Experience Counselling
Call Nicola on 07542 329736

Data Controller

Nicola Townsend

Basis of holding and processing personal data.

As part of the contract for counselling between us, I will have access to personal data about you, including sensitive personal data, almost always provided by you. The law (Data Protection Act (2018) gives you a number of rights about the data I hold or process about you.

I am responsible for the protection of your personal data, I will only store and process the data I hold concerning you in support of the counselling I have agreed to provide. I will hold certain formal data about you such as the contract between us, our appointments, email and phone number and to make it possible to receive payment and keep my accounts.

I do not make clinical notes.

I will not provide data I hold about you to any third parties for them to use; I will not sell them; I will not use them for marketing purposes; I have no email system for sending emails to any groups of people in my role as a psychotherapist. As stated in the body of our contract, my service is confidential between myself and client. I will restrict the information I provide for legal reasons to the absolute minimum of what the law specifically forces me to do - If you are planning to harm yourself, or someone, or I think you are at harm, and I think you or they will act on that, I may think of taking action involving breaking confidentiality by sharing information with your General Practioner, insurance company or for onward referrals you wish me to make. I have supervision by a BACP supervisor monthly, which I am bound by the code of ethics and boundaries of the society BACP that I am a member of, my clients are discussed with first name only, and supervision is a condition that is required by the British Association of Counselling Professionals for the purpose of working professionally.

Personal data is kept in a lockable cabinet.

If you share information with me about your past, documents, paper or electronic, I will treat and preserve them confidentially, and will keep them according to my general data retention policy. I will keep data while we are working, and for 4 years after we have ended, in case of working together again, after that they will be securely deleted or destroyed.

You have the right to ask me to delete your data at any time.