Your privacy is very important to me and you can 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. 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 Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. I am registered with the ICO (Information Commission Office) and my reference number is: A8794694 and I'm required to report any loss or breach of client data within 72 hours.

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy/supervision has ended.

I'm happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me on: 07739 879016 or enquiries@arnicacounselling.co.uk

Initial Contact

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services, I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include; name, email address and/or telephone number. Alternatively, another health professional may provide me with your contact details when making a referral.

If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within 48 hours. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.

While you are accessing Counselling/Psychotherapy/Supervision

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if ;

- I am seriously incapacitated by illness, injury or death then my Clinical Executor (my Clinical Supervisor) will contact you.

- If there is a risk of harm to self or others. Confidentiality will be broken in order to secure the safety of the person or people involved. This would be discussed with you beforehand, if possible, and relevant.

- If a court of law requires any information to be disclosed in the pursuit of justice or as a requirement of law. This would be discussed with you beforehand.

- Communication with other persons or organisations requested directly by you, with your approval only.

- To comply with the ethical and professional practice complaints procedure of BACP. If possible, any such course of action would be discussed with you beforehand.

I will keep a record of your personal details to help my counselling service run smoothly. These details in paper format, along with written notes of each session, and are kept securely in a locked cabinet only accessed by me. I will keep this for 5 years as stipulated by my professional indemnity insurers.

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than 48 hours. If there is relevant information contained in a text/Whatsapp message I will transfer this information to paper format and kept secure in my locked cabinet. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after 48 hours if it isn't important. If necessary, I will keep with your paper notes and keep in my locked cabinet.

After Counselling/Psychotherapy/Supervision has ended

Once our work together has ended, your records will be kept for 6 years from the end of our contract with each other and are then securely destroyed (paper notes will be shredded).

Your rights

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.

If I do hold information about you I will:

- give you a description of it and where it came from;

- tell you why I am holding it, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision;

- tell you who it could be disclosed to;

- let you have a copy of the information in any intelligible form.

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you.

To make a request for any personal information I my hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to; enquiries@arnicacounselling.co.uk

If you have a complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details on my website. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures.

If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK , go to; ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Data security

I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously and as such I take every effort to make sure it is kept secure. I use a secure locked cabinet accessed only by me, as well as encrypted (including a VPN) devices (work mobile and laptop) . As already mentioned, I keep any record I hold about you for 6 years as stipulated by my professional indemnity insurers.

Security Cameras at Ashley House

On arrival at Ashley House, you'll notice there are security cameras in the waiting area. All data is deleted or taped over within a month at the latest. There is a camera in my office, which has been turned off. Any queries about this, I welcome any questions.