Privacy policy

CHANGE COUNSELLING PRIVACY POLICY

Change Counselling takes your privacy seriously and is fully committed to holding your information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is necessary for Change Counselling to collect and process your personal data and data related to your wellbeing and mental health in order for us to provide you with counselling and psychotherapy. It is important that you know exactly what we do with the personal information that you and others provide to us, why we gather it and what it means to you.

Our Privacy policy explains how and when we collect personal data about you, why we do so and how we treat this information. It also explains your rights in relation to the collection of personal information and how you can exercise those rights.

Please note that Change Counselling is not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of websites accessed by any external links. Please consult the privacy statements for such websites for information on the policies and practices under which they operate.

Privacy Policy
The information contained on this website is intended as a guide for persons seeking information about Change Counselling. We will review this website and this statement regularly, and may cancel, suspend, vary or modify in any way the contents of this website. This change may occur without notice. Therefore, the information contained on the website does not constitute a contract, and does not guarantee terms, between Change Counselling and a user or any third party.

Privacy Statement
This privacy statement describes how Change Counselling gathers and uses data, and the steps Change Counselling takes to respect your privacy. This website provides links to other websites, and this privacy statement does not relate to the practices of other websites which may be accessed through this website.
We outline below how we deal with any personal data you provide to us while visiting the site. If you are not happy with this privacy policy or the terms, you should not use this site.

General Statement
Change Counselling fully respects your right to privacy and actively seeks to preserve the privacy rights of those who share information with us. Change Counselling will not collect any personal information about you on this website without your permission, except as may be required or permitted by law. Any personal information which you volunteer to Change Counselling will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

Change Counselling may retain certain technical details in connection with visits to the Site, but it will not disclose technical information in respect of individual users to any third party unless obliged to disclose such information by a rule of law. The technical information will be used only for statistical and other administrative purposes and as such the technical details do not constitute “personal data” for the purposes of GDPR.

How Change Counselling Collects Information About You
Change Counselling collects information (including contact information) from you during calls and by email when discussing your needs. If you become a client, notes of your sessions are made (reasonable efforts are made not to include identifiable information in those notes such as your name). Change Counselling will also hold a brief, password-protected electronic record about you during the period you are a client and for seven years after the end of therapy which includes your name, email address, phone number, your GP details and next of kin. As a general policy, Change

Counselling keeps records containing personal information to a minimum. Accrediting bodies require that we keep some notes for a period of seven years after termination of counselling. This means that Change Counselling cannot erase certain information we hold about you in that period.

The Kind of Information Change Counselling Hold About You
Change Counselling collects, stores, and uses the following categories of personal information about you:

• the information you provide to us in your initial email or call (typically name, email and telephone number);
• if you become a client, the information you provide to us in your in-client sessions and any communications between sessions. Change Counselling may also collect, store and use the following “special categories” of more sensitive personal information if you provide it to us (but there is no obligation for you to do so): (i) information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, marital status, and sexual orientation; (ii) information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records; or (iii) information about criminal convictions and offences.

The Purpose and Legal Basis for Collecting Your Data
Any personal data you provide will be processed fairly and lawfully.
In keeping with professional codes of ethics and practice the processing of personal data by Change Counselling is necessary in the course of its legitimate activities.
Counselling records are kept for the purposes monitoring a client’s progress.

Appropriate records can also help to protect both client and therapists. Precise record keeping can help provide clarity in the event of legal or ethical proceedings.
For the purposes stated above confidential notes of counselling sessions and consultations will be kept. Change Counselling stores your information securely and retains counselling records for a period of seven years following termination of counselling in keeping with professional codes of practice.

Change Counselling will only ask for and keep information that is necessary and make every effort to keep it as accurate and up to-date as possible. Change Counselling will explain the need for any information we ask for if you are not sure why it is needed.
Details of Third Parties with Whom Your Personal Data May be Shared

Disclosures Required or Permitted Under Law
The information that you provide to Change Counselling is confidential. In keeping with codes of ethics for psychologists and psychotherapists, the information shared within the context of a counselling relationship is treated in a strictly confidential manner and will not be divulged to others without your consent, however there are circumstances in which it may be necessary to share aspects of your data with third parties for the purposes outlined below:

Change Counselling will never provide your personal details to a third party without your consent except in the following circumstances:

Change Counselling may use individual consultants for administrative purposes (for example, a bookkeeper or accountant may see your name as part of checking invoices). If so, we have a contract with those individuals which places restrictions on when and how they can access your personal information. Change Counselling does not allow them to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permits them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Change Counselling use third party software (Gmail and WhatsApp) which will capture certain information about you when you contact us or book a session. They are restricted as to how they can access your personal information. Here are links for the privacy policies of Google and WhatsApp.

In rare circumstances, to our legal professional advisors and / or underwriters in the context of seeking legal advice or in the context of legal action.

Where we are required by law, including by court order.

As stated in our contract, if Change Counselling reasonably believes that you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, we may contact a third party for the purpose of preventing harm (for example, by ringing 112, contacting your GP or the police)
In the context of criminal behaviour and disclosures required by legal process.

Counsellors are legally obliged under the Children First Act 2015 to report child protection concerns and retrospective disclosures of abuse to Tusla Child & Family Agency, or An Garda Síochána. Mandatory reporting is generally done jointly with a Designated Liaison Person. If you have concerns in relation to mandatory reporting, your counsellor will provide you with information and support.

If it becomes necessary to breach confidentiality, every effort will be made to discuss this with you before that step is taken. Information to third parties is provided on a need to know basis and is done so with great sensitivity.

Disclosures to Third Parties:
In the case of requests made by third parties Change Counselling will only release information with your signed consent.

Disclosure of Information to Other Health Care Professionals:
In the context of referral to other health care professionals, it may be necessary to furnish them with relevant parts of information in order for them to provide you with the treatment and services you need. This information will only be given with your explicit consent, except when there is serious concern for your safety.

We may wish to liaise with other professionals involved in your care to ensure that an optimal care plan is in place for you. This will only be done with your consent.

Supervision, Professional Development and Quality Assurance
It is required by all psychotherapists and counsellors to attend professional supervision and engage in reflective practice at which they discuss client presentations as part of their continuing professional development. This is required by professional bodies in order to engage in ethical practice. In these situations, any identifying information pertaining to the client concerned is not revealed.

How Long Change Counselling Keeps Your Data
In keeping with the data protection principles, Change Counselling will only store your data for as long as is necessary. For the purposes described here Change Counselling will store your data for a period of seven years following the termination of counselling.

Accessing Your Counselling Notes
You have the right of access to all the personal information.
If you wish to receive a copy of your records having viewed them, you can make a written request and they will be provided to you within thirty days or sooner, free of charge.

Your Rights in Connection with Personal Information
You have various rights under data protection law, subject to certain exemptions, in connection with our processing of your personal data, including the right to:

Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information Change Counselling hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

Request correction of the personal information that Change Counselling hold about you. This enables you to have corrected any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you.

Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask Change Counselling to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for Change Counselling continuing to process it.

Request the restriction of processing of part or all of your personal information. This can include asking Change Counselling to stop processing your information for a particular period of time.

Request the transfer of your personal information to another party. If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, withdraw consent, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that Change Counselling transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact Change Counselling in writing (which can be by email). Please be aware that Change Counselling may nonetheless be required to keep some of your personal information for legal or insurance reasons.

How Change Counselling protects your personal information
Change Counselling stores your personal information using secure IT systems: a password-protected file on a hard drive and a single back-up drive. Client notes are also recorded and stored in a password-protected device. Your personal information may also be included in emails or text messages between us and in WhatsApp.

Access to these is password protected.

Contacting Change Counselling

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how Change Counselling handles your personal information, please contact info@changecounselling.ie. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission if you are unhappy with my processing of your personal data. Details of how to lodge a complaint can be found on the Data Protection Commission’s website (www.dataprotection.ie), or by telephoning 1800437 737.

In submitting this form, you understand and agree that your personal details will be used by Change Counselling for the purposes outlined above.

Cookie Policy
Change Counselling respects the privacy of all visitors to our website. This document outlines our policy concerning the use of cookies on https://www.changecounseeling.ie/. Change Counselling will review this statement from time to time, and may cancel, suspend, vary or modify in any way the contents of this notice.

What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of information, stored in simple text files, placed on your computer by a web site. Cookies can be read by the web site on your subsequent visits. The information stored in a cookie may relate to your browsing habits on the web page or allow you to be recognised on your return visit. Generally speaking, cookies do not contain personal information from which you can be identified, unless you have furnished such information to the website.

If you do not want to allow cookies (or only allow the use of certain types of cookies), please refer to your browser settings, which should allow you to accept or deny cookies. You can also use the browser settings to withdraw your consent to the use of cookies at any time. By disabling certain categories of cookies, you may be prevented from accessing some of the features on our website.

Some cookies are persistent, some expire after a predefined period of time, or may expire at a given date in the future. When a user returns to a website after a previous visit, the web browser may send cookies back to that website allowing the site to recognise the user and remember things like personalised preferences or details.

Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work more efficiently and improve your user experience.

Third Party Cookies
Some cookies on our website are not related to us, for instance if you visit a page with content embedded. If you have any doubts, check the third-party websites for their cookie policies.