Privacy Notice
​Your data will be processed in accordance with data protection legislation at all times.
The legal basis for processing your data is a contract between us enabling enable me to provide therapeutic services to you. This contract therefore needs to be signed and returned to me before our sessions start.
Data will be kept for seven years and then deleted/destroyed (unless agreed otherwise), as recommended by the UK Council for Psychotherapy.
Data is kept securely either saved on my work laptop or back up drive, or in paper form, in a locked cabinet at my home. Data included in emails will also be accessible on other devices, such as my phone and i-pad. These are pin code protected and I will regularly review data held like this to ensure the minimum amount is held for the shortest required time.
If we are meeting in person, there will be times when I am taking the work we do together between home and where we meet. I will be careful at these times to ensure the data is not left unattended.
Data collected will be the minimum necessary for our therapeutic work and includes contact details as on the form you complete, notes from our sessions. and maps and letters we write during our work together, some of which may be particularly sensitive.
A lot of correspondence is likely to be via email, and therefore I will have your email address within my work email contacts and any emails between us, which I sometimes access on my phone (but which is locked with a pin code) and sometimes access via my laptop or ipad.
If we interact via phone, your number may then be on my phone, however, I will not store your name on this device, so the number would remain anonymous.
As per the Association of Cognitive Analytical Therapists (ACAT) guidance, some information will be shared with my supervisor, to enable good practice and my continued membership with ACAT. All professionals present in this setting are bound by the requirements of professional standards to adhere to confidentiality.
I will not share your information with anyone else, unless discussed with you first, or in the case of an emergency where I think your life or another person’s life may be at risk.
As per Data Protection legislation, you are entitled to copies of your data. Should this be required, or you have any further questions about this, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Should you wish to complain about the handling of your data, in the first instance please let me know and I will see if I can resolve your issue. If you are still not satisfied, you are entitled to raise your complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
In the event of my death, I have asked my supervisor, who will be aware of my clients, to ensure you are contacted and your safety/continued therapy needs are considered.
I act as the Data Protection Officer for ‘Charis Cassells Therapy’ and am contactable via email: chariscassellstherapy@gmail.com.
Last updated 16th March 2025.