This privacy statement establishes how It's Okay... utilises and protects any information you give us when you contact, we have a legal basis to do so under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulations (2018).

To contact us through email/phone/message, children and young people under the age of 18 must have the approval of their parent, guardian, or carer.

Consent to hold your personal data

It's Okay... is devoted to protecting your privacy and will seek your clear written authorization to hold personal data about you solely for the purpose of providing you with therapy. We may also analyse data you provide us with in order to offer you with the best service possible.

If you contact us via email, phone, or message, you will be requested to supply specific information that will allow us to identify you (see below).

You can be confident that all of this information is kept secure and will be used solely in compliance with data protection principles, our data protection and confidentiality policies, and our ethical principles (contained in the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions: 2018).

The basis on which we hold or share information about you, as well as the limitations on confidentiality, are detailed below.

You have the right to see the information we have on file for you and to rectify or request the deletion of any information that is inaccurate or incorrect. If you want to see the information we have on file for you, please contact us. It's Okay... will not retain your data for any longer than is necessary for the purposes of counselling and adhering to best practises and legal recommendations. Please see our 'Retention Policy,' which is detailed in our 'Confidentiality Policy.' Please contact us if you want to know how long we keep your data or notes.

What types of information do we collect and use?

Whether you become a client of our counselling service or not, we will use your personal information to initiate counselling for you. The majority of this information is gathered during the initial contact and assessment. We will notify you if any of this information is optional.

First Contact:

On first contact, we will collect the following information:

· Your name.

· Contact information, such as an email address and/or phone number.

On Assessment:

· Your name

· Address

· Contact information. Email/telephone number

· Emergency Contact name and telephone number

· Date of birth

· Age

· Gender

· Occupation/School year (if relevant)

· Ethnic Origin/Religion

· Medical history: GP name/address/telephone number

· Previous mental health diagnosis (if relevant)

· Previous counselling history, if any.

· Medication

· A brief explanation of what brings you to counselling now, including presenting issues

· A brief exploration of any drug/alcohol dependency, suicidal thoughts, self-harm (if relevant)

During Counselling:

· Anonymised counselling notes - your identity is safeguarded, and these notes are not shared with anyone unless we are legally forced to do so or the client expressly requests that we share them with another third party, which we reserve the right to reject.

· To safeguard your anonymity, personal data that identifies you and therapy notes are kept separately and securely.

· You have the right to see these notes, and you will be notified if any request to share your notes is made.

· The notes are the property of It's Okay..., not the client.

· Only your counsellor or, in extraordinary circumstances, i.e. to protect you or your counsellor, are authorised to see your notes.

What we do with the information we gather

We collect this information to better understand your clinical and other counselling requirements and to provide you with a better service, specifically for the following reasons:

· Keeping internal records

· To aid with clinical assessment, placement with an appropriate therapist, and professional supervision

· The legal basis and purpose for retaining your data is to ensure that we can meet the conditions of our counselling contract with you.

· We will also use your personal data to comply with any legal responsibilities imposed on us, such as when you exercise your right under data protection law to know what data we store, or when we are required to disclose information relating to safeguarding children, young people, and adults at risk.

Your written consent will be requested at the time of assessment.

Where we store your personal data

It's Okay... will take all reasonable means to ensure that your data is handled securely and in line with this privacy notice, as well as our data protection and confidentiality policies.

All information you send to us is safely maintained in a secured filing system within our security-protected office.

Any payment transactions made through your bank will only be identifiable by an anonymised client reference number, with no other information required or shared.

Unfortunately, information transfer over the internet cannot be totally secure. We have security procedures in place to secure your personal data, but we cannot guarantee the security of any data you communicate over the internet, particularly via email; any transfer is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will utilize our own policies and procedures to prevent unauthorised access to the greatest extent possible.

Security

It's Okay...is committed to ensuring the security of your information. We have appropriate policies and procedures in place to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure. We have appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial measures in place to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Controlling your personal information

We do not share your personal information with anyone else. However, we may be obliged by law and our ethical responsibilities to breach our confidentially with you in extraordinary circumstances. Wherever feasible, we would discuss this with you first, but if you do not provide consent, we may still be required to release information. This refers to circumstances in which you may be at risk of harm, inflicting harm to others, protecting children, young people, and adults at risk, acts of terrorism, and unreported road traffic incidents in which we have legal obligations.

Access to Information

Under the Data Protection Act of 1998 and the GDPR, you have the right to access the personal information we hold on you, as well as the right to examine your client notes. If you want to examine what we have and believe that any information we have on file for you is inaccurate or incomplete, please contact us or email us. We will take steps to update any erroneous information that we have on file.

There is no fee to view this information, and it will be delivered to you within one week unless circumstances necessitate a longer time frame, which will not exceed a month in any case.

You have the right to file a complaint with the Information Commissioners' Office over the enforcement and compliance with data protection legislation at www.ico.org.uk.

Contact us

Questions, comments, and requests about this privacy notice, policies, and procedures relating to privacy and confidentiality are welcome and should be directed to us through email at [email protected] or by writing to us at: 

It's Okay...Counselling. Sovereign House, Scunthorpe, DN16 1DA.