Dinah England

About me.

I am a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist, and I have a small private practice.  I work with individual adults or couples of all ages, either face to face at a venue near Cardigan, or remotely via Zoom, WhatsApp or telephone.  I am committed to offering a service which is welcoming to all backgrounds in a supportive and non-discriminatory manner.

I have a diploma in Adlerian Counselling and Psychotherapy, a diploma in Relational Couples Counselling, and a Level 6 Certificate in Therapeutic Counselling Supervision.  I am trained in Rewind Technique, by the International Association for Rewind Trauma Therapy (IARTT), and I have a Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling.

I am registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and I am an Accredited Professional Member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS).  I am a member of the Adlerian Society of Institute for Individual Psychology (ASIIP). I work within the BACP and NCPS Ethical Frameworks for Counsellors, and also the BACP Guidelines for Online Counselling and Psychotherapy.  Information relating to these documents can be found at: www.bacp.co.uk and www.nationalcounsellingsociety.org.

I work with Pathways to Change for Dyfed Drug and Alcohol Services (DDAS) and I have been a bereavement volunteer and supervisor with Cruse Bereavement Care.  I volunteered for three years as a counsellor with Pembrokeshire Counselling Service and I am now a supervisor with them.

Adlerian Counselling

Adlerian counselling is a psychodynamic model, that aims to increase the client’s self- awareness and understanding of the influence of their past on present behaviour and uses encouragement to bring about positive change.

What is Counselling?

Counselling provides an opportunity to explore a personal difficulty in a confidential and supportive environment.  This may include expressing feelings that are painful, and which many of us experience at certain times in our lives.  When this happens, it can be difficult to stay positive and cope with everyday life.  Counselling gives you the opportunity to access support in a confidential space at a time and in a place agreed between you and the counsellor.

What sort of issues can you contact me about?

Counselling may be able to help with a wide range of issues including abuse, anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness, relationship problems, bereavement, self-esteem, sexual orientation, sexual abuse, discrimination, pet bereavement and many more.

Not all types of issues can be resolved through counselling and I will advise you if I am not able to support you at this time or if another form of support might be more suitable for you, and I will make every effort to assist you in a referral to a suitable alternative source of support.

I do not provide counselling to anyone under the age of 18. If this applies to you, I can help with information on referral to other agencies providing counselling services specifically directed to a younger age group.

About the way I work

I aim to provide, to the best of my ability, a space in which to explore personal and relational issues in a supportive, non-judgemental environment, to help you gain awareness and perspective into your situation, to identify things that may be blocking your progress and to support you through change.  I will not be in a position to offer advice.  There may be occasions where I ask questions, and this may be to seek a clearer view of your difficulty or to clarify a misunderstanding in our communication.

Together we will agree an appointment time. This is the time we agreed to meet at an agreed venue or platform.  I offer an assessment session which gives us both the opportunity to consider whether we wish to work together.  If we decide to continue, we will arrange to meet regularly for an agreed number of sessions, at a date time and place agreed in advance.  This could be weekly or more frequently if you request this.  We will have regular reviews, giving us both a chance to assess progress and consider further sessions, if needed.  There is no obligation to attend all the sessions arranged (subject to cancellation fees), and you are free to leave a session at any time.

Couples Counselling

I am respectful and inclusive of all relationship types. Couples agree to attend sessions together and individual sessions will be considered in agreement with all parties. You are both free to attend individual sessions with a different counsellor if you wish.

I am happy to offer online as well as in person sessions as this blended approach may help those with childcare issues, however if clients are attending online then the confidentiality requirements must be met and children of any age may not be in the room.

I operate a policy of ‘no secrets’.  This means I will not keep secret from one partner anything the other partner describes if it is relevant to the therapy.

Additional information for Telephone or Online Counselling

Please make sure that your device has sufficient charge or that you have access to a charger or battery pack before the session starts.  I ask that you are in a comfortable location, where you are alone and cannot be seen or overheard by others, even members of your family or friends.  I would also suggest that you give yourself a few minutes after the session before you re-join others, in order to process the work you have just done.

I will never end a session unexpectedly. If for any reason we lose connection during the session, I will call you several times over the next 10 minutes.  If after this time we have not been able to reconnect then I will try to contact you via email to discuss how best to proceed.

If you have made payment for a session but are unable to speak at the appointed time, I will retain the fee for the session unless we have experienced a technological breakdown which prevents us being able to speak on the phone.  In the event of this occurring we would discuss how to re-arrange the scheduled appointment.

Fees and cancellations

Counselling session fees per session are:

• Individuals: £35 for the initial assessment and £45 for each 55 minute session thereafter.

• Couples: £60 for each 60 minutes session.

Payment is due 48 hours in advance by bank transfer.  Please let me know if you require a receipt.

If you wish to cancel an appointment (via voicemail, texts, or email), I need at least 24 hours’ notice, or as soon as possible in exceptional circumstances. I will follow the same procedure if I have to cancel a session.  You may be liable for the full cost of the session if it is missed without prior notice.

You can leave a voice or text message on 07456 153 833 or email me at dinah.england@me.com between appointments, to make, change or cancel an appointment.  I will respond to any other communication at the beginning of our next appointment, except by prior arrangement.

Guidelines for Emergency Contact

I cannot provide an emergency service for clients.  In the event of an emergency arising whilst you are engaged in counselling or if you were experiencing suicidal thoughts, I would discuss with you the appropriate support that you could access during this period.

If you found yourself in a major crisis and were considering serious self-harm it would be vital to get immediate help.This could include contacting your GP, or your nearest accident and emergency service (A & E). You could also call the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org (email emergency support).

Our work shall be construed and governed in all respects in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and any dispute or differences in relation to this agreement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. All counselling may only take place within Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It is not permissible to record or publicise the content of our exchanges or share them with a third party.

*Please read this before your initial appointment.

Before your initial appointment you'll be sent a copy of this information via e-mail or post if you prefer. You will be asked to sign or state that you have received this privacy notice, and to confirm that you have received and understood this privacy policy.

Introduction

Your privacy is very important to me, and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended, including:

• Whether I intend to transfer it to another country,

• Whether I do automated decision-making or profiling, and

• Your data protection rights.

I am happy to talk through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me via email at Dinah.england@me.com.

‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects and stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office ZA760536.

My phone number is: 07456 153 833.

My email address is: Dinah.england@me.com

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. There are different lawful bases depending on the stage at which I am processing your data. I have explained these below:

If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.

If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.

The GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. This type of information is called ‘special category personal information’. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between me and you).

Your personal data

Data collected and why it is kept

• Name, date of birth, occupation – basic information about you that helps me to get to know you.

• Address, e-mail address, telephone number - Ways of contacting you about our sessions and your address is also kept in case I felt you were at risk and I needed to request a police safety check.

• Emergency contact - in case anything happens to you during our session and I need to contact someone.

• GP details - if I felt you were at risk then I might need to contact your GP. Where possible I will discuss this with you first. Session notes - it is standard professional procedure to make summary notes of each session in order to refresh your counsellor’s memory of what has been discussed in sessions.

• Sensitive personal data “special category personal information” - this information helps me to get to know you and to make an initial assessment of your circumstances including any history of mental health issues.

How long I keep it for

For legal reasons I keep session notes for five years after the end of therapy which is the time frame my insurance company requires. After this they are destroyed, either by shredding or deletion.

The following will be shredded or deleted within three months of our work finishing:

• Special category personal information

• Your phone number from my mobile phone

• Emails and texts regarding appointment arrangements

Confidentiality & Zoom or WhatsApp

Everything that is discussed in the counselling session is kept in the strictest confidence. If we are working through online counselling, I will be using Zoom or WhatsApp, both of which have end-to-end encryption. Recording functionality will be disabled, and meetings will be password protected to prevent unauthorised participants from entering. (https://explore.zoom.us/en/trust/legal- compliance/ and https://www.whatsapp.com/privacy)

How I use your information

Initial contact

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services, I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include name, address, telephone numbers and email address. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf.

If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within 12 months. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.

While accessing counselling

While you are accessing counselling everything you discuss with me is confidential. I will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

• Consent – I may share your information with other professionals whom you have requested or agreed I should contact.

• Serious harm – I may share your information with the relevant authorities if I have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.

• Clinical Executor – If for any reason I become incapacitated and unable to work your information will be passed onto my Clinical Executor so they can contact you and make suitable arrangements.

• Compliance with the law – for instance if I am required by a court of law or if you discussed acts of terrorism or serious crime or risk of serious harm to others, I would discuss this with the police. Similarly, if you reveal information about children or vulnerable adults being seriously at risk, I will report to that to the relevant authorities. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. These written details are kept securely in a locked filing cabinet and are not shared with any third party.

I will keep written notes of each session, these are kept in a locked filing cabinet.

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than 3 months. If there is relevant information contained in a text message, I will copy it and store it on a memory stick which is password protected and kept in a locked cabinet. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after 3 months if it is not important. If necessary, I will store it on a memory stick which is password protected and kept in a locked cabinet.

After counselling has ended

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for 5 years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.

Data security

I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously and as such I take every effort to make sure it is kept secure.

Paper forms, notes and correspondence are stored in a locked filing cabinet. Any electronic records are stored on a memory stick which is stored in a locked filing cabinet and requires password access. Your telephone number may be kept in my mobile phone which is also password protected.

Your identified identifiable information is kept separately from any session notes and are linked by a unique number.

I will use Writeupp, a clinical software, to help the counselling services run smoothly and I may use it to provide a secure video link for online counselling (www.writeupp.com). I will keep a record of your personal details on this software and these details are kept securely and are not shared with any third party. I make written notes of each session and these may be kept within this software system.

Third party recipients of personal data

I sometimes share personal data with third parties, for example, where I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks (such as Writeupp). In such cases I have carefully selected which partners I work with. I take great care to ensure that I have a contract with a third party that states what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them. I ensure that they do not use your information in any other way than the task for which they have been contacted.

I will not share any information about you with other organisations or people except in the following situations:

• Consent – I may share your information with other professionals whom you have requested or agreed I should contact.

• Serious harm – I may share your information with the relevant authorities if I have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.

• Clinical Executor – If for any reason I become incapacitated and unable to work your information will be passed onto my Clinical Executor so they can contact you and make suitable arrangements.

• Compliance with the law – for instance if I am required by a court of law or if you discussed acts of terrorism or serious crime or risk of serious harm to others, I would discuss this with the police. Similarly, if you reveal information about children or vulnerable adults being seriously at risk, I will report to that to the relevant authorities.

Your rights

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.

If I do hold information about you I will:

• give you a description of it and where it came from

• tell you why I am holding its, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision tell you who it could be disclosed to

• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you.

To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to Dinah.england@me.com.

If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures.

If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.