Privacy Policy

Privacy Statement for Gina Howard Counselling

I am committed to ensuring that I protect your privacy and will seek your explicit written consent to hold personal data about you, specifically and only for the purposes of providing counselling to you.

You can be assured that this information is held securely and will only be used in accordance with data protection principles, my confidentiality policy and my ethical principles (contained in the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions: July 2016). I will honour the confidence and trust you have placed in me.

The basis on which I hold or share information about you is outlined below and also the limits around confidentiality.

You have the right of access to information I hold about you and to amend or ask for deletion of information that may not be accurate or correct. Please contact me if you wish to view the data I hold about you.

I will not hold your data for longer than is deemed necessary for the purposes of counselling and following best practice and legal guidance.

I will keep your basic data and records for 3 years and personal
therapy notes for 3 months from the last date of contact with you after which they will be destroyed.

Types
of data I collect and usage.
I will use this information to contact you about appointments and other relevant details.

I will also use your data to fulfill legal obligations, such as allowing you to see what data I hold or complying with any necessary laws. This includes situations where I may need to disclose information for the safety of children, young people, and adults at risk.

Your written consent will be obtained during assessment for any potential disclosures to other organizations, such as your GP, if there is a risk to your safety or others.

Storage of personal data and notes

All notes are anonymised using a client number and initials and are kept separate from your personal data.

Any reference to relationships are also anonymised.

Your personal data such as name and contact information is kept separately and in a locked environment in paper format.

I will keep a record of your first name and telephone number on my
mobile phone and will only be used to contact you about appointments
or in the case of an emergency where I may need to cancel.

I will also use your contact details to send you information and coaching exercises to assist your progress as you choose.

Use of data for running my business and tax purposes

A record of how many clients I am seeing using an identity number.

Records of how many sessions I have given.

How much I have been paid by each client.