I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I follow and adhere to their codes of good practice and the Ethical Framework for the Counselling Therapy Professions.
As part of being a professional confidential counsellor I adhere to the BACPs guidelines, I am also required to have supervision, with a qualified clinical Counselling and Psychotherapy supervisor. This promotes quality and standards of practice within the industry. Anything I discuss with them will be anonymized. Additionally, it will also be held with the same high standards of confidentiality and data protection by my supervisor.
Our work together will be confidential. I will not share any information about you, however, it is my responsibility to inform your G.P. or other professional if I feel you are at risk or in cases such as:
Ø If you, or someone else, are at risk.
Ø In legal cases
Ø Terrorism
Ø Drug trafficking
Ø Money Laundering
Puzzling Minds Counselling Privacy Policy
Our contact details
Name: L. Mitchell t/a Puzzling Minds Counselling
Website: puzzlingminds.co.uk
Phone Number:07871 211530
E-mail: puzzlingmindscounselling@gmail.com
The type of personal information we collect
We currently collect and process the following information:
· Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name and contact details) such as:
name, d.o.b. address, phone and email, including G.P surgery and emergency contact name and phone number or email.
How we get the personal information and why we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:
· Your counselling enquiry
We may also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:
· BACP website contact enquiry form
· Referrals or recommendations
We use the information that you have given us in order to protect your wellbeing and prevent harm to you or others.
In crisis or emergency situations we may share this information with relevant medical professionals or social care.
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
(A) Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting puzzlingmindscounselling@gmail.com
(B) We have a vital interest to do no harm
(C) We need it to perform a public task or safeguarding
(D) We have a legitimate interest.
How we store your personal information
Your information is securely stored. Written hard copies are secured under lock and key. Any digital data, such as emails or text messages are secured with passwords or other relevant technological security.
Other than any personal information shared through first contact forms filled in by you, by why of initial counselling enquiry. We keep minimum basic personal information about you, such as name, d.o.b. address, phone and email, including G.P surgery and emergency contact name and phone number, all of which is kept in hard copy only. This is held for 12 months after sessions cease. We will then dispose your information by secure disposal, such as shredding.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing - You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
Please contact us at puzzlingmindscounselling@gmail.com if you wish to make a request.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at puzzlingmindscounselling@gmail.com
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data. The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk