PRIVACY POLICY
To ensure the highest quality of service, it is necessary for me to maintain your personal contact details and records of our therapy session. The privacy notice outlines how I handle your personal information, starting from our initial contact through to the conclusion of our therapy session. Your privacy is of upmost importance to me, and I want to assure you that your personal information will be treated with upmost care, kept safe and secure and used solely for the purposes for which it was provided. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR) the Data Protection Act 2018 and the privacy and electronic communication (EC Directive) regulation 2003.
How I use your information
I will never use your personal data for any purpose other than the administration of the therapy service that I am providing to you i.e., to arrange, cancel and rearrange appointments.
I will only retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary. This is in line with guidance from the information commissioner’s office.
Initial contact
During the initial contact phase, when you reach out to schedule your first appointment, I will gather some brief information to assist in managing your enquiry efficiently. This includes your name, which helps me schedule the appointment in my calendar and a preferred contact method, such as an email address or phone number. This information is essential for communication purposes, particularly if I need to notify you of any unforeseen circumstances leading to appointment adjustments. Should you prefer not to be contacted under any circumstance, providing a contact method is optional.
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Additionally, if your referral comes from an organisation like your employer or a relative enquiring on your behalf, they may share your details with me. In the event that an enquiry is made but you decide not to proceed, I will promptly delete all of your personal data within one month. Should you wish for this information to be deleted sooner please do not hesitate to inform me.
While you are in therapy:
Your email address or phone number be used to send you written confirmations of your appointment times, but only if you agree to this. These contact details will solely serve for appointment related communication unless we’ve mutually agreed for additional use, such as sending pertinent information via email related to your therapy session.
Before your initial appointment, you will be requested to complete a personal details form encompassing your name, address, date of birth, contact information and your GP contact details. This form is securely stored in a locked filing cabinet accessible only to me. Please note that I do not routinely contact your GP to inform them of your attendance, as your attendance remains confidential. To uphold my duty of care to you while safeguarding, confidentiality, I would only contact your GP if deemed necessary. In such instances, I would aim to discuss this with you beforehand, whenever possible.
Confidentiality
Rest assured; the content of our sessions remains confidential. As an accredited member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy BACP, I adhere to their professional code of ethics. Confidentiality will only be breached under legal or ethical obligations, such as if you disclose abuse/neglect of a child or vulnerable adult, express intentions of serious harm to yourself or others, or if mandated by a court of law. In the event confidentiality will be breached, I will strive to engage in discussion with you first, unless safeguarding concerns prevent this.
Additionally, counsellors are required to partake in regular supervision for support, during which our work maybe discussed without divulging your identity. My supervisor, also a counsellor, upholds the BACP’s confidentiality ethics.
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I also keep brief notes of our therapy session for the purpose of assisting our work together. The notes help me to keep track of the issues that we are working on, and they are for my use only. The notes do not include any personal details that could be used to identify you and are stored securely in a locked filing cabinet that only I have access to. Your therapy notes are stored separately to your personal details form.
After Therapy Ends
There are certain reasons why counsellors must keep records even after therapy concludes. For instance, for financial transactions, personal information needs to be kept as required by law for tax or accounting purposes. Keeping your therapy notes allows me to provide efficient service if you contact me after therapy has ended. These notes do not contain any personal details that could identify you and are securely stored in a locked filing cabinet only accessible to me seven years after therapy concludes, in accordance with industry guidelines. After this period, your therapy notes will be securely destroyed.
Third party recipients of Personal data
I share a limited amount of personal data with third parties in order to provide therapy services to you and to fulfil legal obligations in respect of tax and accounting purposes. For example, my accountant is permitted access to my invoices and if you contact me to book an appointment at that location. I will never pass on your contact details to any third-party organisation for the purposes of sales, marketing or research.
If your appointments are paid for or arranged via a third party, for example your employer the only information shared with the third party is your data of attendance and non-attendance for invoicing and payment purposes. Details about what is discussed in your appointment will remain confidential and can only be shared if you give me your written consent to do so.
Data Security
Ensuring the security of your data of of the utmost importance to me. I handle your information with the highest level of care and precaution. My email account is safeguarded with a password, and the mobile phones and laptop used for email correspondence are also password protected and equipped with anti-virus software
Any email communications that are no longer needed will be deleted within one month, if its necessary to retain certain information, I will print the email and store it securely in a locked filing cabinet accessible only to me. This additional layer of protection ensures that the data remains confidential and protected form unauthorized access.
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If you have a complaint about how I handle your personal data, please do not hesitate to get in touch by email at info@louisephillipstherapy.com. If 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.
Changes to privacy notice.
This privacy notice maybe updated from time to time, so please check occasionally for any updates.
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