DIYPCS: Safeguarding and Confidentiality

A young person's safety and right to confidentiality is important during counselling sessions. 

Safeguarding

If we are worried about you and think that you are at risk or in danger, we will talk to you about the need for somebody to know what has happened or what is happening to you. We would only do this if:

  • Your life is at risk because of something you are doing
  • You are at risk from somebody else
  • You are a risk to somebody else

We will always:

  • Explain our duty of care to safeguard you at the very beginning of your counselling sessions.
  • Aim to talk to you first about reporting our concerns, but we will always act to protect you if you are at risk of harm; if you could pose a risk to others or if you are unable to give consent.
  • Let you know who we are passing details to and why.
  • Keep you informed of any actions we intend to take.

If a counsellor has any safeguarding concerns about you or anyone else, a counsellor has a duty to share this information with other agencies. Also legally we are required to report any indication of the following issues:

  • terrorism
  • money laundering
  • forced marriage

Confidentiality

  • The information you share in sessions with your counsellor is confidential, unless the counsellor believes that you’re at risk of harm.
  • There may be times that you and your counsellor decide together that information can be shared with other people (like GP/parents/carers or teachers). The counsellor will always agree with you beforehand what can and should be shared.
  • A counsellor will record your name, DOB, telephone number, address, and email address during counselling. If a counsellor communicates with you by email or text, this information will only be shared with others in the event of a safeguarding concern. A counsellor will not give this information to other third parties otherwise.
  • Your counsellor will explain ‘use of special category data’ and ‘restricted processing’ by DIYPCS and will explain our privacy notice.
  • A counsellor may make notes about your sessions in writing for supervision purposes and/or his/her own reflections. Any information that is recorded/written will be kept securely. Please see the Privacy and Security section for further details.