

If you let me know you think someone else (an adult, child or vulnerable person) is at risk of harm, I will call my supervisor for support following an initial risk assessment in session. I will ask you more about who this person is and those associated to them are and ask for some personal details about them. This is so that, if my supervisor directs me to, I can safeguard this person from harm. My supervisor may contact adult or child services for support, the local police or ambulance, or provide a list of avenues for support that individual may engage in. If it is a crisis emergency situation, they may call emergency services for support. 

I know that, sometimes, some of these actions may feel scary or unnecessary. I have a duty to prioritise the safety of you and others. Where it does not increase risk or breech another person’s right to privacy, I will try to include you in this process as much as possible. I encourage you to speak to me openly and directly if you have any concerns or want more information. 

It’s important to note that I do not need to take every instance of harm to others to my supervisor for support. I will conduct an in-session risk assessment to ascertain whether further action is needed to safeguard the other person. For children and vulnerable adults, I will almost always need to seek supervisor support if I am concerned about a risk.  

 

If you disclose information about a serious crime (listed above), I will contact my supervisor. I have a legal duty to report these crimes, and so I will have to make a statement and report this to the local police. It is unlikely that I will be able to share with you that I have reported this crime. 

 

If a judge or coroner makes a request for your notes, or when presented with a court order, I am legally obligated to share these notes. All notes are kept brief and general, and stored for seven years for insurance purposes. When and where appropriate, I will try and contact you to let you know that your notes have been requested and ask for your permission as a courtesy. You are also allowed to request your notes at any time. To do so, please email me at: kat@samepage.org.uk  

Please be aware that all policies are regularly updated and so may be subject to change. This policy was last updated in May 2026.