Privacy policy

Personal data I collect and store about you

At our first session, I will ask you to fill in a registration form. This is a paper form and asks for your:

• name
• address
• phone number
• email address
• date of birth
• doctor’s contact details

Additional data that I collect and store during our work together

During our sessions together, I may also write down notes on paper about your personal therapy process. These notes are anonymous.

I give each client a code number and store their notes separately from their registration form and contact details. This means the notes I take during our sessions together can’t be linked with your personal details.

Reason for collecting and storing this data

I gather and store your personal data and client notes solely for the purposes of delivering counselling or psychotherapy to you.

Confidentiality

In our first session I will give you a working agreement. This document explains that what is said in our sessions is confidential.

This means that I only share your data if you give me your consent to do so. I will only share it with a suitably qualified professional therapist or practitioner to whom you have asked me to refer you.

However, there are some situations where I may talk about our sessions together with someone else:

1. In exceptional circumstances I may feel it necessary to break confidentiality. This could happen if I felt that you or another person were in serious and immediate danger. I would only reveal information that was absolutely necessary to keep you or another person safe. I would try my best to limit the information I share about your personal therapy process to an absolute minimum. If possible, I would tell you about any steps I felt were necessary to take before I did anything.

2. My own sessions with my supervisor, where I discuss all my work. I do not use full names or give unnecessary personal details. My supervision is bound by an agreement of confidentiality with my supervisor.

Storing your data

I securely store your contact details and registration form in hard copy, in a locked file at my residential address.

Duration of data storage

I will store your data for 7 years from the date we complete our work together.

Deleting your data

I destroy the hard copy material I hold on clients through a shredding machine.

If you would like me to delete all the data I hold about you, I will do this within 1 month of you asking me.

If you want me to give you all the data I hold about you

If you would like me to give you all the information I hold about you, I would arrange a meeting with you at my workplace to give you this in person.

I would do this within 1 month of you asking me.

Contacting me by email

If you contact me by email, unfortunately I cannot guarantee that any information you send me is completely secure.

All emails are kept in the logs of internet service providers. Emails can be vulnerable to hacking, viruses, unintended forwarding or replication.

I’d recommend that you only contact me by email for initial or routine enquiries, such as appointment times. If you do share confidential material with me by email, my usual professional standards of confidentiality apply.