Privacy Policy | Vanessa

Privacy Statement

This document outlines my legal responsibilities for the information I keep about you.

Why do I collect information about you?

As your counsellor I will need to collect basic information so that I can be in contact with you and provide you with safe and appropriate support.

What information do I collect?

I will collect the following information about you, when we agree to work together and during our work:

Name
Date of birth
Address
Telephone number
Email address
Counselling history
Medical conditions (relevant to counselling)
Your goals for therapy
Details of your doctor
Emergency contact details

How is this information kept?

Your contact details will be stored on a business smartphone along with any messages you send to me. This is locked with a passcode so only I have access to it. I generally use these to send an appointment reminder, if you don’t turn up for a booked session, or if there is an emergency.
Your email address and any messages between us will be stored in my password protected email account.
Initial forms and short notes from our sessions are kept securely in my house.

How your information may be processed/shared?

Supervision

To make sure I am working safely and correctly I meet each month with another qualified counsellor, who supervises me. They will only know of you by your first name.

Emergencies

There are times when I may have to share information for safety reasons. There is more about this in our Therapy Agreement, but this is generally when there are serious concerns about the safety of yourself or another person.

The law says I also have to pass on information if it’s about certain types of crime such as murder, terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering.

If a court of law ever requests my notes, I would also have to abbey that request, but I’d like to talk to you about that, so you understand what, and why.

With other agencies/professionals

If we feel it would be helpful, and with your agreement, there might be times where I’d contact your doctor or other services you’re also working with.

You have certain rights. These are:

To know what information I hold about you (detailed above)
To ask for a copy of information held about you. You’d need to ask for this in writing and I’d then arrange a session for you, where this can be shared, within 28 days of you asking
To correct any information that isn’t correct or up to date (eg changes to name and address)
To have your personal information erased (although I may not be able to do this if the information is required in order for me to practice ethically and legally)

If you have any worries about the information I store about you or how I use it, please do let me know so that we can talk it through. You can also discuss any concerns with the Information Commissioners Office, www.ico.org with whom I am registered.

This statement is kept under regular review and was last reviewed in December 2020.