About Us

Counselling Connections

Counselling Connections is the sister company to Counselling Matters and was established in 2018 to provide EAP and related services, where a third-party is funding the work. While Counselling Connections is the new kid on the block, Counselling Matters has been serving the Liverpool community since 2008. 

Both companies are owned by Dave and Laura Rutlidge, each of whom is a fully qualified and experienced counsellor with extensive experience. We both have NHS experience, and have done extensive post-qualification training including specialist trauma training. We are qualified to deliver multiple counselling modalities, including EMDR. We have also engaged the services of other counsellors in our busy and growing practice.   

 

Confidentiality

In general, everything discussed in counselling stays between client and counsellor, but there are some exceptions. In a nutshell:

  • counsellors are legally obliged to report anything terror-related.
  • if someone is at significant risk of serious harm, a counsellor may have to act on that information, but this would usually be discussed with the client before any action was taken.
  • private counselling does not form part of a client’s NHS record.
  • counsellors would not otherwise inform an employer or other third-party of anything discussed in therapy, even if the third-party is funding therapy.
  • if any letter or report was required, the contents of the letter would be agreed with the client before it was sent.

Supervision and note-taking

All counsellors in the UK are required by their professional body to have their work supervised by an experienced practitioner and to keep appropriate notes of all work undertaken. While your counsellor may talk about their work in supervision, individual clients are not identified. 

All notes are kept securely by the counsellor themselves, and Counselling Connections do not have access to them. Clients can always request a copy of their notes directly from their counsellor, and these will be provided within 28 days, without charge.
 

Ethics

Each of our counsellors are members of a recognised professional body, and are listed on their accredited voluntary register (AVR) of the society. Each counsellor is obliged to follow the relevant code of ethical conduct. You can download the ethical frameworks for each of the professional bodies below:

You can also check the AVR of each society: