This Privacy Policy explains how the personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed. Please read the following carefully to understand how we will treat your personal data.
Our website address is: https://newbeginningscounselling.net.
This website is owned by Sarah Barr, owner and counsellor of New Beginnings Counselling.
As a mental health professional your confidentiality is paramount and part of the code of ethics that I abide to.
Confidentiality within counselling ensures your privacy and trust. I aim to offer a safe service, avoiding misuse or abuse of your personal data.
How your data is handled at every point of contact with New Beginnings:
When you contact me:
I will collect information regarding your name and contact details.
If decide not to proceed with counselling I will delete this data.
When you attend counselling:
We will talk through the terms and conditions of counselling in more detail and I will explain the client/counsellor contract in our first session.
Confidentiality is key to counselling. However there are a few exceptions to upholding confidentiality in counselling. The limits of confidentiality are:
- When the client is at risk of harm, or danger to themselves or others, or committed a crime.
- When the therapist suspects child, elder, or dependent adult abuse.
- When the client has directed the therapist to share information about their case.
- When the therapist receives a court order.
If the client tells you they have committed a serious crime. If the client is a child and is being abused or is at risk of abuse. If you are concerned that the client might harm themself or someone else.
After your session has ended:
I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely in a locked filing cabinet and/or in password-protected documents and are not shared with any third party. I will keep brief written notes of each session, these are kept in a locked filing cabinet, and you will not be identifiable from these notes. Any email correspondence will be deleted after two weeks if it is not important. If necessary I will add any important information to your paper notes which are kept in a locked filing cabinet.
After counselling has ended:
When our counselling sessions have ended your information will be kept for six years, as recommended by BACP and IACP. Then it will be securely destroyed. If you would prefer for your information to be deleted before then please let me know.
You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information or to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you.
Security
Paper notes/information are stored in a locked filing cabinet, under a code (not in clients name). Data notes/information stored electronically is under password-protection.
What personal data do I collect?
- When you browse my website I collect information such as name, telephone number, email address in order for me to fulfil your request for more information on my services. This is done via the Contact Page.
- I also use Google analytics to monitor the visitors to my website. This collects the browsing actions you take on my site from the pages viewed and length of time on each page. This does not identify you personally.
- In some cases my website will alert me to the IP address of certain visitors to my website if used to attack or mistreat my website in anyway and is used as a security setting on my website.
How do we collect personal data:
1. When you submit an email to us on our contact page
2. We may use non-personal information about you such as IP address, device type or geographical location in order to monitor activity on our website to better understand how our website is being used, and what countries our visitors come from. This data is tracked Google Analytics; for further information, see the Google Analytics privacy policies. However, we do not match your IP address to any other information that would identify you as a unique individual person.
While you visit our site, we’ll also track:
- Location, IP address and browser type: we’ll use this for purposes as stated above
- Pages you’ve viewed: we’ll use this to, for example, show you posts you’ve recently viewed
How do we process your data:
Personal data collected is used in the processing of new enquiries. Email addresses may also be used to send you marketing communications (if you have opted in to receive them). You can opt out of these at any time by clicking unsubscribe in my emails.
Browsing behaviour data is collected and analysed to see how well our website is performing on a variety of electronic devices and internet browsers.
We may use this data for re-marketing in conjunction with Google, facebook and Instagram which allows us to display adverts to you on third party websites after you have visited our website. To opt out of this please visit each sites ad settings.
Who will process this data?
Only Staff at New Beginnings will use this information collected to reply to queries.
How long we retain this data
For unregistered users we keep your contact information on file until we have completed your request plus 30 days in case of any issues that may arise. We do not offer a registered user option.
How we protect your Data
We use SSL encrypted certificate. SSL is secure certificate that offers three layers of protection: encryption, which means that all data sent between a browser (client) and a website (server) are encrypted so that even if data are stolen or intercepted a hacker won’t be able to decrypt them.
We also ensure all our staff are trained in Data protection laws to further protect your data.
Access to Data
You have the right to request a copy of the information we retain about you or to have data erased in certain circumstances. Please visit our Contact page to request this.
