Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important.  I take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).  These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that I always conduct myself with professionalism and integrity.

 

To provide you with the best possible service, I will hold your personal contact details and brief notes of your counselling sessions.  You can find important information below about how this information will be held and used.

 

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Your personal information:

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• Your personal information will be stored on a password protected document on my private, password protected computer.

• Only secure email accounts will be used for sharing sensitive information (once consent has been gained).

• Details provided through your initial contact with Kelly Lockwood Counselling (online form, email) will be stored in my secure email or phone.

• Before we begin sessions, I will ask you for contact information for your GP and an elected Emergency Contact.  This is so that I can fulfil my duty of care to you.  These details will be stored securely in a password protected file and will only be accessible to me and to my professional executor, in circumstances of my incapacity.

• Your personal records will be kept for a period of five years following the end of your counselling, after which time they will be deleted.  This is in accordance with insurance requirements and will also enable me to respond effectively to any potential information requests.

• 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 providing a counselling service to you.  For example, to arrange, cancel or rearrange appointments, and collect payment for sessions.

 

 

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Website visits and online form enquiries:

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• My website uses Cookies and analytics provided by Wix; the web development platform used for my website.

• When you first visit my website, you will be offered the opportunity to accept or decline Cookies.  Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites as you access them. 

• Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies you, but personal information that I store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from Cookies.  Sensitive personal information, such as mailing addresses, account passwords, etc., are not stored in the Cookies this website uses.  Those that are used are essential to providing you with the services available through this website and enabling you to use some of its features.  They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts.  These Cookies are used to track information about traffic to the website and how users use the website.  The information gathered via these Cookies may directly or indirectly identify you as an individual visitor.  This is because the information collected is typically linked to a pseudonymous identifier associated with the decide you use to access the website. 

• If you prefer to avoid the use of Cookies on this website, you must disable the use of Cookies in your browser and then delete the Cookies saved in your browser associated with this website.  You may use this option for preventing the use of Cookies at any time.  If you do not accept Cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of this website and some features may not function fully.  If you would like to delete Cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse Cookies, please visit the help pages of your browser. 

• Wix analytics is a service that collects and analyses anonymous usage information, with the purpose of enabling me to understand how my website is used.  This information enables me to develop and improve my website, making it more accessible and useful to those who access it.

• Should you choose to contact me using the contact form on the website, the data that you provide will not be stored by the website or passed to any third-party data processors.  The data you provide will be received by me through my secure email address.

 

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Your payment details:

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Payments are made through bank transfer.

Some basic information about you will appear on my bank statements following session fee bank transfers.

 

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Your counselling sessions:

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Everything you share within sessions will be confidential, with the following exceptions:

 

• Prevention of harm. If I believe that you or someone else is at significant risk of harm/danger.

• Legal requirement. For example, serious criminal activity, or a court-issued order for disclosure.

• Professional supervision. In accordance with BACP guidelines I receive regular clinical supervision, where our work together might be discussed (using only your first name).

• Clinical Will. In the event of my death or incapacity, my appointed representative will have access to your basic contact information so that they can advise you accordingly.

 

When working online, I will ensure that I am conducting sessions in a space that is private, quiet, and confidential space.

The online platform used will have end-to-end encryption to ensure maximum privacy, although I cannot be held responsible for any breaches that occur due to a failure with this technology.

You can view the security policies of Zoom and What’s App on each organisations respective websites.

 

Brief notes are kept of each session.  These are anonymised and are stored securely within a password-protected file on my private and password-protected computer

 

These notes are for my use only.  As stated in an earlier section, these notes will be confidentially destroyed five years after your counselling comes to an end.

 

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Your communication with me:

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We will agree a preferred method of communicating between sessions.  The phone and laptop used to respond to emails, calls and texts, are fully protected with anti-virus software and are password protected. 

 

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Data usage:

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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 any information that is pertinent to your therapeutic process.

 

 

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Your rights:

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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 I hold at any time, up to the point that they are deleted. 

• The right of rectification: you can request for an amendment to be made to your records at any time, up to the point that they are deleted. 

• The right to be forgotten: you can request that I delete and confidentially destroy the information that I hold about you and our sessions at any time up until the point that it is destroyed.

 

Requests regarding the above can be made by either contacting me by email or speaking with me directly.

 

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

• It is necessary for me to retain the records to continue providing an effective service.

• I am compelled by a Court of Law to retain the records.

• I require these records to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

 

 

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Breaches of data protection:

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

 

 

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Raising concerns:

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Should you have any concerns about my data protection policies or management, you can raise them directly with me, or you can notify the ICO. 

I am registered with the ICO, with the reference number of ZB802804.

 

 

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Changes to privacy notice:

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This privacy may be updated from time to time, so please check occasionally for any changes.

 

 

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Consent:

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By filling out the online form or contacting me directly, you consent to me processing and storing your personal data for the purpose of providing a counselling service.

If you choose not to proceed with counselling, I will delete all your personal data immediately. 

You can also withdraw your consent at any time by emailing me at kelly@kellylockwoodcounselling.co.uk

 

 

 

ICO reg: ZB802804