Practice Policies and Further Information

These policies have been written with the intention of providing transparent and understandable information about Tina Rose Counselling & Therapy Service and will assist in making an informed decision about whether to access this service. Any work undertaken is in accordance with UK laws and ethical guidelines. This service is available to clients who are permanent residents of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If you have any further questions, then please get in touch.

• Privacy and Confidentiality
• Client confidentiality is maintained within limitations. Limitations include risk of serious harm to self or others, safeguarding, drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism or if there is a legal/public health obligation to share that information.
• If there is a need for confidentiality to be broken, you will be informed and encouraged to seek assistance.
• If during our therapeutic work, you found yourself in an emergency or in major crisis and considering serious self-harm, it would be vital to get immediate help. This could include contacting your emergency contact, your GP, The NHS Direct service https://111.nhs.uk/ or your nearest accident and emergency service (A & E). The Samaritans are available 24/7 by telephoning 116 123. The NHS Cheshire and Wirral partnership support line 0800 145 6485 offers urgent mental health support 24/7 or you can access support via https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/
• Where a parent/guardian signs the counselling agreement on behalf of the young person under the age of 18, confidentiality will be between the client and the counsellor. This confidentiality will be maintained within the above limitations.
• As part of my commitment to good practice I attend regular Supervision. Cases may be discussed with a supervisor, but this will be done confidentially and anonymously.

• Data collection, storage, sharing, retention, and disposal

  • I am GDPR compliant and registered with the Information Commissioners Office Reg No:ZA278302 Visit www.ico.org.uk for more information.
  • I use practice management and accounting software for the running of my practice. This requires limited input of client information.
  • I will only use your personal details for running my business, for example, contacting you about appointments.
  • I will not contact you for any other reason and will not share your personal details without prior consent.
  • To provide this service, data is collected in the following ways:
  1. Direct from clients,
  2. tinarosecounselling.co.uk, https://www.create.net/about/privacy-policy,
  3. Google Business https://privacy.google.com/businesses/,
  4. BACP Find a Therapist https://www.bacp.co.uk/privacy-notice/
  5. NCPSDirectoryhttps://www.nationalcounsellingsociety.org/help/privacy-policy,
  6. As an affiliate counsellor for EAP and insurance providers. (Contact me for more details).
  7. SumUp https://www.sumup.com/en-gb/privacy/
  • Personal information collected/processed; Full name, Date of birth, Home address, Telephone number, Email Address, GP name and address, Medication, Parent/Guardian/Emergency Contact Name and contact details (where relevant), Payment transactions.
  • Enquiry forms, assessment forms and brief case notes are kept for each client. Case notes and assessment forms are identifiable by unique client reference number and are stored separately to enquiry forms.

  Under data protection law, you have rights including

  • Your right of access - You have the right to ask for copies of your personal data.
  • Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask to rectify personal data you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask to complete information you think is incomplete.
  • Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask to erase your personal data in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that I transfer the personal data you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent.
  • You don’t usually need to pay a fee to exercise your rights. If you make a request, we have one calendar month to respond to you.
  • To make a data protection rights request, please contact me at [email protected]
  • Data Retention: Client documentation is stored securely and will be destroyed 5 years after the last counselling session. For clients under the age of 18, documentation is kept for 5 years after the client’s 18th birthday.
  • Any electronic information stored is on password protected devices and in encrypted format.
  • If you have any concerns about the use of your data or how it is processed, then please contact me.
  • If a data breach occurs, I will take immediate action to prevent or limit harm. I will inform the Information Commissioners Office and all clients affected within 72 hours of the data breach. Clients will be provided with a written apology and I will take immediate action to prevent the breach from occurring again. 
  • Complaints, questions, comments, and access requests are welcomed and should be addressed to the Data Controller Tina Rose in the first instance.

• Appointments
• Sessions take place in person, by telephone or via Zoom zoom.us. (https://zoom.us) Please see their privacy policy for more information.
• For clients under the age of 18 we can discuss if online or telephone sessions are suitable. Alternatively, I can offer face to face sessions or help with referral to other agencies providing online work, which is specifically directed to a younger age group.
• Counselling appointments are booked in advance and will last up to 50 minutes. Clients are expected to be punctual for sessions.
• Supervision sessions are booked in advance and will last up to 90 minutes. Supervisees are expected to be punctual for sessions.
• Hypnotherapy and EMDR sessions are booked in advance and last up to 90 minutes. Clients are expected to be punctual for sessions.
• If you need to cancel a session, then at least 24 hours’ notice must be given. Cancellations and missed appointments within this time incur a charge of 50%. 
• Fees for each session are payable by cash (in-person sessions), credit/debit card (in-person and remote) or cheque (in person sessions and made payable to ‘Tina Rose’) during each session. Alternatively, payment by Bank Transfer is accepted in advance of the session. An invoice will be provided for all appointments.
• Where sessions are funded externally, clients are liable for any fees and excesses not covered by their referrer or policy provider.
• If you do not attend your appointment or if there is an abrupt end to therapy, you will be contacted by telephone and/or email.
• If you are slightly late to the session it will end at the original finish time. If you are more than 15 minutes late; the session will not take place.
• If I am unable to keep an appointment, I will contact you before the session. If I become incapacitated and am unable to contact you directly, I have appointed someone to communicate this to you and support you in making alternative arrangements if desired.
• Inappropriate behaviour will result in the termination of the session with immediate effect. If this should happen, I reserve the right to charge you in full for the session.
• Sessions take place in real time and will NOT be recorded by either party.
• Fees for each session are payable in advance or during the session. An invoice can be produced if required.
• Appointment Guidance
• I recommend that during remote therapy sessions you use headphones and ensure you are in a quiet and private space to maintain the privacy of your sessions.
• Please ensure that the environment in which sessions are undertaken is safe and free from distractions with no one else present or monitoring the session.
• Remember to take care to protect your password and other login details. Please also check that any security updates have been installed. Any electronic communication used will leave a digital footprint. All devices I use are password protected and have security software.

 

What happens when our appointment time arrives?

In person: Clients are requested to use the side entrance through the wooden gate. Please knock at the door at our appointment time and I will take you through to the therapy room. 

Telephone Appointments: I will telephone you at the agreed time (or vice versa) and the session will begin. At the end of our session together, you should end the call when we have said goodbye.  You will be reminded when it is time for the session to end. You should ensure you have removed any call logs that relate to our time together, to maintain your privacy from other people in your environment. 

Online Appointments: For online sessions you will need to access the video conferencing platform on your device. Please ensure you log in/click on the link to join the session- I intend to be in the video consultation when you arrive. At the end of our session together, you should end the call when we have said goodbye.  You will be reminded when it is time for the session to end. You should then ensure you have closed all Internet pages that relate to our time together, to maintain your privacy from other people in your environment.