Privacy Policy

This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data.

This website uses your data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions.

Working with Clients Using Electronic Methods:

Dr. Hayes is a Chartered Member and Associate Fellow of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI). As such she follows PSI’s Ethical Guidelines. In particular, the following principles are to the fore when she works with people face to face and through online technology:

  1. Respect for the rights and dignity of the person
  2. Competence
  3. Responsibility
  4. Integrity

In their Guidelines on the Use of Online Therapy, PSI notes that there are potential advantages to online therapy and support. There are individuals who could experience great difficulty in contemplating attending a psychologist in a face to face session but might consider engaging with a professional online. Research has shown that some individuals are less inhibited in their online interactions, and this platform may lend the chance to express previously unexpressed thoughts and feelings.

The use of technology also makes geographical distance much less of an issue. Potential clients residing in remote areas where there are sparse services may benefit vastly from online therapy. Additionally, individuals with a complex or specialised type of problem may be able to access professionals who are more specialised in their specific problem. Potential clients with ill health, restricted mobility, severe anxiety issues, or other disabilities which make leaving home physically difficult may not otherwise be able to access therapeutic services.

PSI notes that there are additional considerations that must be considered when utilising online technology to deliver psychological services including the following:

  • Psychologists engaging in online therapy with clients should at all times operate within the boundaries of their professional training and competencies as they would in face to face professional interactions.
  • Psychologists should obtain and document that they have the informed consent from their client in advance of commencing online technology. This should note that the client has a full understanding that there can be no guarantee of security when using online technology.
  • If the client is under 18 informed consent should be sought from their parent / legal guardian before commencing this type of work.
  • The psychologist should explain to the client that they may find it an uncomfortable medium and are free to agree to bring it to a conclusion
  • Discuss with organisation / employer in advance of offering / commencing this work as to if they have specific policies governing this work.
  • It is recommended that the psychologist takes reasonable steps to ensure that the network used is as secure as possible and maintains privacy for their clients.
  • The use of social media video messaging platforms such as Instagram or Facebook Messenger is not recommended at this time.

Dr. Hayes adheres to each of these PSI guidelines. She does not record online sessions and requests clients to email her in advance of their first session giving their informed consent. Sessions will occur at the agreed time as they would in a face-to-face situation and Dr. Hayes will not be available via online technology outside of the agreed time. She asks clients to agree that the session will be conducted in a private setting where there is no risk of being overheard. Earbuds or headphones are recommended as these can help to make the conversation more confidential and improve sound quality.

When starting an online session Dr. Hayes will discuss with the client their preferred arrangements if the technology should fail mid-session, e.g. try to re-connect or speak via telephone and if follow-up steps need to be taken in the event of concern about imminent risk (e.g. phone parent/GP).

Information Collection And Use

Collects several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Service to you.

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using our Service, you may be asked to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Data”). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address
  • First name and last name
  • Phone number
  • Cookies and Usage Data

Usage Data

This website may also collect information about how the Service is accessed and used (“Usage Data”). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

Tracking & Cookies Data

This website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information.

Cookies are files with small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Service.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

Examples of Cookies used:

  • Session Cookies. Session Cookies to operate our Service.
  • Preference Cookies. Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
  • Security Cookies. Security Cookies for security purposes.

Use of Data

Dr. Claire Hayes uses the collected data for various purposes:

  • To provide and maintain the Service
  • To notify you about changes to our Service
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so
  • To provide customer care and support
  • To provide analysis or valuable information so that it can improve the Service
  • To monitor the usage of the Service
  • To detect, prevent and address technical issues

Transfer Of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside Ireland and choose to provide information to us, please note that the transfer of data, including Personal Data, to Ireland and process it there.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

Dr. Claire Hayes will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

Disclosure Of Data

Legal Requirements

Dr. Claire Hayes may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • To comply with a legal obligation
  • To protect and defend the rights or property of Dr. Claire Hayes
  • To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
  • To protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public
  • To protect against legal liability

Security Of Data

The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While Dr. Claire Hayes strives to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, it cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Service Providers

This website may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service (“Service Providers”), to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Service-related services or to assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.

These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Analytics

This website may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.

  • Google AnalyticsGoogle Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Links To Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. It is strongly advised you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

This website has no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Children’s Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 18 (“Children”).

Dr. Claire Hayes does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

This website may update its Privacy Policy from time to time. There will be notifications of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

Dr. Claire Hayes will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact Dr. Claire Hayes.