Effective Date September 21st, 2024

Welcome to SR Counselling, I am committed to protect the privacy of my clients and website visitors. This legal notice and privacy policy applies to the entire content of this website under the domain name www.sufia-rahman-counselling.co.uk and to any email, text, social media, instant messaging and completing the contact form on my website. 

If you made contact using the Contact form or by any email or messaging correspondence. I will use your contact details and send you further information about my services to answer enquiries. 

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If you register on a page and have provided information about yourself or/and enquired about services or otherwise by informing me about yourself, I will collect that information to respond to your request and then assess your needs. If you choose not to engage with my services, all contact details and correspondence will be deleted within 5 days. 

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Personal information and data I will record and obtain.

• At the commencement of any work together you will be requested to read and sign a General Data Protection Register (GDPR) consent form that reiterates the information below. 

• Name, Address, Phone number, Date of Birth, GP details.

• Pronoun preferences.

• Payment transaction’s that may include data of the payments from you and the service you have received from me.

• Emergency contact details.

• Employment/ education details.

• Health information such as medical/health conditions. 

• I may store any information you may provide by email or phone or text.

• Information you may provide via BACP, Find a therapist, counselling directory, any other counselling platforms or via my website.

• Brief anonymised notes of our sessions.

• There may be times we exchange communication via, Facetime, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom.

 

How I protect Personal Data/Information

• Personal Data that I collect from you via any form of contact by email or phone will be kept securely. 

• Your phone number will be stored in my password protected phone for the duration of our work.

• Your client record sheet, GDPR consent form, and any other relevant paperwork will be kept in a locked cabinet. Brief client notes will be coded to keep client anonymised and stored in the locked cabinet. I will only have access to this cabinet.  

• Any bank payments you make for your therapy sessions your name could appear on bank statements. 

• I take all steps necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

 

My obligations to you 

1.    I am a registered and accredited practitioner of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP). I adhere to the BACP Ethical framework for the counselling professions. https://www.bacp.co.uk/media/3103/bacp-ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions-2018.pdf
2.    As contracted, I will keep you information confidential unless there has been a breach to under the following circumstances.
Please note, I will seek permission and consent from you before releasing information however there maybe instances where I am not required to gain consent and the law requires me to disclose this in cases of safeguarding, female genital mutilation (FGM) in under 18 years of age, terrorism, money laundering and drug trafficking. 

•    If have disclosed that there is a risk of serious harm to you or others.
•    You have given written request your notes to be released to a third party.
•    I am subpoenaed by the police to provide my notes.
•    I am a witness for the defence or prosecution. 

3.    Brief anonymised session notes are kept securely in line with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). 
4.    Clinical supervision clients are anonymised, so clients are not identifiable, brief anonymised notes are a necessary element of ensuring high standards and professional practice. 
5.    I will only use the data that I collect to help me offer you the best counselling service that I can and as an insurance requirement. I will not use your data for any other purposes.
6.    Any information held will be kept safe and secure, this will only be used for the purposes it was given for. I adhere to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy guidelines and UK data protection Act 2018.  As my practice adheres to the security of data my GDPR agreement sets out how any personal data I collect from you, or that you provide to me, will be stored, and processed confidentially.

Retention time

I am required by law and my insurance company to hold client information for a period of seven years after the conclusion of our therapy. Personal data collected between me, and a client will expire once the retention period terminates, personal data will be deleted. After this period the right to data access cannot be enforced. 
I may be required to retain personal data for a longer period for the purposes of a legal obligation ordered from an authority. .

Contact details

I will continue to revise this policy, if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact me to discuss these. 

 

 

 

 

This document was last revised on October 30th 2024