About Sesame therapists

Standard of ethical practice - for clients

Whether working in a group or individually, clients can expect the following procedures to apply:

• The therapist will make clear their qualifications, experience and specialist areas of practice.
• There will be some process whereby clients are asked to give their informed consent to starting therapy. Where the client is not an adult or has been deemed unable to give their consent, someone else - usually a parent, guardian or professional representative - will be asked to provide consent on the client's behalf.
• There will be an explicit statement of when and where the therapy will take place.
• There will be an explicit statement of the duration of the therapy on each occasion it occurs and an agreement between the therapist and client about the length of the entire therapy. Sometimes this may not be known at the onset of therapy, but there will be opportunity for regular reviews of the process.
• There will be a mutual agreement about how, when and sometimes why the therapy comes to an end. It is a general notion that therapy does not stop abruptly but that some time and attention is given to saying Goodbye and addressing any feelings and responses that may arise from this ending.
• The therapist will carry out some sort of assessment, whether formal or otherwise, with regard to the aims of this therapy. Sometimes they will take a case history, sometimes they might spend some time talking or working therapeutically with the client to establish the specific or general aims for the work.
• What is certain is that the therapist will make clear that the client is invited to work at their pace and at their emotional level. This can be summed up in the phrase, 'Do as much or as little as you choose'.

For service purchasers
Code of ethics