Data Protection Policy and Agreement

My name is Nancy Didierlaurent. I am a psychotherapist and a registered member of the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP). I follow the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions effective from 1 July 2018. I agree to provide psychotherapy for a period negotiated with you, the client, which may be terminated at any time by myself or you, the client.

Confidentiality and record keeping

Everything that you say in the psychotherapy session will be kept confidential by me, the therapist, with certain exceptions. Firstly, your therapist keeps a record of the sessions, which she will keep securely for a fixed period and then destroy. Secondly, your therapist will talk from time to time with a supervisor about her work; however she will not share any personal information about your personal identity. Finally, if your therapist has any reason to fear that you or others may be at serious risk of harm she may break confidentiality in order to try and prevent that harm from occurring.

Fees and cancellation

The fee per sixty minute hour will be negotiated between therapist and client and will be charged for any session booked. If you need to cancel a session for any reason and give 48 hours’ notice you will not be charged for it. If you give less than 48 hours’ notice you will be required to pay the full fee.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your therapy with Nancy, she hopes that you will initially feel able to talk to her about this as it is often the least stressful way of resolving issues for both parties. If you do not feel able to do that or if it does not lead to a satisfactory outcome, you may contact BACP and make a formal complaint.

Emergencies

In the event of Nancy becoming suddenly incapacitated through illness or death or any other reason, and unable to contact you herself, she has nominated a person who will contact you to keep you informed of Nancy’s situation and if necessary, help you find alternative sources of support. They will also ensure any personal records are kept securely and will destroy them within three months of her death.

Data protection

Your personal details (name, address, DOB, phone number, email address, GP details, emergency contact, any health/access requirements, medication) and session records will be securely stored in order to inform my work, to contact you when arranging appointments and to use to mitigate any risk of serious harm. They will be stored securely until seven years after termination of our work to meet the requirement of my insurers and then destroyed. You have the right to request copies of any information kept about you.

 

Appendix A

 

Record keeping procedure

  1. Paper records for private practice will be kept in a lockable filing cabinet for seven years after termination of the agreement.
  2. School pupils’ records will be kept for three years after the child finishes his/her primary school education or seven years after I finish therapy with the child.
  3. Name, telephone and emails information, including those received via the BACP directory and on my private website, will never been shared with any other parties without the prior agreement of the client and electronic data received will be destroyed at least once annually.
  4. Client phone numbers retained during therapy will be removed from my personal phone within three months of ending the contract or after the last session.
  5. A review will be carried out at least once annually.
  6. I have checked with Webahead Internet Ltd, my website provider, to ensure that they are complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applicable from 25th May 2018. I informed them that I have my own data protection policy in place which is available to my clients on paper or by email on request.

 

Appendix B

I, Nancy Didierlaurent Psychotherapist, declare my commitment to follow to the best of my ability the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions effective from 1 July 2018, in particular with regard to my commitment to clients. See extract from this document below.

 

Our commitment to clients

Clients need to be able to participate freely as they work with practitioners of the counselling professions towards their desired goals. This requires clients to be able to trust their practitioner with their wellbeing and sensitive personal information. Therefore, as members or registrants of BACP, we take being trustworthy as a serious ethical commitment. We have agreed that we will:

1. Put clients first by:

  1. making clients our primary concern while we are working with them
  2. providing an appropriate standard of service to our clients.

 2. Work to professional standards by:

  1. working within our competence
  2. keeping our skills and knowledge up to date
  3. collaborating with colleagues to improve the quality of what is being offered to clients
  4. ensuring that our wellbeing is sufficient to sustain the quality of the work
  5. keeping accurate and appropriate records.

 3. Show respect by:

  1. valuing each client as a unique person
  2. protecting client confidentiality and privacy
  3. agreeing with clients on how we will work together
  4. working in partnership with client

 4. Build an appropriate relationship with clients by:

  1. communicating clearly what clients have a right to expect from us
  2. communicating any benefits, costs and commitments that clients may reasonably expect
  3. respecting the boundaries between our work with clients and what lies outside that work
  4. not exploiting or abusing clients
  5. listening out for how clients experience our working together.

 5. Maintain integrity by:

  1. being honest about the work
  2. communicating our qualifications, experience and working methods accurately
  3. working ethically and with careful consideration of how we fulfil our legal obligations.

 6. Demonstrate accountability and candour by:

  1. being willing to discuss with clients openly and honestly any known risks involved in the work and how best to work towards our clients’ desired outcomes by communicating any benefits, costs and commitments that clients may reasonably expect
  2. ensuring that clients are promptly informed about anything that has occurred which places the client at risk of harm or causes harm in our work together, whether or not clients are aware of it, and quickly taking action to limit or repair any harm as far as possible
  3. reviewing our work with clients in supervision
  4. monitoring how clients experience our work together and the effects of our work with them.