Please read the following document which forms the basis for the Commitment of Care document you will be later asked to read and sign. Please make a note of any questions you have and discuss them with me.
Confidentiality
I adhere to Ethical Codes of Practice set out by both the British Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Psychotherapists (BABCP) and Data Protection legislation to provide a confidential and professional service.
Exceptions to confidentiality
In situations where it is necessary for me to break confidentiality, I will endeavour to discuss my decision with you first. However, I retain the right to break confidentiality without such prior consultation should I consider the urgency of the situation to require immediate action in order to safeguard the physical safety of yourself or others.
Although these situations are rare, I would like to make you aware of what they are.
- If you threaten to harm another person, I am required by law to protect anyone I feel may be in danger. This could include making contact with the person or people who have been threatened or contacting the relevant authorities e.g the police.
- If you threaten to cause severe harm to yourself, and I believe your threat to be serious, then I am ethically required to protect you in any way I see fit. In situations such as these, this intervention may involve talking to you about going to a hospital, or having you placed in a hospital without your permission. I may also need to call a crisis team or, in some cases, the police.
- If I suspect that any child, or vulnerable adult is at risk from abuse or neglect, the law requires me to report this to the appropriate authority. Laws such as these are in force to protect any dependant persons from abuse.
- If I am instructed by the court to give information.
- If you share any information about a proposed act of terrorism or money laundering.
I will have regular monthly clinical supervision sessions with a BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist in accordance with the BABCP Code of Ethics to ensure safety and good practice. You shall not be named or identified during clinical supervision, but the problem may be discussed to ensure I am doing all I can as a Therapist to help you the Client.
Information I collect about you and how I use it
Upon starting therapy, basic personal information will be collected for contact and identification reasons. During our therapy meetings, an assessment of your psychological health will be completed, and notes will be taken during sessions. These will include personal and sensitive details about your life. The assessment and notes are used solely for the delivery of a therapy service to you.
Data retention, storage and sharing
Your information is kept for the time necessary to provide the therapy service requested, however outside of this I will hold your details and session notes for a period of seven years following the end of treatment to comply with legal obligations that are placed upon me by my insurers.
In the case of a child under 13 then records will be kept seven years after they reach the age of majority (18). After this date, all data will be securely deleted and destroyed.
Brief notes are stored in a locked cabinet and any other sensitive information such as referral details may also kept on my computer which is password protected.
There may be times where your information needs to be shared with 3rd parties. I will explicitly ask your consent before doing so, and the data will be sent to 3rd parties securely.
Information will be kept securely and confidentially in line with the data retention policy as stated above.
Lawful basis for processing your information
The lawful basis for my holding and using your information is in relation to the delivery of a contract to you as a health care professional. As an accredited member of the BABCP I operate under a strict code of confidentiality.
Clients rights
You have rights relating to the information I hold to verify the accuracy or to ask for them to be supplemented, deleted, updated or corrected.
- You have the right to request a copy of the information that I hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email or write to me via the contact details stated in our agreement. Information will be provided to you within 30 days.
- It is important that your information is accurate and up to date. You may ask me to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate.
- You have a right to request the transfer of your data to another individual or company.
Therapist responsibilities
As your Therapist I will work with you in a confidential, non-judgemental manner so that we can explore your difficulties and work together to help you make positive changes. I will fulfil my position as Therapist responsibly, by working with you collaboratively with the presenting problems, the treatment goals and the treatment plan. I will regularly re-evaluate our work together and seek your views on how well the therapy may be working for you.
I will have continued professional training and consult with other clinicians, governing bodies and peers to ensure my work is of a high standard. Clients therapeutic responsibilities.
Your responsibilities
Your therapy will entail discussing some very personal things, such as your thoughts, feelings, and actions. To some extent, my ability to help you will depend on how open you are about yourself during our sessions. This can be very difficult sometimes, but it is very beneficial as the work achieved in treatment will be more effective if undertaken with complete honesty.
‘Homework’ is an important part of CBT as it will help you challenge yourself, explore and experiment with new ways of thinking and behaving and reinforce the work we do together in sessions. It is therefore your responsibility to complete these tasks whenever possible.
You will be asked to sign my Commitment of Care document confirming that you have read it and agree to your information being held and used as described.
