My commitment to the safety and welfare of clients, including children, young people, and vulnerable adults
Whole Thread Therapy is committed to the safety and welfare of all clients, including children, young people, and vulnerable adults. I hold an Enhanced DBS certificate and keep my safeguarding training up to date. This applies across all of my work — 1:1 therapy, family work, group programmes, and home-education-based provision.
This policy is informed by the Children Act 1989 and 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024), the Care Act 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1985] and the Fraser Guidelines, and the NCPS Code of Ethics.
All direct work with under-18s requires written parental or carer consent prior to beginning, a safety plan agreed with the young person, and clear agreement about what will and will not be shared with parents or carers.
In some circumstances, a young person under 16 may access support without parental consent if they demonstrate sufficient maturity and understanding. Where this applies, I will assess carefully, consult my supervisor, and obtain the young person's own emergency contact details. Gillick competence does not remove safeguarding obligations.
A number of the young people I work with are home educated. Where a child isn't in a school setting, there is no equivalent safeguarding lead or daily point of contact outside the family — so I take particular care to establish clear emergency contacts, a safety plan, and an understanding with the young person and their parent/carer about how concerns would be raised and with whom, right from the outset of our work together.
For group-based work with children and young people, the same principles apply to every participant individually: written consent prior to beginning, an individual safety plan where appropriate, and clarity about confidentiality both between me and each young person, and as a group norm shared with all participants.
Where an adult client may be a vulnerable adult under the Care Act 2014 — for example, due to a health condition, disability, or care and support needs that affect their ability to protect themselves from harm or exploitation — the same principle applies: I will always try to discuss a concern with you first, wherever it is safe to do so, before taking any further action.
If I become concerned about the safety of a client or someone else, I have a professional and legal duty to act. This might mean speaking with my clinical supervisor, contacting the relevant Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or children's/adult social care team, or, in an emergency, contacting the police. I will always try to tell you first where it is safe to do so, and will only share what is necessary.
Confidentiality and safeguarding: Everything shared with me is held in confidence, except where I believe a client or someone else is at serious risk of harm, or where there is a safeguarding concern involving a child or vulnerable adult. This is set out in full in your therapy agreement.
For participants on Whole Thread Therapy CPD courses, safeguarding obligations sit differently — you are qualified professionals attending in a training capacity, not clients. Where training content touches on a participant's own practice or caseload, ordinary professional boundaries and confidentiality apply. If, during a course, I become aware of information suggesting a genuine safeguarding risk to a named child, vulnerable adult, or other identifiable individual, I will treat this with the same seriousness as outlined above and may need to act on it.
This policy is not a substitute for emergency support. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please contact emergency services directly.