Terms of Use

You can view Paper Plane Counselling's full Confidentiality Policy and if you have any questions from this please message.

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Paper Plane Counselling recommends that clients take reasonable precautions to protect their confidentiality, especially when 

working online.

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These include ensuring you use a strong password for any account which you use to communicate with us (e.g. email). All emails sent by Paper Plane Counselling are encrypted and clients are encouraged to also send emails in encrypted format. 

 

Record keeping

Contact information, assessment information and brief notes of counselling sessions are recorded and stored securely in accordance with the systems described in our Privacy Policy and our Information Governance Policy and Procedure. Our systems comply with New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020, New Zealand's Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and the UK's Data Protection Act 2018. 

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Paper Plane Counselling Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

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Information is not sold to any third-party companies or individuals.

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Client records are stored securely for 10 years after the counselling sessions have finished in line with the New Zealand Privacy Act of 2020 and the Health (Retention of Health Information) Regulations 2020). After 10 years records will be permanently deleted.

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Paper Plane Counselling does not record client sessions (either digitally or by recalled transcript) without prior explicit consent on the part of the person(s) receiving therapy or supervision. Paper Plane Counselling asks that clients likewise do not attempt to record sessions without prior explicit agreement.

 

External software

Digital communication can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Paper Plane Counselling uses software which is encrypted and whose Privacy Policies meet the standards required by New Zealand legislation to ensure the highest possible security and confidentiality of the content of client sessions. At this time, we use Zoom and Doxy Me for online video meetings and clinical sessions, and Signal for text communication. We use Google Workspace for email communication, appointment scheduling and client data collection and storage. Paper Plane Counselling reserves the right to change the software platform(s) through which sessions are conducted at any time. We do this if the privacy settings of third-party software change making it unsuitable for delivering therapeutic work.

 

Counselling sessions

A counselling session lasts up to 50 minutes. This includes time to discuss and agree the scheduling of the next appointment if necessary.

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Sessions start and finish at pre-agreed times. If the client arrives late, the session will still finish at the agreed time.​

 

Availability between sessions

Amy is usually only available during contracted therapeutic session hours. If you need to contact Amy outside these times to rearrange an appointment then you can do so by telephone or email. There is a voicemail for the telephone number. Amy aims to respond to all messages within 48 hours. Amy does not work on Aotearoa New Zealand public holidays nor weekends so messages will not be responded to during those times. 

 

Fees

Up to date prices for all services offered can be found on the relevant webpage for each service. The fee for each counselling or supervision session is due within 24 hours of the end of that session unless an alternative arrangement has been pre-agreed. Fees are invoiced for by email and payment by bank transfer is preferred. 

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Cancellations

For sessions which are cancelled with at least 72 hours notice, there is no fee to pay. 

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The full fee will be charged for sessions which are not attended or cancelled at short notice (less than 72 hours). In the rare event that Amy needs to cancel a session, she will give as much notice as possible and offer a rescheduled session if possible.

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Boundaries Online

Paper Plane Counselling and Amy will not publish (or post) personally identifiable descriptions of clients or details of therapeutic work undertaken on any public online platform (including but not limited to social media, blog posts, message boards, chatrooms). Likewise, clients are requested not to publish descriptions or transcripts of their therapeutic sessions or identifiable descriptions of Paper Plane Counselling or Amy on any public online platform.

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Contacting Paper Plane Counselling or Amy via an online public platform (e.g. a social media account) will compromise the confidentiality of therapy sessions because neither party can fully control who else can see the communication and what they infer from it. Since Amy has no way of knowing who the person actually using an online account is, and is obliged to protect the anonymity of all clients, she will not acknowledge clients publicly online. Therefore, if you are a client and choose to contact Paper Plane Counselling or Amy via an online public platform (e.g. social media) without explicit prior agreement, Amy may not respond and may delete your comment or request and block you from further contact (in order to protect your confidentiality). If you are still engaged in sessions, she will discuss the situation with you at your next session.

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Paper Plane Counselling will not search for or knowingly interact with any client’s online accounts (e.g. social media, blog). We request that clients respect Amy’s personal privacy and likewise do not seek out or contact her personal online profiles.

 

Boundaries in person

For clients (either current or past), if you see Amy outside of a session (e.g. you pass each other in the street) she may smile but will not initiate any further conversation to protect your confidentiality. If you choose to start a conversation then Amy will respond but she requests that in order to ensure the success of your therapy, you refrain from discussing your therapy with her outside of your sessions.

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For supervisees (either current or past), if you see Amy outside of contracted session hours (e.g. you attend the same CPD event) she will smile and say hello. However, in order to protect the confidentiality of your clients, she requests that you do not discuss your client work with her in an unconsidered manner or in a public place.

 

Complaints

Amy hopes that you are satisfied with the therapeutic service you receive. If you have any questions or concerns then in the first instance please contact her to discuss them.

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If you have a complaint about Amy Mills’ professional conduct then you are entitled to raise a complaint with the BACP

or with the NZAC. ​

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If you have a concern regarding the handling or processing of your data and you live in the United Kingdom, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

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Paper Plane Counselling Ltd is a company based and registered in Aotearoa New Zealand. Any disputes will be considered subject to the jurisdiction and laws of Aotearoa New Zealand.

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