The privacy and security of your personal information is very important to me. The information below outlines the measures I will take to keep your information (known as 'data') private and secure, from your initial enquiry through to the end of your counselling therapy and beyond. To ensure you feel comfortable with these measures, please read through my privacy policy and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Introduction

Any personal data provided by you through any means will be held and processed in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). GDPR define specific legal bases for storing information, several of these apply to the information which I store about clients:

I ask clients and/or parents to consent to me storing and using this information
I only store the information which I need to provide the therapy which you have asked me for
In some cases, I need to use the information I have collected in order to protect vulnerable children and young people (known as safeguarding).

The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. There are different lawful bases depending on the stage at which I am processing your data. I have explained these below:

If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.
If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.

The GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. This type of information is called 'special category personal information'. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between us).

I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), as a Data Controller.

The Information Commissioner Office (ICO) website: www.ico.org.uk

My registration number is: ICO:00010162990

What information is collected?

Counselling requests – clients are invited to make initial contact with me via email, text, or by phone. At this stage, you may simply want to know more about the service I offer before determining whether you'd like to proceed with counselling support. Any texts or emails you have sent me along with your contact details will be held for 14 days and then deleted if you have not been in further contact.
Prospective clients or their parents are offered a free 30 minute telephone consultation to discuss any counselling needs. Together we can determine whether my counselling service seems suitable. At this point I will ask for some information that I will record on paper including your name, telephone number, email address, your availability to meet for sessions, your preference to meet (in person, online, telephone) and a brief description of the therapeutic issues. I will store this information in a locked filing cabinet at home. It will be stored for 14 days and destroyed if you do not confirm within 14 days that you wish to access my counselling support.
If you do proceed with counselling support, this information and all notes from sessions will be stored for 7 years beyond the date of your final session with me. If the client is under 18, the information will be stored for 7 years beyond the date that the client turns 18 as per the requirements of my insurance and ethical body.
If you choose to access my counselling support, I will request some further information from you including full name, date of birth, telephone number (and an emergency telephone number), email address, home address, GP information, relevant medical issues and any other information you would like to provide me so that I can best support your needs. The 'client information' form can be emailed to you prior to your first session.
Website –My website uses Wix Analytics to collect anonymous data relating to user behaviour and ‘web traffic’ statistics. The collection and use of this data by Wix.com is subject to their own Privacy Policies.
Note taking - I record brief notes after each session as a reminder for the following session. These notes are paper records; they are anonymised and stored securely in a locked filing cabinet in my home. They are kept for 7 years following completion of the counselling and then destroyed. For clients under 18, notes are stored for 7 years beyond the date at which the client turns 18 (in accordance with my insurance policy and ethical body).

I use the information held about you in the following ways:

To provide you with the professional counselling service requested from Alison Fountain Counselling.
To notify you about changes to your appointments and any other changes to the service.
To seek feedback from you on your experience of counselling.
To improve the service ensuring that it is provided in the most effective manner for us both.
To administer the service, including the arrangement of counselling appointments and the handling of payments.
To fulfil my administrative, legal and contractual obligations as a counsellor.

What information do I share?

I will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

Consent – If you have requested that I arrange contact on your behalf, I may share your information with other professionals or organisations.
Serious harm – I may share your information with the relevant authorities if I have reason to believe that you or another person are in immediate danger.
Compliance with law – I may share your information where I am required to by law or by the regulations and other rules to which I am subject.

How do I keep your information safe?

All information you provide is stored as securely as possible. All paper forms and correspondence are kept in a locked filing cabinet. All electronic records are stored securely on my own laptop using the latest firewalls and data security protocols, and all access is by password-protected authentication. Client contact numbers will be stored on a password protected smartphone used for the sole purpose of counselling.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Although I will do my best to protect your information, I cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to me via email. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once I have received your information, I will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Your identifiable personal information is kept separately from any session notes. Client notes and other documentation are destroyed 7 years after the completion of counselling or in the case of children and young people, 7 years beyond the date that a client turns 18.

Your rights

You have the right to ask me to provide a copy of the information I hold about you. You also have the right to require me to correct any inaccuracies in your information.

You may withdraw your consent for me to hold and process your data at any time. However, if you do this while actively receiving counselling, our sessions would have to come to an end.

You can ask me to amend any inaccuracies or withdraw your consent by emailing me: alisonfountaincounselling@protonmail.com

Information stored about children belongs to the child. Young people have the right to see their records. If younger children want to see their own records, their parents can request this on their behalf. I then have a legal obligation to consider whether it is in the child's interest to release this information to their parent.

I use an email service provided by Proton for my counselling work. Their privacy policy is found at: https://proton.me/legal/privacy. Information specific to Proton mail is found at: https://proton.me/mail/privacy-policy.

If you use email to enquire about the counselling service but do not become a client, your personal information will not be stored, and any emails will be deleted within 14 days.

Doxy.me

I use Doxy.me when conducting online counselling. Their privacy policy is found at:

https://doxy.me/en/privacy-policy/.

Counselling sessions are not recorded. I will email you the link to the virtual meeting room the day before the counselling session is due to take place. This will take you to a virtual waiting room where only you will be admitted.

Website (https://alisonfountain.wixsite.com/ajfcounselling)

This website is hosted by wix.com and uses cookies as per wix’s privacy policy which can be found at https://www.wix.com/about/privacy.

BACP Therapist Directory

I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and have chosen the BACP Therapist Directory to advertise my counselling service. Their privacy notice is found at: https://www.bacp.co.uk/privacy-notice/. If you complete the contact form within the therapist directory, I will be sent an email notification to my Protonmail account. The data will be contained within an encrypted attachment and will contain brief details from the contact form i.e. why a client is contacting me, contact details, and the preferred method of contact. If you do not become a client your personal information will not be stored, and the email and attachment will be deleted within 14 days. Please note the BACP retains the data for up to one day to assist with any problems.

Almost all websites use cookies which are small files that get put on your computer by websites as you surf them. These cookies can store lots of information which can have privacy implications. My website uses Wix Analytics to analyse website traffic and improve the user experience. I do not control these cookies so I cannot guarantee what they do. In many cases the cookies are used to generate identical information to Google Analytics. Users can opt out of data collection by disabling cookies or using browser plugins.

If you have questions about this policy, please call me on 07341 701412 or email me at alisonfountaincounselling@protonmail.com.

Privacy policy