Pro Bono Four Free Counselling Sessions Terms & Conditions
These Terms & Conditions are designed to inform clients of the objectives and their rights of using the first four Pro Bono counselling services at Soul Glad.
- General Objectives :
Soul Glad’s Pro Bono Counselling Service aims to offer an alternative platform to clients with less budget to experience quality counselling services. Our Pro Bono counsellors possess relevant graduate qualifications in counselling but may vary in practicing experiences, ranging from very experienced counsellors to fresh graduates. Our experienced counsellors wish to give back to society while our fresh graduates need to build up their counselling experience from this Pro Bono service.
- Qualifications :
Our Pro Bono counsellors hold at least a university degree in relevant fields. Their details can be found on our Pro Bono Counsellors page. Please email Soul Glad at support@soul-glad.comshould you have any concerns about the qualifications and practices of the Counsellors.
- Charging Arrangement :
(a). Our Pro Bono counselling service is limited to a maximum of FOUR (4) sessions of 1 hour for each session per person. Clients are restricted to have a total of FOUR (4) Pro Bono sessions from Soul Glad only regardless of any change of counsellors. Clients will be officially charged if they decide to continue to book a 5th session at Soul Glad.
(b). The charges thereafter for the 5th to 8th sessions will follow the rate of the respective counsellors chosen, subject to any discounts between the client and the counsellor but with a minimum of at least HK$300 per session. The counsellors will charge the clients on her / his normal scale should there be a 9th session thereafter.
(c). All Pro Bono counselling service will be charged with a one-off Administrative Fee of HK$200. This fee can be refunded upon request after the client has completed all 4 free sessions. If the client does not request for a refund of this administration fee, this amount will be allocated to their counsellor’s development fund for him/her to go for supervision or further training.
(d.) We also welcome any monetary patronage to our Pro Bono counsellors to enable them to go for supervision or for their further clinical development. If anyone would like to pay a tribute to support their counsellor’s development, please contact us directly or visit our website.
- Confidentiality and Boundaries :
(a.) Soul Glad will not disclose any of the clients’ information to counsellors nor the counsellor’s information to the clients except those that is already on the website.
(b). Counsellors may take notes during the meetings, and will not share this information with anyone without the client’s consent except with their clinical supervisor for their client’s improvement or law ground. However, all personal information of the client will not be disclosed to their supervisor to protect the client’s anonymity.
(c). All counselling notes will be kept by the client’s counsellor only. However, if the client wishes to change counsellors at Soul Glad, the counsellors may share their information with each other for the benefit of the client’s progress.
(d). Exception on confidentiality of any of client’s information will be applied if the counsellor deems that the client may be at risk of seriously harming yourself or others. Counsellors may take emergency actions such as contacting the police, ambulance or the emergency contact person provided by the client.
(e). Under certain circumstances where Soul Glad or the counsellor deems it necessary to make any recording during the meetings, either audio or in video form, for the sake of protection to our counsellors or Soul Glad, such recordings will be made with the notification to the client before the session takes place. If the client refuses for such recordings to be made under such circumstances, Soul Glad and the counsellor has the right to terminate the therapeutic contract with the client. Such recordings will be kept by Soul Glad only and will not be passed to the counsellor to safeguard Soul Glad’s liability.
(f.) All counsellors at Soul Glad and Soul Glad has the right to refuse to take any clients as well as terminate any contract between the counsellor and the client at any time without the need to provide any reason to the client.
- Educational purposes :
If the counsellor wishes to take any recordings either in audio or video form, Clients will be informed beforehand and clients will have the right to consent or reject such recordings. These recordings will be provided to the counsellor for his/her education purpose. All personal identification of the client may be masked to protect the client’s identity should the client wishes to do so.
- Communication outside the session :
All forms of communication should be conducted within the meeting. Contacts with counsellors in any form should be kept at a minimal outside the meeting sessions via Soul Glad. It is not advisable for clients to meet with the counsellor and vice versa outside of Soul Glad’s online platform.
- Booking and Cancellation :
All session bookings and online payment can be made via Soul Glad’s website. Clients will receive an email of confirmation upon a successful booking. If a reschedule or cancellation of the booking is necessary, notification to Soul Glad has to be given at support@soul-glad.comat least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting. Any notification less than 24 hours will be considered as “No Show” by the client and be counted as 1 session provided. The Administration Fee of HK$200 paid will not be refunded even upon request if there is any ‘No Show’ recorded by Soul Glad on the client. In case of rescheduling or cancellation, Soul Glad will contact the counsellor on the client’s behalf.
- Assignment of Pro Bono Counsellors :
(a). Clients have a right to choose their preference of counsellor from our list of Pro Bono Counsellors. However, Soul Glad cannot guarantee that clients will be assigned with their choice of counsellor subject to the counsellor’s availability and preference as well.
(b). There may be a waiting line for the counsellor of the client’s choice and the client will be notified of how long the wait will be. Under this circumstance, the client is free to choose another counsellor or allow Soul Glad to assign one for the client at the soonest availability.
(c). All counsellors have the right to reject to serve any client after any meetings. Should clients have any concern or complaint regarding any of the counsellors or their counselling service, please email Soul Glad at support@soul-glad.com. Soul Glad will try our best to respond to all questions or complaints within 2 working days.
- Technology and Encryption :
All online meetings scheduled will be conducted via the software known as “Zoom”. Zoom has a high level of encryption that offers a sufficient standard of confidentiality and security for this kind of work. However, Soul Glad does not accept any responsibility if the Zoom network is compromised during the use of service or any circumstances that Soul Glad is not able to control.
Please take note that you should only make an appointment with Soul Glad if you agree to the terms set out above.