Privacy Policy

About Psychological

Introduction

Psychological is a psychological services business, providing consultations, supervision and bespoke research projects. It offers talking therapy sessions and psychoeducation workshops with individual adults, young people, and groups.

Psychological is committed to safeguarding the privacy of website visitors.

This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our website visitors; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.

We use cookies on our website. Insofar as those cookies are not strictly necessary for the provision of our website, we will ask you to consent to our use of cookies when you first visit our website. Our website incorporates privacy controls which affect how we will process your personal data. By using the privacy controls, you can specify whether you would like to receive direct marketing communications.  You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by email to helen@psychological.me.uk.

In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" refer to Helen Molden.

Psychological is committed to ensuring and respecting that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

Psychological may change this privacy notice from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective May 2018. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this privacy notice.

Every effort is made by Psychological staff or contractors such that personal data is processed in line with GDPR and the principles laid out by the ICO. This privacy notice states why as part of the therapeutic relationship and promotion of psychological services it is necessary to collect and process personal data. It also emphasizes the rights that the data subjects have relating to the collecting and processing of personal data by Psychological. The personal information we collect might include your name, address, email address, IP address and information regarding what pages are accessed and when.

How might we collect information from you?

In the line of therapeutic care, it is imperative to take down certain personal details e.g. name, address, GP details, presenting issue, relevant health concerns, mental health history including details of medication taken and interventions undertaken including support from crisis services, suicidal ideation risk rating, treatment preference, outcome data (severity of depression and anxiety as measured by PHQ9 and GAD7 scales), details of visual, hearing or learning difficulties. This with the sole aim of providing a good standard of treatment and care. With patient consent, these details may at times be shared with family or other healthcare professionals.

Psychological staff exercise great care to ensure that all records, regardless of whether they are on paper or electronic, are kept securely. This includes the following behaviour as examples:

 Secure processing

Psychological is aware that email is not 100% secure. If you have any concerns about confidentiality and the data contained within documents being passed to us via email then we are happy to accept encrypted emails and documents. Please contact us on helen@psychological.me.uk to find out more.

Secure processing is maintained by the use of anti-virus software, and secure passwords on every electronic device where data is used or processed. Data is held on a cloud-based secure back up server.

Reports are always sent as a PDF and password protected if by email, and only with prior client consent with private and confidential if by mail.

 Data retention

Information is processed and kept securely only for as long as appropriate for client need e.g. for the duration of assessment and treatment during such time as the client and therapist are in sessions; or for new enquiries, information relating to their request will be deleted once signposted or within a month of contact completed.

Under GDPR current recommendation, Psychological will request consent when working with young people aged 16 or above. Below this age, consent will be requested from their parent or care-giver.

If information that is incorrect is inadvertently shared with a third party about or pertaining to a data subject, Psychological undertakes to correct the inaccuracy as soon as possible with that third party.

Information regarding clients who no longer use Psychological’s services will be deleted from phones/electronic/paper records within three years of their last session.

All recordings or client documents that are no longer in use are shredded.

Any third party organisations (e.g. Psychological’s accountants, colleagues or collaborating psychologists) that process the data are aware of the need for the data to be handled confidentially and sensitively according to the procedures emphasized on the ico.org.uk. The exception to this is the use of What’s App and Skype for online sessions – this is currently under review by the Psychological team.

Data Protection Impact Assessments form the basis of any new projects or research undertaken by Psychological.

Data subjects are able to withdraw their consent for Psychological to retain and process their data at any time. They are also able to make a complaint about data procedures or make a request to see their data by contacting the Data Controller for Psychological trading as Oxford Indices Ltd at nick@oxfordindices.com.

For information on your individual rights in relation to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) please see: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/

Use of cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. The cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy notice applicable to the website in question.

Release of information

Signed client consents for release of information must always be obtained, and information will not be given over the phone.