Clare Christie Counselling Signiture

Privacy and Telehealth Statement

At Clare Christie Counselling, I am deeply committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your personal information is handled securely. This statement outlines how your data is collected, stored, and protected, alongside specific privacy guidelines for our online sessions using the Zoom platform.

 

Counselling and Telehealth Privacy Statement

1. Collection of Personal Information

To provide safe, effective, and tailored counselling services, I collect relevant personal and sensitive information. This includes: 

  • Your name, date of birth, contact details, and emergency contact information.
  • Relevant lifestyle, relationship, and family history shared during intake and sessions.
  • Clinical case notes, which are stored securely on a password-protected, encrypted device.

 

2. Confidentiality & Its Limits

All information shared during our individual, relationship, or youth counselling sessions is strictly confidential. In accordance with Australian professional ethical frameworks, confidentiality will only be breached under the following circumstances:

  • Safety & Harm: If there is a serious and imminent threat to your life, health, or safety, or that of another person.
  • Legal Obligation: If information is subpoenaed or required/authorised by a court of law.
  • Mandatory Reporting: If an issue arises that triggers mandatory reporting obligations (such as the protection of children).
  • Professional Supervision: As part of maintaining high professional standards with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) or PACFA, I participate in professional supervision. Case details may be discussed, but your identity remains completely anonymous.

 

3. Zoom Security & Telehealth Privacy

To deliver flexible and accessible care, all sessions are conducted online using Zoom. While internet-based communication carries inherent security limitations, I implement strict measures to protect our therapeutic space: 

  • Encryption: I use a secure, paid tier of Zoom that employs advanced AES 256-bit encryption for all video, audio, and chat transmissions.
  • No Recording: I do not record any part of our video or audio sessions, and Zoom is configured to block automatic cloud recording. 
  • Meeting Security: Every session is protected by a unique meeting ID and passcode link. I utilise a virtual “Waiting Room” to ensure only you are admitted to the call, and I lock the digital room once our session begins to prevent unauthorised entry.

 

4. Client Responsibilities for Online Privacy

Telehealth is a collaborative effort. To preserve the integrity and privacy of your therapy, clients are asked to adhere to the following conditions:

  • Private Environment: You must secure a quiet, private physical space for your session where you cannot be easily overheard or interrupted by family members, roommates, or coworkers.
  • No Recording or AI Scribes: You are strictly prohibited from recording, filming, or taking screenshots of the session. The use of third-party AI transcription tools, note-takers, or smart speaker recording apps is strictly forbidden to protect the privacy of both parties and comply with Australian surveillance laws.
Accessibility & Assistive Tools
  • Accommodations for Disabilities:
    I am committed to making counselling accessible. If you live with a disability or neurodivergence and require assistive tools to participate in therapy or remember your sessions, please let me know before our appointment.
  • Permitted Tools: You are welcome to use personal assistive tools, such as digital calendars, screen-readers, visual schedules, personal offline note-taking devices, or a support person/co-regulator present in the room with you.
  • Restricted Tools: Because counselling sessions involve highly sensitive, private data, the use of external AI note-takers, automated transcription bots, or live-recording software that transmits audio to third-party servers is still prohibited. This ensures your personal story remains entirely secure.
  • If you struggle with memory or processing, please let me know. We can use a few minutes at the end of our 90-minute session to collaboratively write down your core breakthroughs and practical strategies together, so you have a safe, private takeaway to look back on.

 

5. Data Retention & Access

In alignment with Australian health record regulations, your client records will be kept securely for a minimum of 7 years after your final contact. For youth clients under the age of 18, records are securely retained until they reach 25 years of age. You have the right to request access to the personal information I hold about you at any time.

Consent Acceptance

By booking an appointment and participating in online sessions with Clare Christie Counselling, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to the privacy and technology terms outlined above.

 

Website Related Data Privacy

6. Cookies

This website currently does not use cookies. Should this change in the future we will update this privacy policy. This does not include cookies attached to embedded content from other websites. See below.

 

7. Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, audio, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

 

8. Who we share your data with

We do not share your data with anyone.

 

9. How long do we retain your data

The website does not currently retain any of your data. This may change in the future, but we will update this privacy policy to reflect any change.

The “Contact Me” form generates an email sent directly to Clare Christie and is not stored on the website.

 

10. What rights you have over your data

Should our data retention policy change, and if you have a login account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

 

11. Where your data is sent

As covered above, the only data collected currently is via the “Contact Me” form and it generates an email sent directly to Clare Christie and is not stored on the website.