FAQs & Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for Silver Signature Counselling Services

I understand how important your privacy is. I take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of the BACP. These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that your therapist always conducts themselves with professionalism and integrity.

To provide you with the best service possible, I will hold your personal contact details and records of your therapy sessions. Please find below important information about how this information will be held and used.

Your personal information

I use a secure, encrypted, and password-protected practice management platform to collect and store your personal data. At the point of booking your initial consultation with me, you will be asked for personal contact information, such as your name, address, email address, and telephone number, and you may also choose to share details of the issues you are looking for help with.

Your contact information is stored securely and can only be accessed by me.

To be able to fulfil my duty of care to you, during your initial consultation or first treatment session, I will ask you for contact information for your GP and your elected Emergency Contact person. These details will be stored securely and only be accessible to me.

Please note that I will need to keep a record of your name and client reference number for seven years after the end of your therapy, so that I can respond effectively to any potential requests regarding your clinical notes and treatment.

I will never pass on your contact details to any third-party organisations for the purposes of sales, marketing, or research, and will never use your personal data for any purposes other than the administration of the counselling service I am providing to you, i.e., to arrange, cancel, and rearrange appointments and collect payment for sessions.

Anonymised payment details are recorded for tax purposes and will only hold your first name and unique client reference number. HMRC requires that we retain this information for five years after the end of the financial year.

My website uses cookies. You can find the details here: www.silversignaturecounselling.com

Your payment details

All payments made through my website are processed through the secure Stripe Connect server. My website therefore does not hold your payment information. Where you have made payment for your session over the phone, I will never keep a record of your card details. Your information is input directly into the card payment portal and no written record will be taken.

Your therapy sessions

Everything that you discuss with me is confidential. Confidentiality will only be broken if there is concern about your safety or the safety of someone else, or if I am instructed to do so by a Court of Law. I will always endeavour to speak to you about this first.

During remote working, I will ensure that I am conducting online sessions in a quiet, private, and confidential setting. I have selected video calling platforms that offer end-to-end encryption to ensure maximum privacy. Please note, however, that I cannot be held responsible for any breaches that occur due to failures in this technology.

I discuss my clinical work with a supervisor. This is to ensure that I am offering you the best service possible. These conversations are bound by confidentiality, and you will only be referred to by your first name.

I keep brief notes of each session. These are anonymised and are stored in a locked filing cabinet or within a password-protected file in the secure system. These notes are for my use only and help to keep track of what is being discussed. In line with industry guidelines, these notes will be kept securely for up to seven years after your therapy comes to an end. After this time, they will be confidentially destroyed.

If your sessions are paid for or arranged via a third party (e.g., your employer, a friend, or a family member), other than payment requests, invoices, or receipts, your counselling information will not be shared. Details about what is discussed in your sessions will remain confidential between us. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.

Your communications with me

The email account uses a secure server and is password-protected. If you send an email to my address, only I will have access to it.

All devices used to respond to your emails are encrypted, protected by anti-virus software, and password protected.

Data usage

I will only use your email address and telephone number to contact you about your appointments. I may also contact you directly via email to share information with you that is pertinent to your therapeutic process.

Your phone number may also be used to issue appointment reminders via text message.

Your rights

Any personal data retained by me is kept in accordance with GDPR 2018.

Under these guidelines, you have the following rights:

The right to request access to your data

You can request to view the information that I hold about you (contact details, appointment logs, etc.) at any time. If, during therapy, you would like to see your session notes, please let me know. Should you require a copy of your notes after your therapy has ended, you can make this request by emailing silversignaturecounselling@gmail.com or calling 07594 058814.

The right of rectification

At any point during your time using my service, or during the seven years thereafter while I retain your records, you have the right to request amendments to your contact details or session notes. This right can be exercised either by speaking directly to me or by writing.

The right to be forgotten

You can request that I delete and confidentially destroy the information that I hold about you and your sessions at any time. This request can be made by contacting me.

Instances where I would not be able to comply with your request are as follows:

I need to keep these records to provide effective service.

b) I am compelled to retain these records by a Court of Law

c) I need these records to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Consent

When you book your first session and provide your personal data, you are consenting to the storage and processing of that data for the purposes of providing therapeutic services.

You are entitled to withdraw this consent at any time and can do so by emailing me.

Breaches of data protection

In the event of any breach of data protection policies, I will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this immediately.

Raising concerns

Should you have any concerns about my data protection practices, you can raise these directly with me. You can also notify the Information Commissioner’s Office. I am registered with the ICO and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).