Contracting and confidentiality in the peer accompaniment context 

Contracting is an important element of any accompaniment relationship, and is essential for establishing boundaries and safety. It also helps to ensure expectations are understood and mutually shared.

We will be covering this in more depth as the year progresses, but for now notice how your group tutor contracts with you in your sessions with them, and how this feels for you.

Take time to practice this element with your peer companion. Ensure your contract is clear and shared, and practice the skills of intention setting, pre-work to prepare yourself, and inner opening.

You must also specifically address confidentiality when contracting. 

When writing up your notes, remember that clients have the right to ask to read your notes about them, which very occasionally happens. Remember that the confidentiality of your work with your peer, and the notes you make about these sessions, is an important aspect of the skills you will be learning and practising.

When writing up your case studies do not mention the client’s name. Only the issues, not the individual, will be discussed at supervision.

(While tutors will know the identity of your peer, it is still good practice to maintain this approach as if they do not. If tutors or supervisors are concerned about the “student client” as a result of reading or hearing case notes they will ask the student counsellor to ask the client for permission to pass on their name. If tutors or supervisors feel this code has been, or has to be, broken for any reason they will inform both student counsellors and student clients).

Please use the confidentiality statement below and discuss it with your client before spiritual accompaniment takes place.  

OneSpirit’s Confidentiality Statement

We understand that sometimes information is regarded as sensitive and private, and we want to respect that. Please be aware that sometimes we may need to share information internally, with colleagues, in order to ensure we provide you and others the necessary support. We will explain why and how such information is to be shared in such cases, and who with, so that you have the opportunity to withhold permission.

We may also need to breach confidentiality in extreme circumstances such as:

• A serious risk to your own health and welfare.

• If your behaviour presents a serious risk to the legal rights of others.

• When staff have been placed in a position that compromises their professional integrity

• When disclosure is required by law.

If any of the above circumstances were to arise, we would seek to discuss the situation with you before breaching confidentiality, although this may not be possible in certain circumstances where safeguarding has to take priority.

Trust helps to create and protect a sacred space, a sense of being held safely. OneSpirit recognises the need for an approach to confidentiality that encourages individual openness while establishing best practice in how and when personal information is held and shared.

Confidentiality within the Training Context

Our tutors and operations staff need to share relevant information about students and course participants in order to provide the best possible care and support. This can take the form of notes on our secure password protected databases, discussion in meetings or internal forums and secure messaging platforms, including email. Any conversation or written communication may be shared unless specifically requested by an individual student not to do so. A request for confidentiality will be respected unless there are legal or contractual reasons not to do so, or safeguarding concerns that must take precedence. If confidentiality cannot be maintained the individual will be informed as soon as possible.

Confidentiality Between Minister and Client

OneSpirit ministers will not discuss privileged conversations outside OneSpirit’s legitimate forums of support, for example in supervision, and then by focusing on the issues and only identifying the individuals concerned when absolutely necessary.

In contracting with clients, OneSpirit ministers will explain the limits of confidentiality and what their clients can expect.

All students are taught OneSpirit’s Confidentiality statement and are encouraged to adapt this for their own use following ordination.

Confidentiality and the Law

Three aspects of UK law impact on this document; Data Protection Act, Terrorism Act, and the Children Act 2014. There are legal requirements with regard to disclosure, mainly related to terrorism, child abuse and data protection.

Case Study 1: Guidance 

Due 19 January

Write up the experience of Case Study 1, from the perspective of all three sessions, as counsellor and client, using the guidelines provided below. (See also Peer Counselling Guidance notes in this Gateway).

NB: You will be asked to re-write your Case Study if it does not follow this format.  

Upload your case study via the student portal by 19 January

Please submit your work in 2000 – 2500 words (approx 4 pages in total in size 11/12 font with normal margins). These 4 pages should be made up of the following elements:

• Content Summary (max three quarters of a page in total)
• Process Summary (max three quarters of a page in total)
• Learning Review (max one and a half pages in total)
• Reflection on process of supervision (max half a page in total)
• Reflection on process of being a client (max half a page in total) 

Below you will find some further guidance on each of these elements.

Record the dates and timings of the three sessions.

Write a Content Summary (max three quarters of a page in total) from the perspective of the counsellor of all three sessions, seeing all three as a whole, using your session notes to guide your input. Please include: 

1. the presenting issue; 
2. the underlying issue; 
3. the primal lie and the main defences of your peer client.

Please write about your own impressions of these areas and what brings you to these conclusions in a way that does not breach the confidentiality of your partner through unnecessarily disclosing private information.

Write a Process Summary (max three quarters of a page in total) from the perspective of the counsellor of all three sessions, seeing all three as a whole, using your session notes to guide your input. Please include, along with your other reflections, your tracking of the way in which you received guidance (or whatever your language is for this impulse) before, during and after the sessions.

Meditate upon your development as a student of spiritual counselling and then write a Learning Review on the basis of the following four headings: (max one and a half pages in total). These headings follow a structure known as the Conscience Competence Learning model, which you can read about here: https://www.revolutionlearning.co.uk/article/conscious-competence-learning-model/

1). Those things that I have integrated into my learning (unconsciously skilled – they have become second nature)

2). Those things that I am presently consolidating (consciously skilled – I have to think about it, but I do this)

3). Those things that I am developing my understanding of more fully (consciously unskilled – I’m actively working towards being able to do this)

4). Those things that are opening up to me (just emerging from unconsciously unskilled– it’s come into my awareness that this is something I want to be able to do)

Reflect on the process of supervision, recording your learning through the supervision you received . (max half a page).

Reflect on the process of being a client – what have you learned that will help you as a counsellor (max half a page).

Complete three sessions as companion with your spiritual accompaniment peer for your ‘in-house’ case study and write up notes from the companion’s perspective, using the guidelines.

Receive three spiritual accompaniment sessions as client with your peer and write up notes from the client’s perspective.

Reflect on the spiritual accompaniment foundation skills of self-awareness and reflection.

Case Study 1 is due by 19 January 2024 (further guidance will be shared soon).  

You will need to engage in at least one online group supervision to support Case Study 1. 

Spiritual Accompaniment with your peer

Give and receive 50-60 minute sessions with your new spiritual accompaniment peer and write notes from the counsellor and client perspective.

Ensure your contract is clear and shared, and practice the skills of intention setting, pre-work to prepare yourself, and inner opening.

By the end of the year you need to have given and received 7 sessions. This means you need to do one set of sessions (i.e. giving and receiving) per month. There will be an exercise reflecting on the process which needs to be completed before Gateway 5.

These are formal spiritual accompaniment sessions, not conversations, and you are urged to start the relationship with clear contracting, and with as open a heart as possible, setting aside your ideas about who your peer is.

• Start with a prayer, silence, devotional practice or meditation.
• Give particular attention to your own and your peer’s relationship with the Divine.
• Engage in agreeing the practicalities of timing and the medium of communication in order to practice contracting with clients in the future.
• Take time to establish an agreement around confidentiality, using the OneSpirit confidentiality statement (see below).
• Focus on a deepening understanding of each other, maybe using your first year Creation assignment and your Lifeline, if you still have it, as a way to build a doorway into who you are.
• Include your impressions of any aspects of the second year opening residential.
• Focus on connecting and gently deepening connection with each other. Seek to clear yourself of assumptions about each other, based on the year passed: open to a new beginning.

Write-up notes of half a page to a page, both from the perspective of receiving and giving the sessions.

Whilst these notes are confidential to you, it is essential to understand that clients have the right to ask to read your notes about them, which occasionally happens. We will discuss this further in class.

Your notes are essential for your own self supervision, and they will help you when the time comes to write up Case Study 1 and 2, and when you write up your understanding of Spiritual Counselling/Accompaniment at the end of the year. The confidentiality of your work with your peer, and the notes you make about these sessions, is an important aspect, and will be discussed further as this is a nuanced situation.

The first six sessions (3 as counsellor and 3 as client) constitute Case Study 1, so pay close attention to note-taking and self-supervision of this process. You are required to attend at least one group supervision session during this period.

We will take time together to look in more detail at the role of peer and group supervision in supporting your ministry. 

You should use the confidentiality statement below and discuss it with your client before counselling takes place. When writing up your case studies do not mention the client’s name and only the issues, not the individual, will be discussed at supervision. (While tutors will of course know the identity of your peer, it is still good practice to maintain this approach as if they do not. If tutors or supervisors are concerned about the “student client” as a result of reading or hearing case notes they will ask the student counsellor to ask the client for permission to pass on their name. If tutors or supervisors feel this code has been, or has to be, broken for any reason they will inform both student counsellors and student clients).

OneSpirit’s confidentiality statement:

Our confidentiality statement is:

• We understand that sometimes information is regarded as sensitive and private and we want to respect that.
• Please be aware that sometimes we may need to share information internally, with colleagues, in order to ensure we provide you and others the necessary support. We will explain why and how such information is to be shared in such cases, and who with, so that you have the opportunity to withhold permission.
• We may also need to breach confidentiality in extreme circumstances such as:
  • A serious risk to your own health and welfare.
  • If your behaviour presents a serious risk to the legal rights of others.
  • When staff have been placed in a position that compromises their professional integrity
  • When disclosure is required by law.
  • If any of the above circumstances were to arise, before any decision was made to breach confidentiality, the situation would be discussed with you.