Privacy Policy
Who we are
Our website address is: https://www.samwilkinscounselling.co.uk
GDPR
Privacy is of utmost importance to me therefore as my client all personal information will be securely and safely only used for the purpose given. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 controls how your personal information is stored, collected, and shared by me as your counsellor.
I adhere to current data protection legislation including the General Data Protection legislation and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. I am registered with the Information commissioner’s office. If you have any questions about the security of your personal information or have any questions you can contact me at info@samwilkinscounselling.co.uk.
Information I may collect from you
I may collect and process the following information about you:
Personal information including, for example, your name, Gender, Age, Date of Birth, Address, email address, telephone number and occupation. As well as Doctors name, address and contact details, medical conditions, prescribed medication. Lastly Counselling History, any difficulties and session notes.
How your personal information will be held and stored
All paper formats are stored and secured in a locked cabinet that only I as your counsellor will have access too. These may include any signed documentation to include contracts, assessments, session notes, questionnaires, reviews, or any additional paperwork.
Data security
All documents or personal data is kept secure by password protected system on the computer. Hard copies are also kept and locked in a filing cabinet.
You have a right to request a copy of certain personal information I hold about you. You can also request for your personal information to be corrected or erased. (I can decline if the information is needed for me to practice lawfully and competently and if the courts have subpoenaed this information)
Any written information will be kept up to seven years from the last session, this will then be destroyed by shredding. Any electronic copies of information and correspondence will be erased once finishing work together within one month. This will include email correspondence.
If you contact me via this website, you will share personal information with me, i.e., your name and email address. I will use your personal information to get back in contact with you in direct relation to your enquiry. I will not use your personal information for any other reason. i.e., I will not sell your detail on, and your details will not be shared with anyone else unless there is a legal reason that results me being obliged to do this. Your personal details will be deleted from my email system if we do not work with each other therapeutically.
Device information such as operating system version, device type, and system performance information. This information we collect via this website and may include your IP address (this is your devices individual identification number that is assigned to it when connected to the internet) which is automatically logged by our web server.
A gentle reminder: personal information sent via the internet cannot be fully secure unless encrypted end-to-end so please keep this in mind when making contact.
How I may use your personal information
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is essential as a counsellor and this will only be broken if I believe yours or another person or group of people’s safety is at risk, I may contact the suitable authority such as your General Practitioner, mental Health crisis team or emergency services. However, this is detailed in our Counselling Agreement under Confidentiality.
Supervision
As a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) I am required to attend regular supervision sessions with a qualified supervisor. Supervision is a requirement by the BACP to ensure all counsellors in practice are keeping their skills up to date and that they work in a safe and ethical way. When discussing a case with the supervisor, full names and contact details are not disclosed and Supervisors must also follow GDPR and Confidentiality.
My privacy policy is regularly reviewed so that I continue to serve your privacy interests. I reserve the right to modify or otherwise update this privacy policy and these changes will be posted on my website.
More information
Detailed information about your rights under UK Data Protection Legislation can be found on the website of the United Kingdom Information Commissioner, which is (as at the date of this privacy policy) https://ico.org.uk/
Cookies Policy
You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
What is a cookie?
A “cookie” is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive and which records how you move your way around a website so that, when you revisit that website, it can present tailored options based on the information stored about your last visit.
Cookies are used by nearly all websites and do not harm your system. If you want to check or change what types of cookies you accept, this can usually be altered within your browser settings. You can block cookies at any time by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.
How do we use cookies?
We use cookies to track your use of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website.
Cookies are either:
– Session cookies: these are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page, but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or
– Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics.
Cookies can also be categorised as follows:
– Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, and therefore these cannot be turned off. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.
– Performance cookies: These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.