Privacy Notice : Data Protection and Confidentiality
Data Protection and Confidentiality
If you decide to have regular therapy sessions with me then I record your name, address, phone number, GP details and any medication you are prescribed in the form I ask you to fill out at the beginning of the therapy. I store this and a signed copy of my framework for counselling and psychotherapy in hard copy in a secure environment inaccessible to anyone else. Your personal contact information is securely deleted after we finish our work together at the point where I judge I no longer need this information for any ongoing work with you.
Your basic contact information (name, number, email address) is stored electronically in such a way that it can be accessed, only in the event of my being incapacitated and unable to contact you myself, by a named responsible person (my Clinical Executor). This person would use this information to contact you to inform you of my incapacity and then dispose of it securely if I were unable to continue to work with you.
Your invoices will be generated electronically and stored as such.
I do not share any personal information about you with any person or organisation, unless I am required by law to do so, either via a sub poena/police instruction or because the law otherwise requires.
For reasons of security and confidentiality, I will not keep electronic records of our sessions linked to your personal data. Any notes I may write down are reflective and are to help me work usefully with you. My work is supervised in order to support me providing the best service I can to you. Your information is anonymised and any notes used for the purposes of supervision are never stored or linked to your name and personal information.
Email Policy
Whilst not unsecured, and whilst I take all reasonable steps to ensure email security, my gmail programme is not currently securely encrypted. This means that email communications between us may be vulnerable to viruses and human error. I cannot guarantee that information you send me by email is completely secure. It is therefore best to use email just for routine arrangements, such as appointment times. If you are concerned about the confidentiality of emails, please contact me by telephone or in person instead of using email.
Sessions by Video Conferencing
In some cases I offer sessions via video conferencing. I make efforts to use video conferencing software that is sufficiently encrypted, though none of these systems are completely secure. If we have sessions in this way, it will usually involve you downloading software to your device/s.
If you have an initial session with me but do not decide to have ongoing therapy sessions with me, then any emails or contact information, including the automated emails I received through my website from you, are deleted and no information about you is kept.
If you have any questions about the way I handle your personal information, please feel free to discuss this with me.