Privacy Policy

I am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP) and I abide by both their ethical framework and code of conduct for the counselling professions. As an integrative therapist I incorporate Person Centred Approach, Attachment Theory and Cognitive Behavioural techniques.

I am committed to providing a safe, therapeutic environment for my clients. We are both making a commitment of time and energy to each other in deciding to work together. It is important for you to know what agreements we are making together and what to expect.

Confidentiality

The content of the sessions is confidential to you and me. However, in some circumstances there are limits to this. Firstly, and in accordance with professional practice guidelines, I am required to discuss our work with a clinical supervisor who is also bound by the BACP framework. All personal information will remain confidential and identifying details will not be used within supervision. Secondly, the limits to confidentiality are guided by law and ethics and there are certain exceptional circumstances where I am required to share information shared in the session with other professionals. Certain exceptional circumstances that may lead to this are: if you disclose that you or others may be at risk of serious harm, including issues related to child or vulnerable adult protection or serious suicidal intent; criminal intent; drug trafficking; information related to terrorism. Where possible I will discuss this with you first and seek to gain your consent to do so. However, there might be a time where we do not agree about this, and in such an instance I will take this to my clinical supervisor for guidance. 

Protecting your Data

Your privacy is very important to me and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Information about you

In order to fulfil my responsibilities as a therapist I will need to record personal information about you. This information includes your name and contact details and those of your GP. Your contact details will be used to contact you and to verify your identity if there is a request to access your personal data from yourself or your representative or legitimate legal instrument such as a court order. This personal information will be held securely and confidentially for a period of three years after the cessation of our counselling relationship, except where there is a mutually agreed decision to retain it for longer or where in my professional judgement it is appropriate to do so.

Your contact details alone will only be shared in exceptional circumstances with my supervisor or other named agent in the event that I am incapacitated so that they can contact you to explain the situation.

Information about counselling sessions and our work together

I will record notes of each therapy session under an anonymous identifying code. These notes will be a brief factual record of a session and are held securely and separately from the contact information above. These notes may only be shared under the anonymous identifying code with my supervisor, counselling professional body, or similar, for purposes of maintaining professional standards and aiding my professional development.  These notes will be held for a period of seven years after the cessation of counselling, except where I agree with you to retain them for longer, or where in my professional judgement it is appropriate to do so.

Data Security

Your contact details and any email/text correspondence between us may be held on my mobile phone and/or computer. My computer and phone are password protected, covered by anti-virus software/firewalls and manufacturer updates. Any hard copies of information about you are kept in a locked filing cabinet. Any email/text correspondence between us may be kept for the same duration as your counselling notes and for the same purposes / under the same boundaries as outlined above.