Privacy Policy

Your privacy is very important to me and you can be confident that 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 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

In order to carry out my work, I hold some information about my clients.This privacy notice tells you what information I need from your initial point of contact through to after therapy has ended. It also states how I will use that information, and how I keep it safe.

Initial contact

When you first contact me to enquire about my counselling services, I will need to take your first name, email address and/or telephone number, in order to contact you. If you decide not to proceed with counselling, I will delete your contact details within two weeks, or sooner if you prefer.

While you are having counselling

If you decide to have counselling with me, then I will need to collect the following personal data:

– Full name

– Date of birth

– Address

– Contact number

– Email address

– Details of an emergency contact

– Contact details for your GP

– Details of any medication or relevant health issues

During counselling, I will store your contact details securely on a password protected personal computer. I take brief notes after each session to remind me of what we have discussed before the next session. These notes are stored securely under lock and key in a filing cabinet, with no name attached, only a client number.

Please be assured that everything you share with me will be kept confidential, unless I have serious concerns about your personal safety, or the safety of others, and where the law requires that I do so. This would be if you were to disclose information about terrorism, money laundering, child protection issues or drug trafficking, or if my session notes were to be subpoenaed by a court.

After counselling has ended

Once counselling has ended, your records will be kept for 7 years and then securely destroyed.

Your Rights

You have a right to ask me:

– to delete your personal information

– for a copy of any information that I hold about you

– to limit how I use your personal information

– to amend any personal information that I hold for you

– to transfer your personal information to another organisation

If you wish to make a request please email me at janebucklandcounselling@btinternet.com. I will respond within one month.

If you have any questions about my data protection policy, or would like to access or amend your personal information, please feel free to contact me by phone (07938 718321) or email ( janebucklandcounselling@btinternet.com )

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (https://ico.org.uk registration reference ZB672161)