Confidentiality

• I keep our counselling sessions and records confidential within the framework described on my website www.karenhodgson.com confidentiality. (direct link here). I work to the Guidelines for Good Practice set by my professional body, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) where I am a MBACP member of the BACP. You can check my details in BACP's online directory at www.counselling.co.uk For other member organisations I belong to, please check member organisations (direct link here) on my homepage. I am a registered as a controller of sensitive data under the Data Protection Act 1988 & 2003 and comply with their recommendations for storing sensitive data. Sensitive data includes our counselling e-mails or chat transcripts and any further notes I may make about our work. If you have concerns about keeping our work confidential on your computer, please ask me about this. Depending upon your circumstances, it may be prudent for you to open a new email account using a remote server such as hotmail just for sending and receiving emails or you may wish to encrypt emails.
• Your identity and personal details will be protected by me and the only exceptions I will make are when I judge that there is serious risk to yourself or others or when I am compelled to by Law. In the rare event that I break confidentiality, this is done with your prior knowledge if possible and only to people who absolutely need to know (e.g. doctors). I have regular supervision of my online work but I do not disclose your identity to my supervisor.