Privacy Policy

I understand how important your privacy is. I take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of BACP. These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that your therapist always conducts themselves with professionalism and integrity.

In order to provide you with the best service possible, I will hold your personal 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

At the point of booking your initial consultation with me, you will be asked for your personal contact information, for example your name, address, email address and telephone number and you may also choose to share details of the issues you are looking for help with.

Your contact information is stored securely in a locked file on a locked computer, only accessed and used by me.

Please note that I will need to keep a record of your name and client reference number for 5 years after the end of your therapy, so that we can respond effectively to any potential requests regarding your clinical notes and treatment and as required by my insurance.

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

Your therapy sessions

What 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 instructed to do so by a Court of Law. I will always endeavour to speak to you about this first.

Exclusions include:

  1. A disclosure of ongoing abuse/neglect of a child or vulnerable adult
  2. If the client is has danger of serious harm self or others
  3. Legal obligation i.e. Terrorism act 2000

During remote working I will ensure that I am conducting online and telephone 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 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 and are stored in a locked filing cabinet or within a password protected file within a password protected private computer. These notes are for my use only and help to keep a track of everything that is being discussed. In line with industry guidelines, these notes will be kept securely for 5 years after your therapy comes to an end. 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 between us. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.

Your communications with me

My emails are used through a private and password protected gmail account

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 in order to share information with you that is pertinent to your therapeutic process.

Your rights

Any personal data retained by me is kept 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. If during therapy you would like to see your session notes, please ask myself directly. Should you require a copy of your notes after your therapy has come to an end you can make this request by emailing daynajlandsborough@gmail.com

  2. The right of rectification

    At any point during your time using my service or during the 5 years thereafter, while we retain your records, you have the right to request amendments to your contact details or session notes. This right can be exercised either by speaking directly to me or by contacting me in writing.

  3. The right to be forgotten

    You can request 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 at daynajlandsborough@gmail.com

Instances where I would not be able to comply with your request are as follows:

  1. It is necessary for me to retain these records in order to continue providing an effective service
  2. I am compelled to retain these records by a Court of Law
  3. I require these records in order to establish, exercise or defend legal claims

Consent

When you book your first session with me you will be asked to consent via an email response to the storage and processing of your personal data for the therapeutic services.

You are entitled to withdraw this consent at any time and can do so by emailing me at daynajlandsborough@gmail.com

Breaches of data protection

In the event of any breach of my data protection policies, I will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this immediately.