Data Privacy Policy | addictioncounselling

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When you contract for a series of counselling sessions with me I ask you to complete a two page contract which lays out the conditions of my services and how many initial sessions we have agreed to contract for and how much you have agreed to pay for each session.

This is dated and contains your name and signature.

In addition and on a separate page, I ask for your full name and address, contact telephone numbers, your permission (or not) to text or leave voice messages and your email address.
I also ask how you found my services and a brief description of your presenting issue(s), which is optional.

There is often email communication between us and all emails are kept in your own folder marked only with your initials and the folder only accessible by me.

For each session I write notes on the computer as to what took place in each session and these are printed and saved in your own personal A4 folder on one computer and this is password protected. I am the only one with access to this computer and to these files.

Exception: There are rare circumstances where a Court or Judge may legally request access to a particular client’s file and I would be legally obliged to surrender this information to the courts. It is for this reason that I will keep archives of clients’ files in both computer form and paper print outs in folder form for a period of six months from the end of the last session - after which they will be deleted and/or shredded (see Your Rights below).

USING YOUR INFORMATION

I will use the information I collect for the following purposes:

To keep a record of what we have agreed contractually.
To keep a record and remind me of what took place in each session
To provide and archive of all our sessions in order to better enable me to look back and assess the counselling progress overall.
To provide a court or judge access to a particular client’s file if requested for legal purposes.

SHARING YOUR INFORMATION

The information I hold about you will be shared with no one but myself and my supervisor:
During regular sessions with my supervisor - for the purpose of being able to provide you the best counselling possible – I will discuss your case from my notes but without identifying who you are. First names only are used and my supervisor will not see your file.

KEEPING YOUR INFO SECURE

The notes I keep on one single computer are password-protected and I am the only person with access to that computer.
The notes from the one single computer that I print out are stored in A4 folders under your initials only and kept in a locked storage space which only I have the keys to access.

YOUR RIGHTS

You have the right to request details about the information I collect about you and to request me to correct inaccuracies in that information, to object to or request the restriction of processing, and to request access. I will on your instructions erase all information I hold about you unless a judge has ordered me to present your file and information to a court of law.

DATA RETENTION

Due to the possibility of a legal request for information form the courts (see Information We Collect above), I will keep secure archives of clients’ files in both password-protected computer form and paper print out form in locked folders for a period of six months from the end of the last session - after which all information and communication I hold for the client will be deleted and/or shredded.

GDPR COMPLIENCE

On the 25th May 2018 the EU General Data Protection Regulation - known as GDPR - came into effect. It imposes additional obligations on organisations and individuals like myself who collect and process personal information, and gives data subjects extra rights around how their data is used.

I’d like you to know that Hugh Trethowan Counselling is registered with the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) and that I am abiding by the Data Protection Laws in order to keep the information I hold about you safe and that I will always treat it with the due diligence it deserves.

For more information go to: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/