Private Policy
CM Counselling and Psychotherapy understands how important your privacy is. I take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018, 2021) and the ethical guidelines of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (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
I use the secure, encrypted and password protected practice management platform, Google workplace to collect and store your personal data. In order to be able to fulfil my duty of care to you, during our initial meeting I will ask you for the following intake information; full name, date of birth, address, mobile number, email address, GP and elected emergency contact person. I will also ask you to share your current medication, psychiatry/psychotherapy history and for any other details you feel important for me to know. These details will be stored securely in Google workplace and will only be accessible to me. In the event that I became incapacitated and was unable to contact you, the executor of my professional will will access your contact information to inform you.
This personal information will be held for the duration of your therapy and I will need to keep a record of this information for five years after the end of your therapy. This is so I can respond effectively to any potential requests regarding your clinical notes and treatment, as well as in line with my insurance policy requirements.
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 am providing to you i.e. to arrange, cancel and rearrange appointments and collect payment for sessions.
Bookings
Bookings can only be made via email to cmcounselling.info@gmail.com.
Anonymised payment details are recorded in our financial income reports. These reports will hold your unique client reference number. The HMRC requires that I retain this information for 5 years after the end of the financial year.
Your payment details
All payments are made via bacs service to my Starling Business account.
Your therapy sessions
Everything that 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 am instructed to do so by a Court of Law. I will always endeavour to speak to you about this first.
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 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 am 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 brief notes of each session. These are anonymised and are stored in a locked filing cabinet or within a password protected file within Google workplace. 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 up to five 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 therapy 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 us
Google workplace is the only platform that will be used to communicate with you.
Communication before and between appointments will be via email only, unless requested by you, for me to contact you via the telephone. Google workplace is password protected, if you send an email to your therapist’s email address, only they will have access to it.
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.
Your rights
Any personal data retained by our service is kept in accordance with the GDPR, 2018, 2021.
Under these guidelines you have the following rights
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 let me know. Should you require a copy of your notes after your therapy has come to an end you can make this request by emailing cmcounselling.info@gmail.com.
The right of rectification
At any point during your time using our service or during the five years thereafter, while I 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 via email.
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 via cmcounselling.info@gmail.com.
Instances where I would not be able to comply with your request are as follows:
a) It is necessary for me to retain these records in order to continue providing an effective service
b) We are compelled to retain these records by a Court of Law
c) We require these records in order to establish, exercise or defend legal claims
Consent
Consent is obtained during your first appointment, when collecting your data.
e.g During your first session I will gain your consent to keep your data within my records and processing of your personal data for the purposes of providing therapeutic services.
You are entitled to withdraw this consent at any time and can do so by emailing me via cmcounselling.info@gmail.com.
Breaches of data protection
In the event of any breach of CM Counselling & Psychotherapy data protection policies, I will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this immediately.
Raising concerns
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a data protection complaint to us:
Email: cmcounselling.info@gmail.com
If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). I am registered with ICO under the reference number ZA523246.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint