Service Description:
This service is funded by Stockport Homes and delivered by students from the following colleges/universities: University of Salford, Stockport College, The Manchester College, Manchester Metropolitan University, Keele University, Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education, London and University of Central Lancashire. Counselling is also delivered by qualified counselling volunteers.
During their work at TLC the students and volunteers are bound by TLC’s security and information governance policies. All personal data including information in emails is stored on TLC systems and premises. Counsellors are not permitted to store personal data outside of these environments.
Anonymous data on client sessions will be stored by individual students and will be submitted to the students institute of training via university and college portals during assignments which they complete during their training.
We collect your information to:
- process and set up your counselling sessions
- anonymously share performance data with Stockport Homes
- ensure safe and effective clinical practice
What type(s) of information do we use?
- contact details
- family and relationship details
- demographic information
- clinical notes
- outcome information
- session attendances
- risk information
What is the legal basis for using your information?
The legal basis for providing this service is a contract legal basis. Should we carry out a referral on your behalf or share information we would request your consent. The contractual basis means:
- We must collect information to deliver the services you have requested
- We must collect information to meet the funding requirements of Stockport Homes
If you do not want to enter into a contract with us to provide counselling funded by Stockport Homes we may have other funding available or you can self fund please contact us should you wish to do this.
Where do we get your information?
- yourself
Who do we share your information with?
To ensure safe and consistent clinical practice among the counsellors who deliver the Stockport Homes counselling service, anonymised information is shared in supervision with a supervisor within TLC or at their respective college/university. This supervisor is a qualified counsellor and works within the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) ethical guidelines. These are available upon request.
Students will also share anonymised data on sessions with university and college for the purpose of review and reflection on the counsellor’s practice, during lectures and essays submitted to the institute via their secure online portals.
We also provide students and counsellors with training and specific guidance on what can or cannot be discussed in these sessions. Specifically:
- The Counsellor will never tell your whole story and will use only information that is relevant to get the support they need to help you
- All your identifying details are not discussed (such as name, geographical location, number of children, jobs, ages etc)
In some instances, students may need to provide their college/university with a recording of a session. No recording (audio or video) should take place without your consent and clear understanding of what the recording will be used for, how long it will be stored where it will be stored, the device which will be used to create the recording with and by whom the recording will be made. You will be provided with a consent form if a recording is necessary, and you have a right not to consent without this effecting the counselling provided under this funding.
Sharing in exceptional circumstances
We may share your personal data if there is a risk to you or another person, including a child at risk of harm as we have a legal duty to do so. Any decision to share your personal information would be made carefully, and where possible with your consent. Before you pass on information to us, you must think about what you tell us, and understand that we may have to pass it on, in the following circumstances:
- If what you have told us puts you or someone at risk – for example you may harm someone or yourself, or they may harm you.
- If what you have told us is illegal – we may be required by law or have a duty to pass on information about criminal activity.
- If it involves any risk of significant harm to a child, then we will pass on information necessary to protect the child.
How long will we keep your information?
- TLC will keep this information for 7 years
- Student counsellors will inform clients of how long their institute will store the anonymised data or any recordings of sessions made
Transferring your information outside of the European Union (EU)
We will not transfer your information outside of the EU.
Automated decisions using your information?
For this service all the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.
Your rights
In our your rights page you can find information about how to:
- exercise your rights
- contact our Data Protection Officer
- raise a concern with us
- make a complaint to the Information Commissioner
You can find out what information we hold about you, and ask us not to use any of the information we collect.
Further information
If you would like further information about this privacy notice, please email [email protected]
Updates (notice)
Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in our primary privacy notice.
We may update or revise this privacy notice at any time. If you are reading this as a printed copy please refer to www.talklistenchange.org.uk for the most up to date version.
