Confidentiality
Psychotherapy is a private and confidential treatment. All issues in relation to confidentiality are in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the BACP. This means that all our discussions are confidential unless:
19-3-24 - You are working under the NCHP/NSTT code in the context of this assessment. There is no need to respond to this other than acknowledging that you have read and understand the point. OK
I become aware of information which I either know or believe might help prevent another person carrying out an act of terrorism, or might help in bringing a terrorist to justice in the UK, or about specified activities related to money and property used to assist terrorist activities.
If I observe physical signs that an act of female genital mutilation may have been carried out on a girl under the age of 18 or I am informed by a girl under the age of 18 that she has undergone an act of female genital mutilation.
The police request information about the driver of a vehicle at the time of an offence it must be disclosed by me as failure to do so would constitute a criminal offence on my part.
I become aware of drug trafficking or money laundering that may be required to be reported under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, if this happens, I may seek legal advice as to any statutory duty.
I must disclose information that I am ordered to by a court or by a statutory request for access to personal data made under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
I may break our normal confidentiality if I become aware (or have good reason to suspect) that you have knowledge of:
A past, present or future incident/situation that may be dangerous or harmful to you, another adult or a child and that is not known to the relevant authorities.
Future or past criminal activity that has not been resolved in law. This means any criminal activity, of which the relevant authorities are either unaware or a case they know about which they consider not to be closed (provided you do not present information in therapy which would reasonably re-open the case). This does not include parking or traffic offences unless there is intent, by you or anyone else, to cause danger to yourself or others, or that it is deemed to be a serious offence. In such circumstances, I will work with you to see if we can work together to make appropriate disclosures.
In such cases I would endeavour to discuss with you the best course of action.
For our purposes a serious offence is:
Murder, manslaughter, rape, treason, kidnapping, child abuse or other cases where individuals have suffered serious harm or there is serious harm to the security of the state or to public order and crimes that involve substantial financial gain and loss.
Social Media and Electronic Information Policy
This section outlines the policy of Claire Anderson with regard to the use of social media and electronic information. If you, as a client, have questions about any aspect please do ask. As the world of technology is constantly changing this document is likely to be updated regularly and the latest version will always be available on my website.
Friending
I do not accept friend or contact requests from former or current clients on any social networking site as this can not only compromise your confidentiality (eg if another of my friends saw that you were a friend they may wonder how we know each other) but would also blur the boundary of the therapeutic relationship.
Social Media
I do not use social media for business or professional purposes.
Use of search engines
I do not routinely Google my clients but may very occasionally in a time of crisis. For example, if you had failed to attend a session and there was a reason for me to be concerned for your safety I may try to find out about you this way. If I did so, I would tell you about it the next time we met.
Business review sites
You may find my name on business review sites but I have not asked to be on these. Businesses do not get a choice. Clients are free to post whatever they choose and due to confidentiality I cannot comment on anything that is posted. Indeed, anyone (including a competitor) can post anything so it is advisable to be aware that reviews (good or bad) may not be representative of the views of real clients. It is considered unethical by some of my professional body ( BACP) to publish testimonials and so you will not find any testimonials posted by me, nor will I ever ask you for one.
Location-based services
If you use location-based services on your phone you should be aware that others may surmise that you are a therapy client if you are seen as “checking in” at my address.