I Becky Hall, am registered as the Data Controller for Chameleon Therapy with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) and take the protection of your data very seriously.
For the purpose of contacting you about your counselling sessions, your name, address, email address, and phone number will be collected.
Please see below for full details of our Privacy Policy.
Chameleon Therapy uses and engages with social media privately and professionally. There is a chance if you use social media yourself you may see some of this online activity.
If you view posts without liking or commenting, no-one, including Chameleon Therapy, will know you have seen them. However, if you like or comment on any posts, these can be seen by anyone who visits the page.
Colleagues, family and friends follow Chameleon Therapy on social media. Chameleon Therapy will never identify you as a client.
Chameleon Therapy will reply to messages or comments on posts where required but no therapy will be engaged with via social media, inviting you to contact Chameleon Therapy directly instead.
No one working with or for Chameleon Therapy should accept Friend’s requests from clients to personal social media accounts.
Statement of Intent
Chameleon Therapy understands how important your privacy is. We take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of APA (Ayanay Psychological Accreditation). These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that all staff always conduct themselves with professionalism and integrity.
In order to provide you with the best service possible, Chameleon Therapy will hold your personal contact details and records of your therapy sessions. Please find below important information about how this information will be held and used.
Your personal information
Chameleon Therapy uses the secure, encrypted and password protected practice management platform, Kiku (wearekiku.com) to collect and store your personal data. At the point of booking your initial consultation, you will be asked for your personal contact information, for example your name, address, email address and telephone number and you may also choose to share details of the issues you are looking for help with. This is stored securely in the Kiku database.
In order to be able to fulfil Chamelon Therapies duty of care to you, in your initial consultation or first treatment session, you will be asked for contact information for your GP and elected Emergency Contact person. These details will be stored securely in Kiku and will only be accessible in case of emergency.
Please note that these records will need to be kept for seven years after the end of your therapy, in accordance with data protection legislation and in accordance with relevant insurance underwriters. These will be archived in the Kiku database.
Your details will never be passed to third-party organisations for the purposes of sales, marketing or research and Chameleon Therapy will never use your personal data for any purposes other than in the administration and provision of the counselling service you are being provided with i.e. to arrange, cancel and rearrange appointments and collect payment for sessions.
Online Bookings
When you make an online booking or payment, Kiku will send a booking notification to your therapist via email and the Kiku messaging system.
Please note at this time, online bookings are unavailable.
You can view Kiku’s privacy policy here.
Cookies may be stored to improve functionality of Chameleon Therapy’s website.
Your payment details
Anonymised payment details are recorded in Kiku financial income reports if you make payment through Kiku. These reports will only hold your first name, last name initial and unique client reference number.
Other payments are made using Zettle – either by card reader or by link. A copy of Zettle’s privacy statement can be found here.
Any payments made by bank transfer will be identifiable by the name on the account used to pay and any reference you give. The HMRC requires that information is retained for 5 years after the end of the financial year, but statements will only be downloaded or saved if requested, which is when they will be anonymised.
Your therapy sessions
Everything that you discuss in your therapy session is confidential. Confidentiality will only be broken if there is concern about your safety or the safety of someone else, or if there are instructions from a Court of Law. Your therapist will always endeavour to speak to you about this first.
During remote working, online and telephone sessions will be conducted in a quiet, private and confidential setting. Only video calling platforms that offer end to end encryption to ensure maximum privacy are used. Please note however that Chameleon Therapy cannot be held responsible for any breaches that occur due to failures in this technology.
Clinical work is discussed with a supervisor. This is to ensure that you are receiving the best service possible. These conversations are bound by confidentiality, and you will only be referred to by your first name.
Notes are recorded of each session. These are stored within a password protected file within the secure Kiku system (wearekiku.com). These notes are to keep a track of key things that are being brought to therapy. In line with industry guidelines, these notes will be kept securely for up to seven years after your therapy comes to an end. After this time, they will be confidentially destroyed.
If your sessions are paid for or arranged via a third party, (e.g. your employer, a friend, or a family member), other than payment requests, invoices or receipts your counselling information will not be shared. Details about what is discussed in your sessions will remain confidential between. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.
Your communications with us
All phones, tablets and laptops used to respond to your emails are encrypted, fully protected with anti-virus software and password protected.
Data Usage
Your email address and telephone number will only be used to contact you about your appointments. I may also contact you directly via email in order to share information with you that is pertinent to your therapeutic process.
Your phone number may also be used to issue appointment reminders via text message. You can opt in or out of text updates using your free Kiku account.
Your rights
Any personal data retained by Chameleon Therapy is kept in accordance with the GDPR, 2018.
Under these guidelines you have the following rights
You can request to view the information that is held about you (contact details, appointment logs etc.) at any time. If during therapy you would like to see your session notes, please ask. Should you require a copy of your notes after your therapy has come to an end you can make this request by emailing chameleontherapy21@gmail.com.
At any point during your time with Chameleon Therapy or during the seven years thereafter, while your records are retained, you have the right to request amendments to your contact details or session notes. This right can be exercised either by contacting Chameleon Therapy.
You can request that your records are deleted and confidentially destroyed at any time. This request can be made by contacting Chameleon Therapy at chameleontherapy21@gmail.com.
Instances where we would not be able to comply with your request are as follows:
Consent
When you book your first session, you will be asked to confirm that you consent to the storage and processing of your personal data for the purposes of providing therapeutic services.
You are entitled to withdraw this consent at any time and can do so by emailing chameleontherapy21@gmail.com
Breaches of data protection
In the event of any breach of data protection policies, You and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be notified within 72 hours and rectification will be sought immediately.
Raising concerns
Should you have any concerns about Chameleon Therapy’s data protection practices, you can raise these directly. You can also notify the Information Commissioner’s Office. Becky Hall is registered with the ICO under the reference number ZB061676.