Security and Confidentiality

Confidentiality

I have a professional obligation to keep not only your personal details but everything which you say or write to me in absolute confidence.

The only instances in which another ethical obligation may override this, meaning that I may need to share some of the information which I hold, are:

1. if I have extremely good reason to believe that you are likely to pose a serious threat to yourself or someone else, e.g. suicide, homicide, sexual abuse, or terrorist activity.
2. if my professional obligation to preserve confidentiality is removed by a court of law (which rarely happens but is possible).

I would if at all possible discuss whatever breach in confidentiality I intended to make with you first.

Ethics

All my work adheres to the ethical code of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy), which, if you are interested, you can download here. What this means for you is that if you have any ethical complaints about my behaviour you have recourse to a professional body. You have somewhere to take your complaints.

Supervision

Supervision is a confidential relationship between professionals which provides consultation and support, and ensures that my work is as effective as possible. In the UK it is an ethical obligation for every practicing counsellor to have regular supervision.

During sessions with my individual supervisor, I may talk about my work with you. However no names or other identifying details are shared with my supervisor and my relationship with them is bound by the same high degree of confidentiality as my relationship with my clients.

Is Online Therapy Appropriate For Me, Now?

You probably already know if online counselling appeals to you or not. But there are times and situations in which online therapy cannot offer the level of immediacy and safety which you need. It may seem more difficult, but please consider talking to your doctor, a psychiatrist if you feel that it is appropriate, a face to face counsellor, or indeed anyone with whom you feel safe:

1. if you are in the midst of a severe mental crisis which is stopping you from functioning. If this is the case, online counselling will not offer the immediacy and ‘holding’ which you require at this time.
2. if you are suicidal, or homicidal. If this is the case, then internet counselling is not a safe option for you now. Picking up the phone and talking to someone through an organisation such as The Samaritans or Befrienders International will help.

When the full-blown crisis is over, I can help you to focus on working out what happened and putting yourself back together again. The online therapy format might be a safe, effective and flexible way to us to do that.

Internet Security

Sharing intimate feelings, thoughts and information on the internet may seem like quite a scary thing to do. In fact if you don’t take some steps to protect this information, it probably is! Hence I offer:

• SSL encryption of all the personal details entered on my Introductory Form.
• Fully encrypted storage of your messages on my computer. That means that were someone to get access to my computer, they would not be able to read your messages.
• An individual email address for you, and only you, to use when writing to me.

If you already use or would like to use encryption, and wish to add a further layer of security by encrypting emails in transit, you may send me any key which you currently use on the SSL secured Introductory Form. I use the GNU Privacy Guard version of the Open PGP standard to exchange emails with clients who wish to encrypt our communications.

I do suggest that you take great care if using computers in a public space or a shared computer in the home. If you want to find out more, the guide to encryption and security on CounsellingResource.com gives a general overview of security issues and possible solutions.

I’d also like to stress that you do not have to know a lot of technical details in order to use this service. Knowing how to use email is enough. I take care of security on my end, and the level of security you feel comfortable with at your end is entirely up to you.