During counseling it is common to share personal information and data with your counseling. It is for your best benefit to make sure that your privacy is protected. In the current document you can find more information on how your information and data are handled within Inner Peace Counseling counseling/mental coaching practice.

What is Inner Peace Counseling?

Inner Peace Counseling is a mental coaching and counseling practice offering online services and in-person services upon request. The practice is owned by Jasmine Rutherford, Psychologist, PsyD, member of the Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen. The legal nature of the practice is sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak in Dutch) and Jasmine Rutherford, PsyD is the only person offering services.

Mailing address: P.O. Box 67, 1619 ZH, Andijk, NL

Personal information and data

Any information and data that is directly associated with an individual and can lead to their identification by a third party is considered personal. Everyone’s data is protected by the guidelines set by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can read more about GDPR here. Please note that during psychotherapy health information and data are commonly shared and it is important to know that this kind of data is also protected by the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA).

What is the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)

PHIPA is the legal framework which indicates how health professionals should collect, use and disclose personal health information of clients. Additionally, it indicates how individuals can have access to their own information and data and retract it. You can read more about PHIPA here.

Telepsychology

The main setting of therapy sessions facilitated within the scope of Inner Peace Counseling is online. In order to maintain good quality communication with the client, different telecommunication ways may be used: video conferencing platforms, telephone or email. Although confidentiality and privacy are ensured and prioritized for the client’s sake, online communications have certain limitations and challenges. Inner Peace Counseling has taken appropriate security measures to ensure the protection of the clients’ privacy but it is important that the client is appropriately informed about further limitations. If you would like to know more, please read the guidelines for telepsychology from the American Psychological Association (APA) here.

Information and data collected during therapy at Inner Peace Counseling

Three types of information and personal data is collected at Inner Peace Counseling:

• Identification information

Information like full name, complete address(e.g. street, number, postal code, city, province if applicable, country), phone number and the same information of an emergency contact. This information will be used only for service-related reasons on the benefit of the client while in affiliation with Inner Peace Counseling.

• Health related information

Health related information includes not only health history, family health history, health conditions, previous and current health services provided inside and outside of Inner Peace Counseling but also personal information like religious, political and other types of opinions expressed by the individual. Activities are also included in this category.

• Family and social support information

This category includes personal information of family members, friends and acquaintances that play an important role in the client’s life. The reason for collecting this information during therapy is only for the complete understanding of the client’s social support network which is a protective factor towards mental health challenges. The only reason this information may be used outside of the confidentiality of a therapeutic session is of an emergency contact (See category 1. Identification information above) in case there is suspicion of a life threatening situation involving the client.

Collection of information and data

The above information can be collected before, during and after therapy sessions in the form of structured and semi-structured interviews, contact information forms, questionnaires and other information gathering tools that are useful for the efficiency of therapeutic processes.

Other ways to collect your data is any form of correspondence with Inner Peae Counseling and/or Jasmine Rutherford, PsyD which is kept in the records of the practice. Information like IP address, operating system(s), type of browser, traffic levels, type of computer, weblogs etc may be gathered for statistical reasons associated with the visibility and visitability of the website.

According to the legal and professional standards set by GDPR and APA, we are obliged to keep record of contact information and notes of our clients for a maximum of 7 years from the first contact with the client. See here.

The collection of data and information is encouraged to ensure the quality, efficiency and suitability of the psychological services you wish to receive from Inner Peace Counseling. This information and data is not collected with an intention to harm and therefore every client is free to refuse the collection of their data and information without this decision affecting the continuation of services received by Inner Peace Counseling.

Use of information and data

Inner Peace Counseling and Jasmine Rutherford, PsyD will not disclose personal information and data to third parties nor will use this information for other purposes (e.g. research purposes) without your informed and written consent. In the Netherlands, NIP (Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen), can conduct audits to assess the quality and suitability of services offered and record keeping. This means that the representatives of NIP have the right to ask the records and therapy notes of the clients solely for the purposes of the audit. As a counseling practice, we are not to allow any notes and records to be removed from our premises or database for external audit purposes without the consent of our clients.

Another way of using your information and data is when there is a third party which covers the payment of the sessions (e.g. client’s employer, health insurance company). A third party which covers the expenses of counseling may ask for information regarding the progress of therapy and the assessment outcomes so as to decide whether the coverage of the therapeutic sessions will be continued or for planning purposes. The amount of information shared with these parties is always to be discussed with the client; the counselor/coach with the client can agree on the quantity and quality of the information shared so as the client has full control of their information being disclosed.

Disclosure of information and data

Health and other personal information and data can be disclosed only after the written consent of the client. In cases that this is not possible (e.g. under time pressuring conditions) then the verbal consent of the client will also suffice as long as the written consent is also acquired at a later time.

The disclosure of the information includes only information that is absolutely necessary for the causes of the disclosure and it does not include information that is acquired by a third party and/or intends to cause harm to anyone.

Storage of information and data

Client’s information and data are property of Inner Peace Counseling and are stored in password secured databases. Handwritten notes and forms are stored in a locked cabinet according to GDPR guidelines. The passwords for the databases and the key to the cabinet are only known to Jasmine Rutherford, PsyD and are changed on a regular basis.

Protection rights for information and data

The client’s rights towards their personal information and data are clearly stated under GDPR regulations. Under certain conditions, the clients have the right to:

1. Access their information and data at any point upon request.

2. Request for the review of information and data the client thinks is not correct, inaccurate or incomplete

3. Request for their information and data to be erased.

4. Restrict the processing and/or object to the processing of their information and data by Inner Peace Counseling.

5. Request the transfer of personal information and data to themselves or another organization.

All the above actions can take place upon the request of the client. After the client requests any of the above, Inner Peace Counseling has one month (30 calendar days) to respond to this request. Any request concerning the above should be addressed to the official email of Inner Peace Counseling: innerpeacecounselingnl@gmail.com

Questions and/or concerns

If you would like to know more about the confidentiality of your personal information and data or if you have any concerns about any of the matters discussed in this document, please send a message to innerpeacecounselingnl@gmail.com and Jasmine Rutherford, PsyD will discuss it further with you.