Privacy Policy
At Release Counselling and Therapy for Women we are committed to keeping your personal data secure and confidential.
This privacy policy explains how we use any personal information we collect about you when you contact us by phone, email, letter, attend any of our services or when you use any of our websites listed below:
We take your privacy seriously and are committed to protecting your personal information. We aim to be clear and open about our data and security practices. Where we ask you to provide us with any information by which you can be identified, you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement, and in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.
What information do we collect about you?
We collect information about you when you fill in an online form or contact us to:
Register for one of our services or events
Sign up for email updates
Complete surveys or provide feedback.
Personal information: We collect the following information in order to help us provide psychological therapy to you, receive clinical supervision and consultation, and to maintain accounts for billing and invoicing. Personal details: name, date of birth, contact details, GP details, occupation, education, details of family and close relationships, counselling /therapy history, medical conditions, medication, substance use, emotional & psychological issues.
How do we use your information?
We collect information about you to fulfil the services we have offered you. We also use your information to help us develop products and services that you need, and where we have a lawful basis and permission to contact you, we may use it to help us send you relevant and timely information about other help and support that we offer.
How we may process/share your personal information:
We have regular supervision/consultation with other therapists, (psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors) for our own professional development and the wellbeing of clients. We will discuss some personal details in these consultations. You are never identified by your full name in these sessions. Our supervisors are bound by the same professional rules of confidentiality, code of ethics, and rules of GDPR.
If you were referred to us via an organisation, then there may be particular parts of your personal information that will be shared with that organisation. We will make it clear to you at the start of therapy what information may be shared.
Emergencies: If we have reason to believe that you intend to harm another person/organisation (eg. terrorism), or yourself, the law may require that we inform an authority without seeking your permission. In such a situation, the law may require that we share your personal information without your knowledge. We would always endeavour to discuss this with you in advance if possible or appropriate. It is also the law that a judge can require the release of clinical notes without your permission, and we would be bound by law to release them. Again we would discuss this with you beforehand should this occur.
Storage of Information:
Paper: contact details, personal information, psychometric tests when completed, assessment/history taking notes, occasional email correspondence, some therapy notes, and invoices. All paper files/notes are stored in a locked filing cabinet in a locked office.
Digital: We keep your name and contact details on our computer devices (whilst you are in therapy). Backups are made to icloud and an external hard drive. All devices and backups are password protected.
Form entries: All information is deleted from the website server after one day. Being fully GDPR compliant we also prevent the storage of IP addresses during submission.
Website: No personal information is stored on our website.
Erasing your Information: We keep electronic emails and SMS/texts for up to a year. We are required by our professional insurance company to keep your clinical notes for up to 7 years after we have completed our work together. After this time has passed, we will shred or delete the information.
What are cookies and how do we use them?
The use of cookies is common practice on modern websites. A cookie is a small text file which is placed on your computer’s hard drive by a website. When you visit one of our websites, your browser checks to see if it has any cookies for it and sends the information contained in those cookies back to the site in order to tailor and improve your experience.
Our cookies record things like whether you are currently logged into your website account, to ensure you’re given the right access on each page. They make sure the display settings you’ve selected before (for example, preferred language) – or the settings associated with your account permissions – are activated correctly.
Can I refuse cookies?
Yes, you can. If you refuse cookies, you will still be able to access the site. Across our websites, you can use your browser settings to disable cookies. Different browsers offer different levels of control – for example you may be able to accept certain cookies and reject others, such as third party cookies. If you refuse cookies please be aware our websites may not work smoothly for you and there will be certain parts that won’t function correctly. You can delete the cookies stored on your computer at any time.
More information
For further information about cookies, including how to manage your cookie settings, you can visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
Email marketing
If you have attended a service or have opted-in to hear about our services via our newsletter, we will send you information which may be of interest to you. You have a right to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes at any time. You can do this in several different ways:
All our marketing emails contain unsubscribe links
Contact us at any time to request a change to your marketing preferences.
Access to your information
You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, you can:
write to Mother Nurture, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG
We will not charge you for this service unless the request is ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive or repetitive’.
You have the following rights:
To be informed of what information I hold (this document).
To see the information that I hold about you.
To rectify/correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
To withdraw consent to me using your personal information.
To request your personal information be erased/deleted/shredded. We can decline if the information is needed for us to practice competently and in line with our insurance, or if there is an adverse reason (such as a complaint or legal reason).
How to make a complaint
If you are unhappy about how we have processed your personal data or have a privacy concern, we want to know about it. To make a complaint or raise a concern please contact our Data Protection Lead.
Email: info@releaseforwomen.org.uk
Post: Mother Nurture, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG
You also have the right to report concerns or complain about our handling of your data to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Details of how to do this can be found on its website.
Changes to our privacy policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 20 September 2022.