JPC Covid-19 Guidelines, Online Agreement and Privacy Policy

Joyce Philip Counselling - Covid19 Guidelines

Advice when attending face to face appointments

To make sure that whilst attending your session we are following the government’s guidance to ‘stay safe, protect others and save lives’ the following information will help to keep you safe when you are attending for face to face treatment.

If you have a cough, feel feverish/have a high temperature or experience a loss or change to your sense of taste/smell then please self-isolate for 7 days and do not attend your appointment. Please contact me to advise that you will not be attending and the reason.

Please be assured that if I display any of the above symptoms, following the advice to self-isolate for 7 days to keep you and others safe, I will either cancel the appointment or, where possible, reschedule our appointment to remote therapy to keep the momentum of our therapy going.

In session we will follow Public Health Scotland advice and safety procedures:

Arrive on time for your appointment to minimise contact with others
Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser gel before and after your appointment
I have tissues or bring your own with you and use them to catch any coughs or sneezes and use a hand sanitiser gel afterwards. A bin will be provided for disposal of tissues.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth where possible
Bring your own water bottle to use through the session and take this away with you
Seating will be arranged at a 2-metre distance and you can ask me to wear a mask and wear one yourself if you prefer
Paper will not be exchanged but notes can be taken in session for you to reflect on for between session work – if for any reason you are unable to take notes, I will take them and e-mail to you afterwards
All surfaces and points of contact will be cleaned between appointments with disinfectant
Please be aware the environment may feel less comfortable due to disinfecting and removal of non-essential soft furnishings etc

Please note that I will be following the same advice to keep you safe in our face to face appointments.

If within 14 days of your appointment you begin to display symptoms of Covid19, test positive or are contacted by the NHS track and trace service you should inform me as soon as is possible.

If I display symptoms, I will contact you myself and provide your details to NHS track and trace.

Joyce Philip Counselling - On-line Agreement

About the way I work:

As a Person-centred counsellor I strive to:

listen without judgement for the truth of every person's own experience/story;
stay with the person's story of experience, trusting that they know the best way forward;
believe in the human need to move forward in times of chaos or crisis;
try, as far as reasonably possible, to see things from the other person's shoes;
be genuinely interested in that person;
be as open and honest within sessions to create a safe space where another can be heard. (Charley O’leary 1999)

‘Online’ counselling is different to face-to-face work as misunderstandings may occur due to a lack of facial expressions and tone of voice. We should agree to think the best of each other and then try to express how we are feeling. In the event of a misunderstanding arising for either party, it is advisable that we seek to clarify the cause of a miscommunication.

Sessions

We will agree an ‘appointment time’. This is the time agreed to meet by call or on ‘Zoom’ which could be weekly or more frequently if requested.

Safe and Secure

A secure broadband where access is password protected with a reliable signal.

If connection is broken, I will try to reconnect twice and if this fails, we will reschedule another time. Broadband speed checker http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk

A private room/space with good lighting.
A comfortable position to allow seeing your head and shoulders.
To disclose prior to therapy if you feel you are at risk in any way. This will be explored and we will work toward signposting you to an appropriate service provider. Online counselling is not an emergency service. My registration number is: 690075 I am legally bound to make disclosure to the police authorities if a client reveals that they are intending to cause serious risk of harm to others. See detailed emergency contact below.
In the case of sudden illness, we will arrange another session at no extra cost. When a session is terminated suddenly and I have reason to fear for your safety and cannot connect with you then on that occasion I will have to contact the police to arrange a police health check.

Recordings

No unsolicited recordings of sessions are to be made by either party.

Fee

Sessions cost £50 per 1 hour slot preferably paid 24 hours before the session time. Acct 80085440, Sort Code 82-65-21, J M Philip.

If you have made payment for a session but are unable to meet at the appointed time I will retain the fee for the session unless we have experienced a technological breakdown which prevents us meeting online or exchanging emails. In the event of this occurring we would discuss how to re-arrange the scheduled appointment.

Confidentiality and Security

I offer both telephone and ‘live’ online counselling appointments. We would use free software for the video conferencing sessions called Zoom. If this is your preferred option, I will provide you with a hyperlink to download the free software which is encrypted. I would also suggest that you do not reveal your full name or any personal address details etc. whilst we are engaged in online counselling appointments as this helps to maintain the privacy of your sessions.

All client material is treated in complete confidence and is removed from my computer at the end of our work together. Electronic records are stored on a password protected memory stick and kept in a locked filing cabinet. No identifying names or material is retained on these records as a client ID number is used to replace such information. It is not permissible to publicise the content of our exchanges or share them with a third party. If you have any questions regarding the content of the agreement, or would like further information, please contact me at: [email protected] or telephone: 07800642303

Guidelines for Emergency Contact

Online counselling cannot provide an emergency service for clients. In the event of an emergency arising whilst you are engaged in online work or if you were experiencing suicidal thoughts, I would discuss with you the appropriate support that you could access during this period. If you found yourself in a major crisis and were considering serious self-harm it would be vital to get immediate help. This could include contacting your GP, or your nearest accident and emergency service (A & E). You could also call the Samaritans on 116 123 or email [email protected] (email emergency support). All personal information disclosed will be kept confidential and not used for any purposes other than a counselling record. This agreement shall be construed and governed in all respects in accordance with the laws of Scotland and any dispute or differences in relation to this agreement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.

Please take time to read through the guidelines on my website for ensuring privacy and security of your online communication with me. It’s available by following this hyperlink: www.joycephilipcounselling.co.uk

Online Agreement

Please answer the questions listed below prior to returning the agreement document

Please provide brief details below regarding the issues you would like to explore in counselling:

Have you received counselling or psychological support in the past, or are receiving such support currently? If so, please provide brief details of the nature and outcome of the support received and also what you found helpful/unhelpful from the support.

Please complete the following information below and return the agreement to me as an attachment if you would like to proceed with online counselling:

Full name:

Date of Birth:

Emergency contact number (in the event of technology breakdown which disrupts a counselling appointment):

GP Name and Address (not a mandatory requirement):

Please ‘sign electronically’ here with your name if you agree to working to the points within this agreement.

Privacy Policy

The personal information JPC records

During your initial consultation Joyce will complete forms to collect personal information including:

Name, address, date of birth, telephone numbers, email address, gender, information relevant to your referral.

Aside from the generic details, this information helps to establish your perception of the situation, how it is affecting you and to discuss what you would like to achieve from sessions.

How JPC stores your personal information

All personal information and session notes are stored in a locked filing cabinet and retained for the legal requirement of 7 years, after which time will be shredded.

Your contact details such as telephone numbers and email addresses may be stored electronically and backed up in the cloud with a UK based company and deleted one month from our last session.

Any emails you send will not be electronically retained and either deleted or printed and placed in your records within one month of sending.

All text messages are deleted within one month of sending.

Your telephone number may be stored in a mobile phone and deleted one month from our last session.

Confidentiality

All sessions will be conducted in confidence, the date, time, session number and brief notes will be documented.

Confidentiality, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR), will be maintained and applied to all records with the exception of the following:

When you have given your permission to share information for example, statistical data

In cases where Joyce has a duty to share information regarding (but not limited to) the following:

When compelled to give evidence by a court of law

If it is considered there is a real possibility of harm to yourself or others or in such instances when information is of such a gravity that confidentiality cannot be maintained for example:

Safeguarding adults (adult protection)
Safeguarding children (child protection)
Offences involving children under the age of 18
In cases of terrorism, fraud or money laundering

Your permission

Joyce will seek your permission to:

Contact you via your preferred method and will only leave a message with your consent.

Share information outside of the above exceptions.

Use anonymous details for continued professional development (case studies or training).

Publish any marketing material such as case studies or testimonials including those using a pseudonym.

Website

This privacy policy sets out how Joyce Philip Counselling uses and protects any information that you provide when you use this website.

By visiting www.joycephilipcounselling.co.uk website you accept and consent to the terms described in this privacy policy.

Joyce is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should Joyce ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website; you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

Joyce’s online contact form

When you use the online contact form Joyce may collect, use and store the following types of personal data:

Name
Telephone number
Email address
Information relevant to your referral
Other information you choose to send to Joyce

What Joyce will do with the information you provide via the contact form

Joyce uses this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

To contact you and assess your needs
Answer any questions you may have
Arrange and send confirmation of your initial consultation

Security

Transmission of data and information via the website is not a secure or an encrypted transmission method for sending your personal data, unless otherwise indicated on the website. Your attention is therefore drawn to the fact that, any information and personal data carried over the internet is not secure. Information and personal data may be intercepted, lost, corrupted or accessed by other people.

Upon receipt of your personal data Joyce is committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, Joyce has put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information collected online.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and 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.

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.

Google Analytics

Each time you visit a website Google analytics automatically tracks information such as (but not limited to) your geographical location, IP address, browser type, browser version, operating system, referral source, page views, length of visit, the times and dates you visit the site, navigation paths, whether you are a new visitor or a returning visitor.

When you visit www.joycephilipcounselling.co.uk the information collected by Google analytics may be used by Joyce to customise the website according to your interests and help improve products and services.

Links to external websites

Joyce’s website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave www.joycephilipcounselling.co.uk you should note that Joyce does not have any control over that other website. Therefore, she 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 policy. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following way:

If you have previously agreed to Joyce using your anonymous personal information for continued professional development or marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to Joyce at Joyce Philip Counselling, 72 George Square, Inverurie, AB51 3YA. Or at: [email protected].

Joyce will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless she has your permission or is required by law to do so.

You may request details of personal information which Joyce holds about you under the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR). If you would like a copy of any stored personal information, please write to Joyce Philip Counselling, 72 George Square, Inverurie, AB51 3YA.

Joyce aims to keep all personal data up to date, if you believe that any information she is holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to Joyce as soon as possible, at the above address and she will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

Amendments and updates

Joyce may amend and/or update this privacy policy from time to time without notice to you, in which case, she will publish the amended version on the website. You confirm that Joyce shall not be liable to you or any third party for any changes made to this privacy policy. It is your responsibility to check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.