How I gather your personal information: 

- Information that you provide by emailing me via my website or via text or phone
contact to request further information about my services.

- Any pre-therapy questionnaires sent via e-mail or paper copies obtained on request.

- Brief ongoing session notes.
- Regarding online therapy, I use the platform Zoom which is securely encrypted.
Zoom has the facility to record sessions which I will not use.

Where I store your personal data:

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- Personal data that I collect from you by any form of contact by e-mail or phone will be kept securely. Any pre-therapy questionnaires, your contact details and brief session notes are stored in a lockable filing cabinet or online and are password protected.
- Session notes are anonymized using your initials only.
- I take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely
and in accordance with this privacy policy.

How I might use your information:

- I may use your contact details to allow me to provide you with the information for the services that you request from me, to allow you to tell me about changes and to notify you about changes relevant to our working, to inform you of any administrative changes.
- I keep simple basic notes of our meetings. I use the session notes as prompts for
future sessions and to enable me to monitor your progression.
- As part of my professional and ethical requirements I regularly attend supervision.
- My supervisor is bound by the same ethical and confidential boundaries that I am: To protect your identity during supervision I only use initials. The contract I hold with my supervisor is different and separate to the contract I hold with you.

How long I keep information and notes for:

- Text and e-mail communications are retained throughout the duration of our work together after which time deleted from my computer and any other devices.
- After therapy has finished your phone number will be retained in my Phone for a year unless you requested that to be deleted on completion of our work together.
- All hard copy notes and pre therapy questionnaires that have been collected during our time working together will be retained for a further five years. This is in case you decide to return to therapy and is also a requirement of my insurance. -  After five years of our ending our work together all documents will be destroyed.

Information retention for young person clients. 
- All information held on young person clients (Pre 18) will be held until 5 years after their 18th birthday.

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Your Rights:

- You are entitled to view, amend or delete the personal information that I hold. - -- This will be done within one month of request.
- In the event of a data breach I have a legal obligation to report a data breach to you and to the Information Commissioners Office ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware of any breach.

Disclosure of your personal information:

I will only disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal
obligation. For example, if I am subpoenaed by a court or if there is a legal
requirement such as safeguarding vulnerable adults or children. For the prevention
of terrorism or money laundering or any serious crime you disclose to me.

Changes to the GDPR agreement:

I will notify you of any changes I make in this privacy policy in the duration of our
contract.

Consent to the GDPR agreement:

Your use and undertaking of the services of Tim Charnock Counselling constitutes
approval and acceptance of our agreement; you are consenting to my use and
storage of the personal information you have disclosed to me and any session notes
that I make during our work together; you have the right to withdraw your concerns at any time.

Law and Jurisdiction

By signing the therapeutic contract, you acknowledge that Tim Charnock Counselling is a UK based practitioner, and his insurance shall be subject to English and Welsh law. If there is a dispute this will only be dealt with in the English courts.

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Tim Charnock Counselling Data Protection Complaints Policy

 

Making a Complaint:

Tim Charnock Counselling is committed to protecting your personal information and
respecting your privacy. If you have any concerns about how your personal data has
been collected, stored, used, shared, or managed, you have the right to make a
complaint.

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Complaints can be made in writing by:
Email: contact@timcharnockcounselling.com
Telephone: 07538 414222
Please provide as much information as possible regarding your concern so that it
can be investigated thoroughly.

 

Acknowledgement of Complaints

All data protection complaints will be acknowledged within 30 calendar days of
receipt.
The acknowledgement will confirm that your complaint has been received and
explain the next steps in the process.

 

Investigation Process

Upon receiving a complaint, Tim Charnock Counselling will:

Review the details of the complaint.
Make appropriate enquiries to establish the facts.
Consider whether any breach of data protection legislation has occurred.
Take any necessary corrective action.
Keep you informed of progress where appropriate.

Every effort will be made to investigate and respond as promptly as possible.

 

Outcome of the Complaint

Once the investigation is complete, you will be informed of:

The findings of the investigation.
Any action taken as a result.

Any steps being implemented to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.

The outcome will be communicated without undue delay.

 

If You Remain Dissatisfied

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you have the right to raise
your concerns with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

 

You can contact them via their website: https://ico.org.uk/

The ICO recommends that concerns are raised with the organisation first before
contacting them.

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Policy Owner: Tim Charnock
Business Name: Tim Charnock Counselling
Review Date: Annually or when required by changes in legislation.
This procedure forms part of the practice's Data Protection and Privacy
arrangements and is available upon request.

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If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!