Privacy Notice

Your privacy is very important to me and I want you and your child to be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. The GDPR protects yours and your child’s information and states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your child’s therapy has ended.

What information do I collect?

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services I will collect, use and store information you provide by telephone, email or via my website, to help me to respond to your initial questions or to process your request. This will include personal identity data [name, date of birth, gender, school,] and contact details [phone number, email address, home address] of both the child being referred and their parents/carers and any other sensitive data you provide me with in an initial phone call [details relating to the child or young person’s needs, their family lifestyle, education experience, social circumstances and details of other professionals, such as a GP or social worker if relevant].

What I do with this information?

If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within one month. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, please just let me know.

Whilst your child is accessing counselling with me, I will hold information provided by the child’s family, their school, other professionals and the child themselves. I use this information to provide effective counselling for your child.

In order for your child to use the sessions effectively, it is important that they are able to trust me. To facilitate building this sense of trust and safety, the details of what we discuss during our sessions will remain confidential. I will not share what they tell me except if further support is required and I believe that there is a serious risk of harm to them or someone else, or where the law requires me to do so.

The lawful reasons I may use this information to:

• provide your child with counselling

• comply with professional and legal obligations (including being supervised)

• take steps to ensure them or anyone else is protected from harm if I believe them or others are at risk of significant harm

• respond to complaints or legal proceedings

Who might I share information with?

I would only share the minimum amount of information necessary for the purposes outlined above. The contract agreement with parents/carers provides further details about when it may be necessary to share information with another service or organization e.g. GP or school. I endeavor to obtain consent for you and your child before sharing information. If I am required to share information, it will be done securely.

Where do I store information?

I ensure that all information is stored securely. Hard copy documents are stored in a locked cabinet and digital documents are on a password protected external hard drive stored in the locked cabinet. Digital documents include brief and anonymised notes of each session with your child, used to support the therapeutic work.

The information you provide on the contact page, including name, number and email address is temporarily stored by the web host before it is sent to me. Contact numbers are saved under the child’s initials on a separate work phone. Email addresses are stored in a dedicated business account. I will appoint a trusted individual to contact you in the event of my incapacity or if I am involved in an emergency.

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than one month. If there is relevant information contained in a text message I will make a digital document of this text and store it securely on an external hard drive. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after three months if it is not important. If necessary I will keep emails for up to seven years.  

Once I finish working with your child, I retain these records for seven years; at the end of this period all information is deleted or destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please contact me.

Your child has the right to:

• Request access to their information

• Request a correction of their information

• Request deletion of their information

• Object to the processing of their information

• Request restriction of processing their information

In certain circumstances, parents or carers with parental authority may be able to exercise these rights on the child’s behalf. This will depend on the age of your child and number of other factors including their understanding of the issues and consequences of disclosing their confidential information. I would always seek to discuss this issue with the child and my supervisor before making a decision.

These rights are limited and subject to various legal exceptions. If any of the requests above are made, I will explain in response if I rely upon any of these exceptions.

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me via email. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office..