Complaints & Feedback Policy
Headstrong is committed to providing high quality mental health counselling services to clients with mild to moderate presentations. Headstrong seeks to always puts our clients and their needs first and to strive for a high quality of care. As a client-centred service, Headstrong considers clients as active participants in their care. Headstrong recognizes that there may be occasions when clients may wish to complain or provide feedback about some aspect of the counselling service which has been offered or received. We welcome any comments or suggestions about the counselling services we offer and use your feedback as a way of improving the care and service we provide.
We aim to ensure that complaints are dealt with in a timely manner and according to our values of quality, simplicity, and inclusion.
Headstrong seeks to respect the privacy and confidentiality of all parties involved where possible depending on the nature of the complaint. All information shared in any complaint or feedback is managed according to Headstrong’s privacy policy. Information shared in any complaint will only be reviewed and processed by relevant team members.
Complaints Procedures
Complaints can only be made by a client themselves. If the client is not able to provide written feedback themselves, a complaint should only be made with the client’s express consent. Please keep in mind that anonymous complaints, which should be made rarely, can only be dealt with if sufficient information and evidence can be provided.
Verbal Complaints
If you wish to make a complaint or discuss any issues you may have with the service or individual counselling you have received, we ask you first to bring this to the attention of your counsellor by discussing and attempting to resolve it with them if possible.
Written Complaints
If you are a current client and it has not possible to resolve your complaint verbally with your counsellor, or if you would like to share other feedback, you can provide feedback or make a formal complaint directly at any time through our form at this link: https://headstrong-pro.neetoform.com/f9c8404c-521d-431d-adae-6fa83cdb0c2e
If you are at the assessment stage or have completed therapy and would like to make a complaint or provide feedback, you can make a complaint or provide feedback via our email info@headstrongpro.co.uk, or using the following link: https://headstrong-pro.neetoform.com/f9c8404c-521d-431d-adae-6fa83cdb0c2e
For any complaint, please describe as fully as possible the nature of your concern, stating the following information:
What are you unhappy about.
When the incident took place.
Which counsellors or staff were around at the time.
Timeline for managing complaints.
To improve the quality of Headstrong’s response to any complaint, we ask that you speak with your counsellor or make a written submission within four weeks of the incident or event you would like to report.
Any written complaint you make to Headstrong will be acknowledged within 10 working days. The responsible manager will conduct a full investigation of the nature of your complaint or concern. A full reply will be sent to you within 15 working days, including their conclusions and any actions that will or have been taken. If a full reply cannot be given within 15 working days, we will write to you to explain the reason for the delay. If the manager considers that it would be important to interview you to understand the complaint more fully and if you agree to this, you also have the right to be accompanied by a person of your choosing.
Further information
Headstrong abides by the BACP’s Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. If you have an unresolved complaint that has gone through Headstrong’s feedback & complaints process, has not been resolved to your satisfaction and you wish to take it further, you can contact the BACP www.bacp.co.uk. If an unresolved matter relates to payments, you can take this to the Financial Ombudsman www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ .
Headstrong counsellors practice according to the ethics and regulations of their own accrediting body. If you have an unresolved complaint that has gone through Headstrong’s feedback & complaints process, has not been resolved to your satisfaction and you wish to take it further, you can contact the accrediting body of your counsellor.