Privacy Policy

Overview

This privacy policy outlines your rights, and our obligations to you, with regard to the recording and storage of your personal information. In this privacy policy we will let you know what information we need to collect from you before we begin therapy, and what information we need to collect from you during therapy. We will also set out how we will look after your personal information, for how long we will store it, and who we will share it with. In addition, We will let you know what you are able to request from me with regard to this information.

What is personal information?

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) defines personal information as any information that can be used to identify a living individual. Individuals can be identified by various means including their name, address, telephone number or email address for example.

Why do you want to process my personal information?

We need to process your personal information in order to fulfil our contractual obligations to you as a therapist, for example to assess whether we are able to offer you therapy in the first place, and then to deliver effective psychotherapy to you if therapy commences. Your personal information helps guide both our assessment process, and our clinical decision-making during therapy. We will also use the information that we collect about you in order to develop a better therapy website service. Our contractual obligations to you as a therapist are the lawful basis for our processing of your personal information.

What are the laws that protect my personal information?

The DPA and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) require that all organisations that store personal information about people may only do so provided that the information is: processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner; collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes; adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary; accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; kept in a form that permits identification of information subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal information are processed; and processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal information.

How will you collect my personal information?

We will collect your personal information in the following ways: via our website: over the Zoom/other online and video platforms, in writing, and in person (online) during our meetings.

How will you treat my personal information?

We will treat your personal information in a way that is compliant with the DPA and the GDPR. The lawful and proper treatment of your personal information is important to us, not least in order to maintain your confidence in us, but also to maintain the confidence of other clients and staff.

How will you store my personal information?

We will store your personal information electronically. Personal information is stored electronically on devices that are password and/or fingerprint I.D. protected, and in files that are further password protected.

How long will you store my personal information?

According to the GDPR, your personal information should be stored for no longer than is necessary. In practical terms, we will usually store your information for a minimum of 2 years following the termination of your treatment. However, wemay need to store your information for longer than this, for instance in order to defend ourselves in a claim situation, or to comply with our insurance terms and conditions.

What types of information will you collect about me?

We will collect several types of information about you and in several different ways. For instance, when you visit our website we will collect the following information about your visit: I.P. address, location, search engine, date, time, web pages visited, operating system, and device.

If you book an initial consultation will collect the following information: name, telephone number, date, and time.

Before committing to provide you with therapy services, we will ask you to provide us with the following information: name, telephone number/email address, availability, the psychological issues that you would like to address, and symptoms.

Once we have agreed that therapy with us is right for you, and your therapy commences, we will collect further information from you that may include: goals for therapy, G.P. contact details, previous therapy, current medication, previous criminal convictions, network of support, financial and employment circumstances, health and physical issues, alcohol and drug use, appetite and sleep, family structure, and overview of your family situation.

What is ‘special category’ information, and why do you need to process this too?

Special category information is defined by the GDPR as being information that is more sensitive than other personal information, and therefore requiring of higher levels of protection. Examples of this type of information could include information about your health, race, sexuality, sex life, or religion. In order to lawfully process special category information, we are obliged to identify a specific condition for processing it under Article 9 of the GDPR and communicate this to you. With this in mind, the condition of the GDPR that we apply to the processing of your special category information is that it is ‘pursuant to contract with a health professional’. This means that, if you begin therapy with us, or ask us to assess whether or not you are eligible for us to offer therapy to you, then we will likely need to process some special category information about you. Usually, this is information about your mental health, and we need to process it in order to fulfil our contractual obligations to you in delivering safe, effective psychotherapy.

Who else will you collect information about?

We collect and process information about the individuals with whom our business operates. These include clients, staff, suppliers and other business contacts.

Who will my personal information be shared with?

Some of your personal information may be shared with your G.P., or other healthcare professional, under certain exceptional circumstances. These include the requirements of a court of law, the threat of serious physical harm to you or to others. Some of your personal information such as website visits, telephone call data, or payment information, is shared with the website provider, mobile phone operator, or card payment provider respectively. These providers operate under their own privacy policies, and these can be provided upon request.

Can I ask for a copy of the personal information that you store about me?

Yes. The DPA gives you the right to find out what information that we store about you by requesting a copy of it. Any request that you make to obtain a copy of the personal information that we hold about you is called a ‘Subject Access Request’. We must respond to your request without delay, and usually within one month at the latest. We may charge a fee for providing this information based on the administrative costs involved.