Confidentiality, Privacy and General Data Protection Regulation
The University Counselling Service operates under the Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and complies with the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Privacy Information
Go to the central privacy information
Go to the university counselling service privacy notice
How confidential is counselling?
The Counselling Service takes confidentiality very seriously. All client information is treated in confidence. This means that we do not disclose verbal or written information without your permission or consent.
Where you have given consent to a third party (non-UoN) body i.e. police etc to have access to your notes, you will be invited in prior to their release to review them and to be advised of the potential emotional implications.
The only exceptions are where there is a legal obligation to disclose information (which is very rare) or when a member of the service believes the client or other people are at serious risk. In these circumstances we will seek your consent to pass on concerns before information is disclosed.
Will my counsellor discuss my problems with my personal tutor or school?
No. We will only contact your personal tutor or School if you request this. In such circumstances you will be asked to agree the content of such contact.
If I have had counselling does it go on my records?
No. We do not release information for student or staff records. Our records do not become part of your medical records or your employee records.
If anyone contacts the Counselling Service to ask whether a particular student or staff member is seeing a counsellor, they will not be given this information. If anyone implies they know you have seen a counsellor we will advise the we can neither confirm nor deny this information.