Privacy for Psychotherapy & Counselling Clients

Your privacy is very important and 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 2018and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after therapy has ended, including:

• Why I am able to process your information and what purpose I am processing it for.
• Whether you have to provide it to me.
• How long I store it for.
• Whether there are other recipients of your personal information.
• Whether I do automated decision making or profiling.
• Your data protection rights.

I am happy to answer any questions you have about my data protection policy and you can contact me at info@vickieprovo.co.uk

In my work as a qualified psychotherapist, I act as a Data Controller. This term is used to describe the person that collects, processes and stores and has responsibility for information you have provided to me. Processing includes the organisation, retrieval, consultation, use, storing and destruction of information and its disclosure to other parties.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office: Reg. No. ZA007708

My postal address is: The Wonderloft, 5 The Courtyard, Ochrelands, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 1SB.
My phone number is: 07738 081610
My email address is: info@vickieprovo.co.uk

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

The main reason that your data is used is so that a service can be provided to you. This service will be managed through the contract we sign. The key legal basis I use for the processing of the data is that it is a necessary part of the contract and I ask for your consent to do so. 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.

How I use your information.

When you contact me with an enquiry about my services I will collect information to help satisfy your enquiry. This will include name, contact details, nature of enquiry. Alternately, your GP or other professional may send me your details when making a referral or a trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf. If you do not proceed beyond the enquiry stage I will ensure that your personal information is deleted within a month. If you would like this information deleted sooner please let me know.

While you are accessing my service.

Once you have decided to work with me, the information you provide is used for the purpose of assessing your needs and for providing a counselling or psychotherapeutic service to you. The information may be shared with my supervisor who will provide professional advice and feedback to me.

The keeping of information.

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the service run smoothly. These details are kept in written form in a locked cabinet. I also keep telephone numbers in my i-phone which is passcode protected. All information is kept securely and controlled by me and not shared with any third party.

I will keep written notes of each session, these are kept in written form in a locked cabinet. Email correspondence will be kept for one month and deleted if it is not important. If necessary I will print it off and it will be kept in a locked cabinet separately from notes.

After the work has ended.

All information will be kept for no less than seven years but may be kept for longer and will depend on a variety of factors e.g. legal rules, insurance requirements, changes to ethical policies, if a client returns to therapy, etc.

Confidentiality and sharing of information.

I keep information about you strictly confidential except in the circumstances outlined below. This means I store it securely and control who has access to it. I never use or share it for marketing purposes. I will only share such information as necessary, and when I am satisfied that the other individual or organisation is entitled to receive it.

Confidentiality is maintained except in certain circumstances:

I may need to request further information from your GP or from another medical professional. In instances, it may be necessary to share the information that you have disclosed to me with further individuals or organisations. Reasons for doing this include, but are not limited to:

• As part of my duty to protect a child, a vulnerable adult, yourself or the public
• For prevention and detection of a crime
• If I am required to do so by a court of law

I will also use some of your information to:

• Maintain records
• Respond to any enquiries you make about the services I have provided
• Investigate complaints
• Meet my statutory obligations
• Ensure the accuracy of my records

If I am to break confidentiality for the above reasons, but not limited to them, I will always try to speak to you first unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

Your rights

If you wish to have your personal information deleted, limit how I use it or ask me stop processing it, let me know and I will take reasonable steps to remove it unless I need to keep it for legal, insurance, auditing, internal risk management or archiving purposes. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters

If you believe the information I hold about you is incorrect, or if you have concerns about how I am handling this information please contact me.

Data Security

I take the security of data I hold about you very seriously. Notes are kept in a locked cabinet and my phone is password protected.

Website Privacy

Visitors to my website www.vickieprovo.co.uk

When someone visits my website, I use a third party service Google Analytics to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. I do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way that does not identify anyone. I do not make and do not allow Google Analytics to make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting my website.

I use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information in this way when you visit my website.

I use Google Analytics so that I can continually improve my service to you.

Cookies Policy

I may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a cookie file which is stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. They help me to improve my site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. Some of the cookies I use are essential for the site to operate. If you register with me or if you continue to use my site, you agree to my use of cookies.

The cookies I currently use are as follows:

• Session cookie: this cookie is used to ensure you are recognised when moving from page to page within the website. For example, if you are a registered user then it prevents you from having to log in separately on every page. It is deleted when you close your browser.
• Google Analytics (__utma, __utmb, __utmc, __utmz): these cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use the site. The information includes the time of the current visit, whether you have been to the site before and what site referred you here. I use this information to estimate my audience size and usage pattern, so that I can improve my site by understanding how people use it. Click here for further information from Google on Google Analytics and your privacy.
• Cookies that are set by Facebook and Twitter on pages where their respective “Share” links are included on the page, and standard Facebook cookies that are set if you use Facebook Connect. Click here for further information on how Facebook uses cookies, and click here for information on Twitter’s use of cookies.

You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be to access all or parts of the site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon you visit the site.