PRIVACY POLICY – IS MY INFORMATION IN SAFE HANDS?
Urise Counselling Services uses your information to contact you either by telephone, text or email. Your information is not shared with anyone outside the therapy room. Should there be a need to contact an outside organisation or professional (eg GP) Urise Counselling Services will only do so with your written permission.
DIGITAL POLICY FOR MEETING MINDS
EMAIL:
Emails we send each other may be vulnerable to viruses or human error. For this reason it is best to be thoughtful about what you include in your emails to me. It is best to rely on email for non-confidential communications. Confidential material needs to stay ‘in the room’ so it is best avoided in emails unless we have discussed it beforehand. Please be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of the internet service providers. If you are concerned about your confidentiality of your emails, you may prefer to use the phone instead. I endeavour to respond to my emails within 24 hours.
TEXT MESSAGE:
Please feel free to contact me by text to alert me if you are running late, unable to attend, wish to set up a new appointment or want to update me on something. It is usually not appropriate to text me about important matters, so please phone and leave a message. As I am private practitioner, I am unable to offer an emergency service, even by phone. Should you experience an emergency please either contact emergency services or if you’re feeling suicidal ring The Samaritans. If you feel that this is an issue, please discuss with me.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
I have an online presence through Twitter Facebook, Linked In and others. Our relationship needs to remain as much as possible between us in the consultation room. I do not follow any former/current clients on social media. Whether you follow me or not is at your discretion, though I would suggest that for reasons of confidentiality and preserving our therapeutic relationship it would be advisable not to.
GOOGLE:
It is likely that you will have Googled me before you contacted me. Whilst I acknowledge that Googling others is an accepted aspect of daily life, I wish to avoid encountering information about you that does not come directly from you. In general practice, I do not Google my clients before I meet them. It is, of course, your right to Google me. However, if in your search some questions are raised, I would request you raise them with me at the first opportunity.