Put clients first.

Expat Therapy Hub is an international therapy platform and country-specific governing bodies and guidelines vary.  We ask that you respect different cultures and take this into consideration when treating your clients.  

• Please make sure each client the primary focus of your attention during therapy sessions.

• Give careful consideration to how to manage situations and best protect a client if you think they may be at risk or at risk of serious harm from others - treating confidentiality with the upmost respect.

• Do everything you can to develop and protect your clients’ trust.

• Consider that when satisfying professional standards requires consulting others with relevant expertise, seeking second opinions, or making referrals, you will do so in ways that meet commitments and obligations for client confidentiality and data protection.

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Keep skills and knowledge up to date.
• Read professional journals, books and/or reliable electronic resources
• Keep informed of any relevant research and evidence-based guidance
• Have discussions with colleagues working with similar issues
• Review knowledge and skills in supervision or discussion with experienced practitioners

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Keep accurate records.

• Keep adequate, relevant records that are limited to what is necessary for the service being provided

• Keep records that comply with the applicable data protection requirements

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Insurance

Make sure you are  covered by adequate insurance for providing online therapy services to the public, unless such insurance isn't available where you practice.

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Respect

• You will respect your clients’ privacy and dignity.

• You will endeavour to demonstrate equality, value diversity and ensure inclusion for all clients
• Accept we are all vulnerable to prejudice and recognise the importance of self-inquiry, personal feedback and professional development
• Work with issues of identity in open-minded ways that respect the client
• You will challenge assumptions that any sexual orientation or gender identity is inherently preferable to any other and will not attempt to bring about a change of sexual orientation or gender identity or seek to suppress an individual’s expression of sexual orientation or gender identity
• You will recognise when your knowledge of key aspects of your client’s background, identity or lifestyle is inadequate and take steps to inform yourselves from other sources where available and appropriate, rather than expecting the client to teach us
• You'll be open-minded with clients who appear similar to yourselves or possess familiar characteristics so that we do not suppress or neglect what is distinctive in their lives

• You will work with clients on the basis of their informed consent and agreement. Expat Therapy Hub recognise that exceptional situations may arise where you may need to prioritise the safety of the client or others over your client’s wishes and confidentiality .

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Working with under 18's
• Take account of their capacity to give informed consent, considering whether it is appropriate to seek the consent of others who have parental responsibility for the young person, and their best interests
• Demonstrate knowledge and skills about ways of working that are appropriate to the young person’s development and how relationships are formed
• Demonstrate a sound knowledge of the law relevant to working with young people (in your location) and their human rights
• Give careful consideration to obtaining and respecting the consent of vulnerable adult clients, wherever they have the capacity to give consent, or involving anyone who provides care for these clients when appropriate.

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Building an appropriate relationship

You will establish and maintain appropriate professional and personal boundaries in your relationships with clients by ensuring that:
• these boundaries are consistent with the aims of working together and beneficial to your client
• any dual or multiple relationships will be avoided where the risks of harm to your client outweigh any benefits to your client
• reasonable care is taken to separate and maintain a distinction between your personal and professional presence on social media where this could result in harmful dual relationships with your clients
 

You will not have sexual relationships with or behave sexually towards your clients, supervisees or Expat Therapy Hub staff

 

You will not exploit or abuse your clients in any way: financially, emotionally, physically, sexually or spiritually.

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End of treatment sessions and annual leave 

• You will endeavour to inform clients well in advance of approaching endings and be sensitive to your client’s expectations and concerns when approaching the end therapy.

• You will inform your clients in advance of any planned breaks in working together, for example, holidays or medical treatments, and give as much notice as possible.

• Any unplanned breaks due to illness or other causes should be managed in ways that minimise inconveniencing your clients.

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Complaints or disciplinary procedures 

•You will promptly notify Expat Therapy Hub about any criminal charges or disciplinary procedures brought against you by a client of yours.

•You will encourage clients to raise any concerns about our work with them at the earliest possible opportunity, give any concerns careful consideration and, when appropriate, attempt to resolve them.

• Make clients aware of the Expat Therapy Hub Complaints Procedure available from the expattherapyhub.com footer

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Accountability

• You will discuss with clients how best to work towards their desired outcomes and any known risks involved in the work.

• You will ensure candour by being open and honest about anything going wrong and promptly inform your clients of anything in our work that places clients at risk of harm, or has caused them harm, whether or not the client(s) affected are aware of what has occurred by taking the following steps:
• You will take immediate action to prevent or limit any harm
• You will offer an apology when this is appropriate
•  You will notify and discuss with your supervisor and/or Expat Therapy Hub staff what has occurred
• You will take action to avoid whatever has gone wrong being repeated

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Confidentiality

• You will actively protecting information about clients from unauthorised access or disclosure
• You will inform clients about any reasonably foreseeable limitations of privacy or confidentiality
• Ensure that disclosure of personally identifiable information about clients is authorised by client consent or that there is a legally and ethically recognised justification

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Supervision

Supervision is essential to how practitioners sustain good practice throughout their working life. Supervision provides practitioners with regular and ongoing opportunities to reflect in depth about all aspects of their practice in order to work as effectively, safely and ethically as possible. Supervision also sustains the personal resourcefulness required to undertake the work.

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All communications concerning your clients made in the context of supervision will be consistent with confidentiality agreements with the clients concerned and compatible with any applicable agency policy.