Looking after your data
I want everyone to feel confident and comfortable with how any personal information you share will be looked after or used. This Privacy Policy sets out how personal information (this means any information that identifies or could identify you) is collected, used and stored.
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ZA515561) and adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
For any questions you have regarding this Privacy Policy please feel free to contact me at sallyrichardstherapy@gmail.com.
What Information do I store?
When you first contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services, I will ask your name and preferred contact details (telephone or email address) as well as a brief overview of why you are considering counselling. This information is used to arrange an initial call and first session.
In our first session, as well as your name and preferred contact details, information collected includes date of birth, home address, the name and address of your doctor, any medication you may be taking and employment status. I will also ask questions about your family, lifestyle and history of mental health related problems. These questions are asked to get a better idea of what you require from counselling and to ascertain if I am the right service for you.
If our counselling work together does not proceed from beyond this point, all information collected will be securely destroyed.
While you are accessing counselling, brief anonymous session notes will be maintained. These notes will not be shared with anyone unless I am legally required to do so.
How your information is used:-
- To provide appropriate counselling services.
- To arrange our counselling appointments and to notify you about any changes to your appointment.
- To fulfil any administrative, legal, ethical and contractual obligations.
Telephone numbers will be stored by first name and surname initial only. Text or email communications will be used for the purpose of organising counselling sessions. These communications will only be stored for as long as is reasonable and necessary.
What information is shared?
I do not undertake direct marketing with individuals nor are your contact details shared with organisations so that they can contact you for any marketing activities.
Confidentiality
The counselling relationship is a confidential space. However, there are some circumstances where I may be required by law or ethical responsibilities to break confidentiality. These circumstances are outlined below:-
- Consent – Information may be shared with other medical professionals or others whom you have requested or agreed we need to contact.
- Serious Harm – if it is believed that you or someone else may be at risk of serious harm, particularly children or vulnerable adults.
- Compliance with the law – information may be shared where the law requires it, such as safeguarding, terrorist threat, drug trafficking or serious crime.
- Clinical Will – I have a clinical will which means that if in the event of my sudden death or accident, a trusted colleague will be able to access names and addresses of existing clients to notify them.
- Supervision – it is an ethical requirement for all practicing counsellors to have regular supervision.
How is your Information kept safe?
Your information is kept as securely as possible. All paper forms are kept in a locked filing cabinet. All electronic files are kept password protected with virus protection software.
I endeavour to keep my software and communications protected against viruses, however the transmission of information using the internet is not completely secure.
Online Privacy Considerations
I use zoom as my online platform. In order to set up our sessions, I will need to email a zoom invitation to your specified email address. If you would like to find out more about Zoom’s privacy policy, it can be found at https://zoom.us/privacy.
After counselling has ended
Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for 7 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 tell 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. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.
Records are the property of Sally Richards and the information within them is held in the strictest confidence.
Payments
I use Zettle by Paypal for the processing of payments via debit or credit card and Zettle by Paypal is the data controller for the processing of personal data that takes place if you choose to pay by this method. For more information on how Zettle by Paypal processes data, please see www.zettle.com/gb/legal/privacy-policy.
Legal Location
The work undertaken is in accordance with the laws of the country that I practice in (the UK) and any disputes will be subject to that country’s laws. Any disputes or complaints to my governing body (The BACP) would be heard in the UK.
Google Web Fonts
For uniform representation of fonts, this page uses web fonts provided by Google. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts into your browser cache to display texts and fonts correctly.
For this purpose your browser has to establish a direct connection to Google servers. Google thus becomes aware that our web page was accessed via your IP address. The use of Google Web fonts is done in the interest of a uniform and attractive presentation of our plugin. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.
If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer.
Further information about handling user data, can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and in Google’s privacy policy at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.