Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy 

[I / We] understand how important your privacy is. [I / We] take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of the BACP. These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that your therapist  conducts themselves with professionalism and integrity.   

In order to provide you with the best service possible, [I /we] will hold your personal contact details and records of your therapy sessions. Please find below important information about how this information will be held and used.

Your personal information

At the point of booking your initial consultation with [me/us], you will be asked for your personal contact information, for example your name, address, email address and telephone number and you may also choose to share details of the issues you are looking for help with.

Your contact information is stored securely  and can only be accessed by me.

In order to be able to fulfil [our/my] duty of care to you, in your initial consultation or first treatment session, [I / your therapist] will ask you for contact information for your GP and elected Emergency Contact person. These details will be stored securely and will only be accessible to me / your therapist.

This personal information will be held for the duration of your therapy after which it will be deleted from my database.

Please note that [I /we] will need to keep a record of your name and client reference number for seven years after the end of your therapy, so that we can respond effectively to any potential requests regarding your clinical notes and treatment.

[I / We] will never pass on your contact details to any third party organisations for the purposes of sales, marketing or research and will never use your personal data for any purposes other than the administration of the counselling service [I am /we are] providing to you i.e. to arrange, cancel and rearrange appointments and collect payment for sessions.

Your therapy sessions

Confidentiality

Everything that you discuss with [me / your therapist is confidential. Confidentiality will only be broken if there is concern about your safety or the safety of someone else or [I am / we are] instructed to do so by a Court of Law. [I /We] will always endeavour to speak to you about this first.

During remote working [I / your therapist] will ensure that [I am / they are] conducting online and telephone sessions in a quiet, private and confidential setting. [I /We] have selected video calling platforms that offer end to end encryption to ensure maximum privacy. Please note however that [I /we] cannot be held responsible for any breaches that occur due to failures in this technology.

[I discuss / Your therapist discusses] [my / their] clinical work with a supervisor. This is to ensure that [I am / they are] offering you the best service possible. These conversations are bound by confidentiality and you will only be referred to by your first name.

[I keep /Your therapist will also keep] notes of each session. These are anonymised and are stored in a locked filing cabinet or within a password protected file system. These notes are minimal and for [my /your therapist’s] use only and help to keep a track of everything that is being discussed. In line with industry guidelines, these notes will be kept securely for up to seven years after your therapy comes to an end. After this time, they will be confidentially destroyed.

If your sessions are paid for or arranged via a third party, (e.g. your employer, a friend, or a family member), other than payment requests, invoices or receipts your counselling information will not be shared. Details about what is discussed in your sessions will remain confidential between [us / you and your therapist]. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.

Your communications with us

My email account is password protected and if you send an email only I  will have access to it.

All phones, tablets and laptops used to respond to your emails are encrypted, fully protected with anti-virus software.

Data Usage

 [I /We] will only use your email address and telephone number to contact you about your appointments. [I /Your therapist may also contact you directly via email in order to share information with you that is pertinent to your therapeutic process.

Your phone number may also be used to issue appointment reminders via text message. You can opt in or out of text updates .

Your rights

Any personal data retained by [me / our service or your therapist] is kept in accordance with the GDPR, 2018.

Under these guidelines you have the following rights

The right to request access to your data

You can request to view the information that [I /we] hold about you (contact details, appointment logs etc.) at any time. If during therapy you would like to see your session notes, please [let me know / make this request to your therapist directly]. Should you require a copy of your notes after your therapy has come to an end you can make this request by emailing withpaola.c@gmail.com or calling 07547222576

The right of rectification

At any point during your time using [my / our] service or during the seven years thereafter, while we retain your records, you have the right to request amendments to your contact details or session notes. This right can be exercised either by speaking directly to [me /your therapist] or by contacting [me / us] in writing.

The right to be forgotten

You can request that [I /we] delete and confidentially destroy the information that [I /we] hold about you and your sessions at any time. This request can be made by contacting me / our admin office at withpaola.c@gmail.com

Instances where [I /we] would not be able to comply with your request are as follows:

a) It is necessary for [me /us] to retain these records in order to continue providing an effective service

b) [I am /We are] compelled to retain these records by a Court of Law

c) [I / We] require these records in order to establish, exercise or defend legal claims

Consent

You are entitled to withdraw this consent at any time and can do so by emailing [me  /our office]at:  withpaola.c@gmail.com

Breaches of data protection

In the event of any breach of [my /our ]data protection policies, [I /we] will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this immediately.

Safeguarding 
In the UK, safeguarding means protecting peoples' health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect
In our sector, we understand it to mean protecting people, including  and at vulnerable/at risk adults and children, from harm that might arise from coming into contact with our staff or programmes.  
Safeguarding means taking all reasonable steps to prevent harm, particularly sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment from occurring; to protect people, especially vulnerable adults and children, from that harm; and to respond appropriately when harm does occur.
Safeguarding applies consistently and without exception across our programmes, partners and staff. It requires proactively identifying, preventing and guarding against all risks of harm, exploitation and abuse and having mature, accountable and transparent systems for response, reporting and learning when risks materialise. 
Safeguarding puts beneficiaries and affected persons at the centre of all we do.