Privacy Notice
The new General Data Protection Regulations mean that we as counsellors need to inform you of any personal data we collect and how we hold and use this personal data. We take this responsibility and your confidentiality seriously and we hope this Privacy Notice answers any queries you may have about our data collection processes. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
We are committed to keeping your data safe at all times. We respect your right to privacy and your right to make informed choices about how we collect, hold or use your personal data.
As part of the services we provide such as counselling, supervision, training and group work we may collect and process both personal data and also what is referred to as special category personal data. Special category personal data contains information relating to your health, such as maybe contained in counselling notes.
Our lawful basis for collecting this data is as follows:
- The data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of their personal data for one or more specified purposes.
- Processing is necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine.
Consent for collecting and processing your personal data is sought from you during the first counselling session and you have the right to request that data about you is not held or processed.
We use the data we collect for the purpose of contacting you and providing the most effective therapeutic service we can.
We understand that confidentiality is important to people coming to counselling so that people feel safe enough to talk. Therefore information is only shared with a 3rd party when required by law or our Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) Code of Ethics. We will explain these circumstances fully to you before we embark on any counselling together.
The different forms of personal data we collect are retained for different periods of time. Some information, such as counselling notes are kept securely locked for 7 years susequent to counselling ending in line with IACP guidelines. Other information is only kept for as long as you avail of our services before being deleted/destroyed.
You have rights in relation to your personal data:
- You have a right to know what we collect and what we do with it
- You can ask to see your personal data
- You can check your personal data for accuracy and if it's not, we must correct it
- You can withdraw your consent to collection of personal data at any time
- You can ask us to delete your personal data
Our Data Protection Officers are Tina Horton and Hugh Bennett. If you have any questions about our data privacy policies and procedures please do not hesitate to contact us on 087 7014335 or through the contact page on this website.