Privacy/General Data Protection Regulations 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 the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). 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, Kiku (wearekiku.com) to collect and store your personal data. 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.
Your contact information is stored securely in Kiku and can only be accessed by me.
In order to be able to fulfil my duty of care to you, in the intake form, I will ask you for contact information for your GP and elected Emergency Contact person. These details will be stored securely in Kiku and will only be accessible to me.
This personal information will be held for the duration of your therapy after which it will be deleted from myKiku database.
Please note that I will need to keep a record of your name and client reference number for seven years after the end of your therapy, so that we can respond effectively to any potential requests regarding your clinical notes and treatment.
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.
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 if 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. Please note however that I cannot be held responsible for any breaches that occur due to failures in technology or software.
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 will also keep notes of each session. These are anonymised and are stored in within a password protected file within the secure Kiku system (wearekiku.com). These notes are for your 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 seven 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 you and me. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.
Your communications with me
My email account is password protected. If you send an email to me only I have access to this account.
All phones, tablets and laptops used to respond to your emails are, 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
- The right to request access to your data
You can request to view the information that I hold about you at any time. If during therapy you would like to see your session notes, please let your 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 info@wavelength-counselling.com or calling 07518 019402.
- The right of rectification
At any point during your time using this service or during the seven years thereafter, while wavelength counselling retains 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 your me or by contacting me in writing.
- The right to be forgotten
You can request deletion and confidentially destruction the information that wavelength counselling holds about you and your sessions at any time. This request can be made by contacting info@wavelength-counselling.com.
Instances where Wavelength Counselling would not be able to comply with your request are as follows:
- a) It is necessary to retain these records in order to continue providing an effective service
- b) Wavelength Counselling is compelled to retain these records by a Court of Law
- c) Wavelength Counselling requires these records in order to establish, exercise or defend legal claims
Consent
When you sign your contract with Wavelength Counselling, you will be asked to provide a digital signature and tick a checkbox to confirm that you consent to the storage 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 Wavelength Counselling at info@wavelength-counselling.com.
Breaches of data protection
In the event of any breach of Wavelength Counselling’s data protection policies, Wavelength Counselling will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this immediately.
Raising concerns
Should you have any concerns about Wavelength Counselling’s data protection practices, you can raise these directly with at info@wavelength-counselling. You can also notify the Information Commissioner’s Office. I am registered with ICO under the reference number ZB910093.