Privacy & Security
Privacy & Security
Intimacy Counselling respects the privacy of our clients and aims to protect their personal information. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal information is any information about an identifiable individual.
Intimacy Counselling is committed to maintaining our clients’ trust and privacy. We recognise the sensitivity of personal information.
Access to personal information will only be permitted to the Intimacy Counseling team and those working for them. Anyone working for Intimacy Counselling will adhere to a strict client confidentiality policy. Intimacy Counselling staff will only collect and use your information to administer, support, improve and obtain feedback on our services and to detect and prevent faults, breaches of our network security, the law or our contract terms. Information from clients is not to be used for any other reasons.
Clients are not to be discussed with anyone not employed by Intimacy Counselling in any way that can identify them as an individual.
All paperwork for Intimacy Counselling’s clients is to be kept locked and secured.
Intimacy Counselling therapists and staff will only access digital client information and correspond with clients using secure devices.
Except where the law requires, anyone working for Intimacy Counselling will not pass on, sell or rent your personal data to any third party. The only exceptions occur where the third parties are simply working on our behalf as our subcontractors or administrators (such as companies that process credit card payments), our professional advisers, or if the data is required to be disclosed by law or to a regulator.
Any agreement between the counsellor and client about confidentiality may be reviewed and changed by joint negotiation.
All Intimacy Counselling staff may use or disclose information without your consent or authorisation in the following circumstances:
1. Child Abuse: If a staff member has reason to believe that a child has been, or may be, abused, neglected, or sexually abused, they must make a report of such.
2. Adult Abuse: If a staff member has reason to believe that an elderly or disabled person is in a state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, they must immediately report such.
3. Health Oversight: If a complaint is filed against your therapist with their respective state licensing board, they have the authority to subpoena confidential mental health information from Intimacy Counselling.
4. Judicial or Administrative Proceedings: If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information about your diagnosis and treatment and the records thereof, such information is privileged under state law and it will not be released by Intimacy Counselling, without written authorisation from you, your personal or legally appointed representative, or a court order. The privilege does not apply when you are being evaluated for a third party or where the evaluation is court ordered. You will be informed in advance if this is the case.
5. Serious Threat to Health or Safety: If a staff member determines that there is a probability of imminent physical injury by you to yourself or others, or there is a probability of immediate mental or emotional injury to you, they may disclose relevant confidential mental health information to medical or law enforcement personnel.
6. Abuse or Sexual Exploitation by Therapist: To report client abuse or sexual exploitation by a previous therapist to the appropriate licensing board.
Any breaches in privacy by Intimacy Counselling’s staff will result in instant repercussions for the individual’s continued employment with Intimacy Counselling.
1. INTIMACY COUNSELLING’S RESPONSIBILITIES
1.1. Intimacy Counselling will use best endeavours to ensure that all advice, comments, information and therapy will be provided with appropriate skill, care and sensitivity. However, we cannot be held responsible for any actions or inaction by you directly or indirectly on the basis of what we provided.
1.2. All Therapists responding to you via Intimacy Counselling Website(s) are fully qualified psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors or therapists.
1.3. Though all reasonable care shall be taken by Intimacy Counseling to ensure that the text of sessions is kept confidential, Intimacy Counselling shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special or other damage resulting from third parties interception of online sessions.
1.4 Intimacy Counselling reserves the right at its sole discretion to terminate the provision of therapy at any time if ongoing treatment is considered inappropriate for any reason.
1.5 Intimacy Counselling, its agents and therapists will use best endeavours to ensure that their computer systems are protected from viruses and other potentially destructive programs
2. PERSONAL DATA AND INFORMATION
2.1 Intimacy Counselling shall treat all information between you and Intimacy Counseling therapists as confidential except as stated in our privacy policy.
2.2 Clients are not to be discussed with anyone not employed by Intimacy Counselling in any way that can identify them as an individual. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal information is any information about an identifiable individual.
2.3 All Intimacy Counselling staff may use or disclose information without your consent or authorization in the following circumstances:
1. Child Abuse: If a staff member has reason to believe that a child has been, or may be, abused, neglected, or sexually abused, they must make a report of such.
2. Adult Abuse: If a staff member has reason to believe that an elderly or disabled person is in a state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, they must immediately report such.
3. Health Oversight: If a complaint is filed against your therapist with their respective state licensing board, they have the authority to subpoena confidential mental health information from Intimacy Counselling.
4. Judicial or Administrative Proceedings: If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information about your diagnosis and treatment and the records thereof, such information is privileged under state law and it will not be released by Intimacy Counselling, without written authorization from you or your personal or legally appointed representative, or a court order. The privilege does not apply when you are being evaluated for a third party or where the evaluation is court ordered. You will be informed in advance if this is the case.
5. Serious Threat to Health or Safety: If a staff member determines that there is a probability of imminent physical injury by you to yourself or others, or there is a probability of immediate mental or emotional injury to you, they may disclose relevant confidential mental health information to medical or law enforcement personnel.
6. Abuse or Sexual Exploitation by Therapist: To report client abuse or sexual exploitation by a previous therapist to the appropriate licensing board.