Privacy Policy

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. The GDPR is concerned with the personal information about you that I collect, store, and share.

How I use your information

INITAL CONTACT

When you contact me with an enquiry about my therapy services, I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include an Initial Therapy Agreement which collects basic background information so that I can assess your therapy needs. If you decide to proceed, I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within 5 years. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.

Personal data I will collect 

  • Name

  • Gender (or preferred identity)

  • Age

  • Date of Birth

  • Relationships & children

  • Occupation

  • Address

  • Telephone/SMS number (plus permission to send SMS & leave a voice message)

  • Email address

  • Counselling history

  • Medical conditions relevant to counselling

  • Prescribed medication relevant to counselling

  • Difficulties

  • Session summary

This client information is used as a contract and emergency contact information while you are in counselling.

How I will store your information

  • I will keep written notes of each session; these are also kept within a locked filing cabinet or electronic, which are encrypted and password protected.

  • I use a paper diary for my appointments, once we begin working together, I will use initials/codes only.

  • The notes that I keep are for my purpose only and are of a technical nature. Any information that is used in supervision is done in a way as to conceal the client’s identity.

  • Email/SMS: your email address and correspondence will be stored in my email account (currently Microsoft Outlook) by nature of you contacting me. Your telephone number may be stored in my SMS should we exchange messages this way. Electronic correspondence will also be held by the corresponding app (Outlook, Phone’s SMS). All correspondence stored there and will be deleted regularly and on our work ending together.

  • Website: non of your personal information is stored on my website

  • As soon as a client has an ending session, I delete their contact details from phone and laptop. All emails will be deleted and trash emptied

  • Paper records holding personal data will be shredded

Documents held

  • Paper

  • Assessment

  • Contract

  • GDPR Agreement

How I may process / share your personal information

SUPERVISION

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if I suspect acts of terrorism, drug/arms/people trafficking and money laundering, as required by law. I may also break confidentiality if I suspect the wellbeing of a child or vulnerable adult is at risk. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

The only other person involved in your case will be my supervisor who is held by the same privacy, data protection and confidentiality clauses as described here and in my contract.

The supervision process is to maintain the quality and efficiency of my practice I will refer to you by only your first name and I may mention vague, non-identifying details about you when it’s helpful to develop our work together.

THERAPEUTIC WILL

In the event of my death or incapacity your details, should you still be in therapy with me, will be shared with my therapeutic executor so that you can be notified.

EMERGENCIES

If your health is in jeopardy, I may share your contact information with an emergency healthcare service (e.g., Mental Health Crisis Team).

If I become aware of your intent to cause harm to another person/organisation e.g., terrorism or commit a serious crime, the law may require that I inform and authority without seeking your permission.

Your rights

You have the following rights:

  • To be informed what information I hold (i.e. this document)

  • To see the information I hold about you (free of charge for the initial request)

  • To rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal information

  • To withdraw consent to me using your personal information

  • To request your personal information be erased (though I can decline whilst the information is needed for me to practice lawfully & competently)

You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters. To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put in the request in writing addressing it to holly@hollyportztherapy.co.uk. I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy.

ERASING YOUR INFORMATION

When we have finished working together, I will erase electronic copies of your contact information & correspondence within one month. I will hold onto your clinical information (assessment, summary notes) for up to five years past the end of your working together. This is so that I have a reference of our work in situation such as you returning to counselling in the future and is a requirement of my insurer in case a claim in made, After this time has passed, I will shred the information kept on paper and delete entirely information held electronically.

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than 12 months. If there is relevant information contained in a text message I will download and securely archive the information for no more than 5 years. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after 12 months if it is not important. If necessary, I will securely archive the correspondence for no more than 5 years.

Third party recipients of personal data

I am legally bound to provide client information to a court judge (by court order) or a coroner. In all other circumstances, I will not provide your information to a third party without your prior consent. Government Agencies, such as HMRC, will have access to my payment records in the event of an audit, in which case they may see your name on statements. These agencies are also bound by strict confidentiality laws, however, should you wish to keep your bank details anonymous, you can pay for services through me confidentially via debit or credit card or cash (please ask me for more details).

NB: A printed copy of this statement will be given to you when we first meet for counselling. If we agree to continue working together, we will both sign the printed copy of this statement to indicate our agreement.

BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION