Initial contact.

 

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services, I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, email address and any initial information you give about your reason for seeking counselling. If you choose to book an initial session, I require you to complete a counselling agreement which includes personal data such as name, contact details, GP details, emergency contact details and information about your health and any previous counselling.

 

While you are accessing counselling.

 

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely and are not shared with any third party. I will keep written notes of each session and these are kept in a password protected document.

 

After counselling has ended.

 

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for a minimum of three year but may be kept for up to seven years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please contact me.

 

Your rights

 

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.

 

If I do hold information about you I will:

• give you a description of it and where it came from;

• tell you why I am holding its, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision;

• tell you who it could be disclosed to;

• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

 

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you. To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to jennydark@proton.me.

 

If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures. I

 

f you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

 

Data Security

 

I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously and as such I take every effort to make sure it is kept secure by using a secure, end-to-end encrypted email service and password protected documents.

 

Limits to confidentiality in counselling

 

Everything you discuss with me is confidential. Although confidentiality is an ethical commitment there are limits to confidentiality and therefore, I want you to be clear as to what I must report (disclose) to relevant authorities, and what I reserve the right to report if I have concerns about your own or another person’s safety and welfare (a disclosure made in the public interest).

 

In some circumstances it may not be possible or appropriate to obtain your permission before I make the disclosure. In other cases, I may not be able to tell you about a disclosure, for example, if by doing so could interfere with an ongoing police investigation, or where this may give you or another person a warning as in ‘a tip-off’ which might prevent the course of justice. 

 

I have a legal duty to respond to:

• court orders requesting release of records or other information shared with me in counselling/psychotherapy

• police requests for certain types of information, for example, in relation to road traffic offences

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I have a legal duty to report:

• terrorism (including the prevent duty)

• drug trafficking

• money laundering

• serious crime, e.g. rape, murder 

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I have a duty to report for safeguarding:

• people trafficking/modern slavery

• female genital mutilation

• forced marriage

• other serious concerns relating to safeguarding of other people, especially vulnerable adults or children

 

There is an ethical requirement for me to report according to my discretion

Serious and urgent safeguarding concerns relating to clients, for example:

• imminent risk of suicide, self-harm

• serious risk of harm from another person (for example, in domestic violence), provided if in doing so it does not further increase the risk of harm to the client or their dependents

• harm and neglect of animals

 

Where possible I will discuss with you the need for disclosure and gain your consent for sharing your personal information. In all cases, I will only share with others the minimum needed for a concern to be investigated or acted on. When making a decision as to whether to disclose information, I will seek advice and guidance from my clinical supervisor, experienced peers as appropriate, the legal team of my insurance company and my professional body. I will not share any information with them that could identify you.

 

My clinical will

In the case that I was suddenly incapacitated, my supervisor holds my clinical will and will be provided the means to access client details in order to alert you as to what has happened. If I am no longer able to hold client records, my supervisor will be provided with the means to take over this role and maintain them confidentially for the agreed period of time in order to fulfil a request from any client for their therapy notes.