Privacy Policy

I am registered by the Information Commissioner’s Office to hold information, both in electronic and paper, form about clients. As a client of my craniosacral practice, in order to comply with data protection laws including the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), there are a few things I need to let you know about the information I will hold about you and the reasons for this. Everything I do follows normal good practice for holding data generally as well as for a therapeutic practice.

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Information I hold about you 

 Personal Data: 

• Name, and contact details 

•  sex at birth, gender and pronouns 

• health conditions and information - including treatments 

• other personal information such as ethnicity, religion, and household composition if relevant. 

 All of this information will be given directly by you – some, such as your name and contact details, you may have supplied when we initially made contact and most will then be given in our session. Over time in future sessions, I will add to this information as you talk more about your circumstances or the issues you are seeking help with. I will also note my impressions from our sessions including what I perceive through the craniosacral treatment. 

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How is this information used?  

 Your contact information is used only in order to arrange appointments or to follow up with you, or to offer you sessions and never for any other reason. 

The case history information is important in order to understand your situation, get to know you and give you the best treatment possible, as well as to be able to track your progress over time.  

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Reasons for holding information 

The reason for all of these details is in order to give you the best craniosacral therapy that I can. Because the work we do together is to support your health whether physical, mental or emotional, it’s important to hear some of your history in order to work with you responsibly and carefully, as well as to track your progress with you over time. You can choose how much you wish to share about your history and you should never feel obliged to talk about anything that you don’t want to. Although I take notes and this is also a requirement of my professional body the Craniosacral Therapy Association UK (CSTA), I may not note every detail of our verbal conversations but just what is needed to keep a clear record of how you are doing. 

  

Sharing information about you 

In general, your information is never shared with anyone else unless you ask me to do this. 

As you would expect within a therapeutic relationship, and as a requirement of the Code of Ethics of my professional body the CSTA, you can be assured that all of the information I receive about you is treated in complete confidence and will not be shared with others or used for any other purposes. 

I am in regular supervision for my craniosacral work, as is good practice – this is support for me in my practice and although I may at times mention issues that are arising for some clients, nobody is ever mentioned by name so the confidentiality is still maintained. 

  

How long will I keep your information?  

I am not allowed to hold on to your personal data for longer than needed, and only related to the original reason for holding the information in the first place.  After that I may retain your records for a limited time where needed for business /accounting or legal purposes.  This is called the retention period.  

My professional body the CSTA requires me to keep your notes for at least seven years after your last visit if you are an adult, or up to age 21 plus seven years for children. For those who legally lack ‘capacity’, the rules are more complicated but will usually be at least 15 years rather than seven, sometimes followed by legal advice.  In order to be able to provide follow-up if clients return after a break, as well as to allow time for disposal of notes, the maximum time I will keep your notes is 15 years. After this time they are deleted securely/ shredded.