Confidentiality

Body and Mind Therapy: Confidentiality

This page explains how Dr Kayleigh Darch handles information shared by clients of Body and Mind Therapy. For how personal data is handled more generally — including website visits, bookings, invoicing and your data rights — please see the privacy policy.

Who is a client?

“Clients” means patients (over 18 years old): individuals directly affected by the care, treatment or services that Body and Mind Therapy provides. The same core principles apply when services are provided to organisations rather than individuals.

Professional registration

Dr Kayleigh Darch is a Clinical Psychologist, registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC is a regulator whose main aim is to protect the public; it keeps a register of psychologists who meet its standards for training, professional skills, behaviour and health. All work is carried out within the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics.

What confidentiality means

Confidentiality means protecting clients' personal information — including anything a client would want kept private, such as their health, care needs or lifestyle. Any contact with Body and Mind Therapy is treated confidentially, and Dr Kayleigh Darch has a professional and legal responsibility to respect and protect client confidentiality at all times.

Core principles

No policy can cover every situation, but the following principles sit at the heart of how client information is handled:

Take all reasonable steps to keep information about clients safe
Obtain the client's explicit consent before passing on their information, unless there is a lawful reason not to (see the limits of confidentiality below)
Only disclose identifiable information when necessary, and then only the minimum amount necessary
Obtain express written consent before using identifiable client information for any purpose not related to providing care, treatment or other services
Tell clients when their information has been disclosed, wherever practical and safe to do so
Keep secure and appropriate records of any disclosure, including the reasoning behind it
Keep up to date with data protection law, professional guidance and good practice
Seek advice from supervisors, professional bodies or legal professionals where appropriate
Make informed decisions about disclosure and be able to justify them

The limits of confidentiality

There are specific, limited circumstances in which information may need to be shared without consent, or where consent will be sought but the sharing may proceed regardless. These are explained at the start of therapy, and information is always shared on a “minimum necessary” basis, with the disclosure discussed with you first wherever it is safe and possible to do so:

Where there is a serious risk of harm to you or to another person
Where there is a safeguarding concern involving a child or an adult at risk
Where there is a substantial risk of serious crime, or a legal duty to disclose (for example relating to terrorism or money laundering)
Where disclosure is required by a court order or other legal obligation

Consent and sharing information

Outside the limits above, identifiable information is only shared with your agreement — for example when referring you to another health or care professional, when writing to your GP at your request, or when you ask for information to be given to a third party such as an insurer. Consent, for the purposes of confidentiality, means that you understand and do not object to: what is being disclosed, why, who it will be shared with, and how it will be used.

Clinical supervision

Like all practising psychologists, Dr Kayleigh Darch engages in regular clinical supervision. Cases may be discussed with a supervisor or in peer supervision to support safe, high-quality care, but are anonymised or shared with the minimum identifiable information necessary. Supervisors are themselves bound by professional duties of confidentiality.

Records and access to your information

Clinical records are kept securely and retained for 7 years from the end of therapy, as set out in the privacy policy. You have the right to see the information held about you, free of charge — requests can be made to kayleigh@bamtherapy.co.uk and are answered within one calendar month.

Questions about confidentiality

This page cannot cover every situation. If you have any questions about confidentiality, please get in touch or email kayleigh@bamtherapy.co.uk.

Psychologist-Led Mental Health & Wellbeing Support

Contact: kayleigh@bamtherapy.co.uk

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