New Horizons Counselling
General Data Protection Regulation Policy
Information about you.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is concerned with personal information that I collect, store, and share. In order for me to be able to fulfil my responsibilities as a counsellor I will need to record personal information about you.
Personal Information I Collect.
This includes your name, age, contact details, date of birth, occupation, counselling history, GP, medical conditions & prescribed medication, personal social and family history that you wish to share with me, issues you wish to deal with and brief factual notes of our sessions.
How I store your Personal Information.
• Paper: written notes (described below).
• Smartphone: I do not store your contact details in a Contacts app but my mobile phone is a Smartphone
and could therefore also have your texts, and email and email address available on it. The phone is
password protected and details are stored in ‘the cloud’ so they can be restored if my phone is lost or
stolen.
• Webmail: your email address and any correspondence conducted through my webmail address
will be stored in my webmail account until you have ended your counselling. My computer is password
protected
• Website: none of your personal information is stored on my website
Documents Held.
Paper:
Electronic:
Webmail/SMS
How I may Process/Share your Personal Information.
Contacting you or third parties
Your contact details will be used to contact you. Other personal data such as your name, address and/or date of birth will be used to verify your identify if there is a need to contact your G.P. or a request for access to personal data from yourself or your representative or legitimate legal instrument such as a court order.
This personal information will be held for a period of five years after the cessation of our counselling relationship, except where there is a mutually agreed decision to retain it for longer or where I believe that it is in my best professional interests to do so.
Consultation.
The brief factual records of your counselling sessions may be shared with my clinical supervisor. The consultation process is for my practice (rather than seeking instruction on working with you). In order to protect your privacy, my supervisor will not know you personally nor professionally. I will refer to you by your first name, and I may refer to your information verbally when it's helpful to my professional processes.
These notes may also be shared under the identifying code with my counselling professional body or similar for purposes of maintaining professional standards and my professional development.
There may be circumstances under which information from counselling is made available to third parties and this will be discussed with you at the first counselling session.
Therapeutic Will.
Your contact details, such as telephone number and address, will be shared in exceptional circumstances with my clinical supervisor in the event that I am incapacitated, so that they may contact you to explain the situation. The details of this arrangement are set out in my counsellor’s professional will.
Erasing your Information.
When we have finished working together, I will erase any electronic copies of your information &
correspondence within one month.
I do not hold your name and telephone number on my contacts list but once our counselling relationship ends my phone may retain records of contacts made to or from your number for some time.
I will hold onto your written information for up to five years past the end of our working together except where an agreement is made with you to retain them for longer or where it is believed that it is in my best professional interests to do so. After this time the notes will be shredded.
Your Rights
You have the right to be informed what information I hold (i.e. this document) and you have the right to
ask to see any information held by me about you (free of charge for the initial request). To do this please either ask me or submit a request by writing. You also have the right to ask for information that you believe to be incorrect to be rectified. I will endeavour to provide you with the information requested within four weeks. You also have the right to withdraw consent to me using your personal information and to request your personal information be erased (though I can decline whilst the information is needed for my
competent practice).
If I become aware of a situation where your personal information may have accidently or maliciously been obtained by a third party I will notify you within three days.
If you are concerned about the way that your information is being held please discuss this with me. If you are still unhappy you have the write to complain to the Information Commissioners Office.
Agreement
I support the rights you have regarding the management of your personal information as given in the General Data Protection Regulations May 2018.
You will be asked to sign an agreement in your first counselling session to say that you understand the above information on data privacy and that you give your consent for your personal data to be handled in this manner. Without your agreement to my holding your personal information it will not be possible to proceed with counselling
General Data Protection Regulation Policy
Information about you.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is concerned with personal information that I collect, store, and share. In order for me to be able to fulfil my responsibilities as a counsellor I will need to record personal information about you.
Personal Information I Collect.
This includes your name, age, contact details, date of birth, occupation, counselling history, GP, medical conditions & prescribed medication, personal social and family history that you wish to share with me, issues you wish to deal with and brief factual notes of our sessions.
How I store your Personal Information.
• Paper: written notes (described below).
• Smartphone: I do not store your contact details in a Contacts app but my mobile phone is a Smartphone
and could therefore also have your texts, and email and email address available on it. The phone is
password protected and details are stored in ‘the cloud’ so they can be restored if my phone is lost or
stolen.
• Webmail: your email address and any correspondence conducted through my webmail address
will be stored in my webmail account until you have ended your counselling. My computer is password
protected
• Website: none of your personal information is stored on my website
Documents Held.
Paper:
- Client Contact and Health information Sheet
- Contract
- Brief Session Notes
- GDPR Agreement
- Client Code (linking documents)
Electronic:
Webmail/SMS
- Contact details
- Messages
How I may Process/Share your Personal Information.
Contacting you or third parties
Your contact details will be used to contact you. Other personal data such as your name, address and/or date of birth will be used to verify your identify if there is a need to contact your G.P. or a request for access to personal data from yourself or your representative or legitimate legal instrument such as a court order.
This personal information will be held for a period of five years after the cessation of our counselling relationship, except where there is a mutually agreed decision to retain it for longer or where I believe that it is in my best professional interests to do so.
Consultation.
The brief factual records of your counselling sessions may be shared with my clinical supervisor. The consultation process is for my practice (rather than seeking instruction on working with you). In order to protect your privacy, my supervisor will not know you personally nor professionally. I will refer to you by your first name, and I may refer to your information verbally when it's helpful to my professional processes.
These notes may also be shared under the identifying code with my counselling professional body or similar for purposes of maintaining professional standards and my professional development.
There may be circumstances under which information from counselling is made available to third parties and this will be discussed with you at the first counselling session.
Therapeutic Will.
Your contact details, such as telephone number and address, will be shared in exceptional circumstances with my clinical supervisor in the event that I am incapacitated, so that they may contact you to explain the situation. The details of this arrangement are set out in my counsellor’s professional will.
Erasing your Information.
When we have finished working together, I will erase any electronic copies of your information &
correspondence within one month.
I do not hold your name and telephone number on my contacts list but once our counselling relationship ends my phone may retain records of contacts made to or from your number for some time.
I will hold onto your written information for up to five years past the end of our working together except where an agreement is made with you to retain them for longer or where it is believed that it is in my best professional interests to do so. After this time the notes will be shredded.
Your Rights
You have the right to be informed what information I hold (i.e. this document) and you have the right to
ask to see any information held by me about you (free of charge for the initial request). To do this please either ask me or submit a request by writing. You also have the right to ask for information that you believe to be incorrect to be rectified. I will endeavour to provide you with the information requested within four weeks. You also have the right to withdraw consent to me using your personal information and to request your personal information be erased (though I can decline whilst the information is needed for my
competent practice).
If I become aware of a situation where your personal information may have accidently or maliciously been obtained by a third party I will notify you within three days.
If you are concerned about the way that your information is being held please discuss this with me. If you are still unhappy you have the write to complain to the Information Commissioners Office.
Agreement
I support the rights you have regarding the management of your personal information as given in the General Data Protection Regulations May 2018.
You will be asked to sign an agreement in your first counselling session to say that you understand the above information on data privacy and that you give your consent for your personal data to be handled in this manner. Without your agreement to my holding your personal information it will not be possible to proceed with counselling