Data Protection & Privacy Policy

I understand how important your privacy is. I take care to maintain your confidentiality following current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that I, as your therapist, act with professionalism and integrity.

To provide you with the best service possible, I will hold your 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

I will store your contact details securely in a password protected private file system only accessible by me.

To be able to fulfil my duty of care to you, in your initial consultation or first treatment session, I will ask you for contact information for your GP and elected Emergency Contact person. These details will be stored securely in a password protected private filing system only accessible by me.

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

I 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 providing to you i.e. to arrange, cancel, and rearrange appointments and collect payment for sessions.

Online Bookings

Online bookings are not currently available for my service. All bookings will be made verbally by telephone or by email and all correspondence will be held on a private password protected system.

Your payment details

Payments will not be made through my website or by telephone, all payments may be made by cash, card, or bank transfer I will not ask you for nor keep a record of your card details. Your information is inputted directly into the card payment portal/equipment (Sum-up) and no written record will be taken.

Your therapy sessions

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

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

I discuss my clinical work with a supervisor. This is to ensure that I am 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 notes of each session. These are anonymised password protected files within a secure, password protected private system. These notes are for my use only and help to keep a track of everything that is being discussed. You are entitled at any time to view these notes. These notes will be kept securely for up to seven years after your therapy ends. 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. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.

Your communications with me

All our email accounts use The Gmail server and are password protected If you send an email to your therapist’s email address, only they will have access to it.

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

Data Usage

I will only use your email address and telephone number to contact you about your appointments. I may also contact you directly via email 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.

Your rights

Any personal data kept by me is stored in accordance with the GDPR, 2018.

Under these guidelines you have the following rights

1.      The right to request access to your data

You can request to view the information that I hold about you (contact details, appointment logs etc.) at any time. Should you need a copy of your notes after your therapy has ended you can make this request by emailing jamie@calmercounselling.life or calling 01329 739663.

2.      The right of rectification

At any point during your time using my service or during the seven years thereafter, while we keep your records, you have the right to request amendments to your contact details or session notes. This right can be exercised either by contacting me by email: jamie@calmercounselling.life .

3.      The right to be forgotten

You can ask that I delete and confidentially destroy the information that I hold about you and your sessions at any time. This request can be made by contacting me by email: jamie@calmercounselling.life . Instances where I would not be able to follow your request are as follows:

4.      a) It is necessary for me to keep these records to continue providing an effective service

5.      b) I am compelled to keep these records by a Court of Law

6.      c) I require these records to establish, exercise or defend legal claims

Consent

Following a first consultation, during which this data protection policy will be introduced you will be asked to consider this policy and provide a signed confirmation as part of our broader contract of work that you confirm that you consent to the storage and processing of your personal data for the purposes of providing therapeutic services.

You are entitled to withdraw this consent at any time and can do so by emailing – jamie@calmercounselling.life.

Breaches of data protection

In case of any breach of my protection policies, I will let you know and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this at once.

Raising concerns

Should you have any concerns about my data protection practices, you can raise these directly with your me. You can also notify the Information Commissioner’s Office. I am registered with ICO under the reference number: C1521353.