Our full Confidentiality Policy can be found here.

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

working online. 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. We use Frama RMail software which allows all clients to reply to emails in encrypted format free of charge and without the need for the client to install software or register for an account themselves.

 

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 the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

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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 kept for 7 years after the counselling sessions have finished for insurance purposes. After 7 years electronic records will be permanently deleted and paper records will be shredded. For clients under the age of 18 data is kept until the month after the client’s 25th birthday, or their 26th birthday if they are aged 17 when counselling and psychotherapy sessions end.

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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 GDPR legislation to ensure the highest possible security and confidentiality of the content of client sessions. At this time, we use Zoom for online video and audio sessions, Doxy Me and Signal for instant messenger sessions, and a combination of Google Business and Frama RMail for email sessions and email communication with clients. We also use WhatsApp for clients who are already registered with this service. Paper Plane Counselling reserves the right to change the software platform 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 60 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.

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For counselling sessions delivered by email: a day of the week when we have a “session” is agreed. The client sends an email at least 48 hours prior to the agreed session day. Amy will send a brief acknowledgement upon receipt. On the session day she will send a therapeutic response email to the client of up to 650 words. The client may choose to send multiple emails throughout the week but should bear in mind that sending a lot of text will affect how much time Amy will have to write a therapeutic reply. As a general rule, 3,000 words is the limit clients can submit in total each week to expect a substantive reply.

 

Availability between sessions

Amy is usually only available during contracted therapeutic session hours. If you need to contact Amy outside these times 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.

 

Fees

Up to date prices for all services offered can be found on the Fees page. The fee is due at the end of each session.

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Cancellations

The full fee will be charged for sessions which are not attended or cancelled at short notice (less than 48 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, blogs, 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 Mills 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 client 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 - and this includes via online public forums. 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 then 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 counselling 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 say hello 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 may 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 public place.

 

Complaints

Amy hopes that you are satisfied with the therapeutic service you receive. If you have any questions or concerns then 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.

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

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Paper Plane Counselling Ltd is a company based and registered in the United Kingdom. Any disputes will be considered subject to the jurisdiction and laws of England and Wales.

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