Intake and consent

Before your first counselling session, Deborah asks you to complete a short intake form. This page shows exactly what it asks and what you agree to, so you can read it in your own time rather than for the first time after booking.

The essential terms — confidentiality, fees and cancellation, and how sessions run — are agreed earlier, when you book, through the Counselling Service Agreement. This form is the clinical detail that follows it: neither replaces the other, and both records are kept.

The form itself arrives with your booking confirmation. There is nothing to fill in here — this page is for reading.

It applies to counselling sessions only. A free Fit Call is not a counselling session — it is a short conversation to work out whether working together feels right — so there is no form to complete and nothing to agree to beforehand.

Before the form

Thank you for taking this step. This short form helps Deborah support you safely from your very first session. It only takes a few minutes.

Everything you share with Deborah is confidential. There are a small number of situations where the law requires or allows information to be shared — if a court requires it, if it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety, or where child-protection reporting obligations apply. Only what is needed for the purpose is shared, and wherever it is safe and lawful, Deborah will talk it through with you first.

Your records are stored securely and only accessible to authorised people. You have the right to ask what's on file and to access your records at any time.

Our Privacy Policy sets out in full how your information is held and who it may be shared with.

What the form asks

Five questions. Only the last one is optional.

• Full Name
• Date of Birth
• Best contact number or email
• Emergency contact name & number
• Briefly, what's on your mind? — optional
  There are no right answers — just share as little or as much as you're comfortable with.

What you agree to

The form asks you to confirm each of the following. There are no optional statements — a session cannot go ahead without all of them.

1. I understand that my sessions are confidential, with the exceptions described above.
2. I understand how my personal information is stored and that I can access it on request.
3. I understand that sessions are held online by video call, and that I need a private space and a reliable internet connection.
4. I understand that payment is made at the time of booking, and that cancelling with less than 24 hours' notice means a 50% refund — unless I cancel within an hour of booking, which is always refunded in full. Read the fees and cancellation policy.
5. I'm happy to proceed with counselling at Reflect Renew on this basis.

If the client is under 18

Deborah works with clients of all ages. Australian law sets no fixed age at which a young person can consent to their own counselling — it depends on their maturity and understanding, and it is something Deborah assesses and talks through with each young person and family. Her starting point for anyone under 18 is the parent-or-guardian path  below.

Where the client is under 18, a parent or guardian completes the rest of the form and gives consent on their behalf, and the statements above are replaced by the ones below. The form does this on its own once a date of birth is entered — there is nothing separate to request.

As above, this applies to counselling sessions. A Fit Call has no form either way, so a young person can book one and talk to Deborah first.

What a parent or guardian is told

Counselling works best when a young person can speak freely, so what your child tells Deborah is treated as confidential in the same way it would be for an adult client. That means Deborah will not routinely report back what is said in a session.

There are limits, and they are the same ones that apply for an adult client: a court requirement, a serious threat to your child's or someone else's life, health or safety, or child-protection reporting obligations. Where information does need to be shared, only what is needed is shared — and wherever it is safe and lawful, she will speak with you first. Deborah will talk through where that boundary sits with you and your child at the start, so that everyone knows what to expect — and you are welcome to raise a concern with her at any time.

What a parent or guardian is asked

• Parent or guardian's full name
• Relationship to the young person
  For example: mother, father, legal guardian, kinship carer.
• Your contact number and email
  Deborah's route to you, separate from your child's own contact details above.
• Are there any court orders or intervention orders in place? — No or Yes
  Orders that affect who can consent to counselling for your child, or who may have contact with them.
• If yes, what should Deborah know? — optional
  A short summary is enough — she will follow up with you before the session.

What a parent or guardian agrees to

1. I have parental responsibility for this young person and am able to consent to counselling for them. To the best of my knowledge, no court order prevents me from doing so, and no one else who shares parental responsibility objects.
2. This young person knows about these sessions and is willing to attend. I understand Deborah will also check that with them herself.
3. I have told Deborah about any court orders or intervention orders affecting who can consent to counselling for this young person, or who may have contact with them.
4. I understand that my child's sessions are confidential, and what Deborah will and will not share with me, as described above.
5. I understand how my child's personal information is stored, and that records are kept until they turn 25 or for seven years after their last session, whichever is longer.
6. I understand that sessions are held online by video call, and that my child needs a private space and a reliable internet connection.
7. I understand that payment is made at the time of booking, and that cancelling with less than 24 hours' notice means a 50% refund — unless I cancel within an hour of booking, which is always refunded in full. Read the fees and cancellation policy.
8. I'm happy for counselling at Reflect Renew to go ahead on this basis.

Questions about any of this

If something here is unclear, or you would like to talk it through before booking, email deborah@reflectrenew.com.au — Deborah is happy to help. You can also read our fees and cancellation policy, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.