At New Horizons Bucks I collect and hold some sensitive data relating to the clients and supervisees that I am working with. This data assists management of my schedule and complies with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) guidelines for keeping client records and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018. To ensure full compliance, I am fully committed to being transparent about how I collect and use data in order to meet my data protection obligations.

The type of information that is collected is necessary information for our working relationship. This will include:

– Name, address, date of birth, contact details (including telephone number and email)

– GP name and contact details

– Medical conditions and medication

– Emergency name and contact number

– Involvement with other services

I may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data may be collected through initial assessments, phone calls or referral forms received from yourself, your GP, parent, or Employee Assistance Programme. I ask for this information in order to build a good picture of you, where you are now and what treatment you have received or are still receiving. This is part of keeping you safe. The only person who sees this data is myself, unless I feel you, or a vulnerable child or adult are at risk of serious harm. Legally, I will have to break confidentiality should you inform me of any potential acts of terrorism, money laundering or via a court order for disclosure. Please see the Therapeutic Agreement for more details. This data is stored safely and only examined by me.

I am required for professional standards to have a clinical supervision of my work. My clinical supervisor and myself are both members of BACP and follow their code of ethics. No identifiable information is shared with my supervisor.

All of your data is stored safely and kept confidential in a locked filing cabinet or on a password protected laptop – in accordance with GDPR. All data will be kept for 7 years following the end of therapy for legal reasons. Should you be under the age of 18, all data will be kept for 7 years following your 18th birthday. At any point, you have full access to all of your data held by me.

I will never share your data with any external agencies for any commercial purpose.