Privacy Policy

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal information (for example, client contact details and treatment notes) is any information which identifies you or could be reasonably used to identify you.

 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF COLLECTING AND HOLDING INFORMATION?

As part of providing a psychological service (assessment and therapy sessions) to you, your psychologist will need to collect and record personal information from you that is relevant to your current situation.  Collecting this information will be a necessary part of the assessment and treatment that is conducted. 

You do not have to give all your personal information; however, your psychologist is only able to work with the information provided.  Not disclosing information, for whatever reason, may limit the psychologist’s ability to accurately understand your situation and develop an effective treatment plan with you.

The information is gathered as part of the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of your condition, and is seen only by the treating psychologist.  The information is retained in order to document what happens during sessions and enables the practitioner to provide a relevant and informed service.

 

CONFIDENTIALITY

The privacy of psychotherapy and the personal and emotional safety that it allows is a very important element of the treatment.  Both legal and ethical guidelines protect your right to confidentiality.  The Psychologist’s Code of Ethics states that confidential information can only be disclosed in the following circumstances:

(a) with the consent of the relevant client or a person with legal authority to act on behalf of the client;
(b) where there is a legal obligation to do so;
(c) if there is an immediate and specified risk of harm to an identifiable person or persons that can be averted only by disclosing information.

In any of these situations, I will where possible discuss the situation with you and obtain consent before sharing information or liaising with a third party. We will do a consent form together, and in some cases with your parent, in our first session together.

 

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES

We will primarily collect information from you personally. However, we may also need to collect information from others who have known you a long time (such as a parent, carer, significant other or partner) or from others involved in your care (such as your GP).

We will always endeavour to keep clients reliably informed of the information collected and the source of that information, and where appropriate will seek and obtain written consent.

 

COMPLAINTS

Clients have a right to make a complaint about the handing of their personal information. Complaints can be made to Farren Psychology via email (emily@farrenpsychology.com.au). We will endeavour to respond appropriately to reasonable complaints (i.e. not of a frivolous or vexation nature) within 30 days of the receipt of the email.

Other agencies to which clients may bring complaints are as follows:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au)
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (www.ahpra.gov.au)
The Australian Psychological Society (www.psychology.org.au)

 

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
• By email: emily@farrenpsychology.com.au
• By phone:  0426 073 887