Safeguarding Policy

London Mind Rise - Psychotherapy and Mental Health Consultancy Ltd (company number 16126186)

This policy sets out how we protect the children, young people and adults we work with from abuse, neglect and harm, and what our therapists do if they are concerned about someone's safety. It follows the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026 and UK law, including the Children Act 1989 and 2004, the Care Act 2014 and the Data Protection Act 2018. In this policy, "we" means the company and "our therapists" means the therapists who provide therapy on its behalf.

Scope

This policy covers all our therapeutic work: with adults, with children and young people under 18, in person and online, and with clients living in the UK or abroad.

Our commitments

  • The welfare and safety of the person is our first consideration.

  • Our therapists keep their safeguarding training up to date and discuss safeguarding concerns in supervision.

  • We work openly with clients and, where safe and appropriate, involve them in decisions about their safety.

  • We share information only when it is necessary to protect someone, and only with the people who need it.

  • Our therapists record their concerns, their decisions and the reasons for them.

What counts as a safeguarding concern

  • Children and young people (under 18): physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, exploitation (including online and criminal exploitation), female genital mutilation, forced marriage and domestic abuse they witness or experience.

  • Adults at risk: adults with care and support needs who are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect and cannot protect themselves. This includes physical, sexual, psychological, financial and discriminatory abuse, neglect, self-neglect, modern slavery and domestic abuse.

  • Serious risk to life: a serious risk of suicide, or of serious harm to the client or to others.

What our therapists do if they are concerned

  1. Immediate danger: if anyone is in immediate danger, the therapist contacts the emergency services (999 in the UK, or the local emergency number where the client is).

  2. Talk with the client: where it is safe, the therapist explains their concern and what they may need to do, and listens to the client's views. They do not promise to keep information secret when they cannot.

  3. Consult: the therapist discusses the concern with their supervisor, without identifying the client where possible. They may also seek advice from the local authority, the NSPCC or their professional body's ethics service.

  4. Refer: if a referral is needed, the therapist contacts:

    • for a child: the children's social care team of the local authority where the child lives, or the police;

    • for an adult at risk: the adult social care team of the local authority where the adult lives, or the police.

  5. Record: the therapist makes a factual record of the concern, who they spoke to, what was decided and why, and keeps it securely with the client's records.

  6. Follow up: the therapist continues to support the client where possible and reviews the situation in supervision.

Sharing information without consent

We will usually seek consent before sharing information. We may share without consent where asking would put someone at greater risk, where the person lacks capacity, or where the law requires it. This includes court orders and information about terrorism or other serious crime. UK data protection law allows information to be shared for safeguarding purposes.

Clients living outside the UK

  • At the start of therapy, the therapist records where the client lives and the local emergency and support services there.

  • Our therapists find out and follow the legal reporting duties in the client's country, as well as in the UK. This covers child abuse, safeguarding, suicide risk and serious crime.

  • If a concern arises, the therapist contacts the local emergency or protection services in the client's country, and seeks advice where needed.

Working with children and young people

  • A parent or legal guardian signs a separate agreement before therapy starts. The therapist also assesses whether the young person can understand and consent to therapy themselves.

  • The therapist explains the limits of confidentiality in a way the young person can understand.

  • At each online session, the therapist checks where the young person is and that they are safe and private, and makes sure their parent or guardian can be reached in an emergency.

  • Our therapists contact young people only through their work phone number (including WhatsApp) or work email, for practical arrangements such as appointments, and with their parent or guardian's agreement. They do not use personal social media accounts to contact clients.

Concerns about a therapist

If anyone has a concern about how one of our therapists has behaved towards a child or an adult at risk, they can contact:

  • the company, using the details below;

  • the therapist's professional body. For therapists registered with BACP, this is BACP's Professional Conduct Procedure: www.bacp.co.uk;

  • for concerns about a child, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) of the area where the child lives;

  • the police, if a crime may have been committed.

Useful contacts

Emergency services (UK): 999

Police non-emergency (UK): 101

NSPCC helpline (concerns about a child, UK): 0808 800 5000

Samaritans (UK): 116 123

BACP Ethics service: ethics@bacp.co.uk

For clients who live outside the UK, the therapist records their local emergency services, crisis lines and an emergency contact in their client record when they start working together.

Who to contact with a concern

Please contact your therapist directly, or contact the company at +44 7596 644553 or rony@londonmindrise.co.uk. If your concern is about a therapist, please also see "Concerns about a therapist" above.

Review

We review this policy every year, and sooner if the law or the BACP Ethical Framework changes.