Privacy, Safety & Professional Boundaries
This page explains how enquiries are handled, how your information is protected, what confidentiality means, and the professional boundaries that support safe, ethical, and thoughtful work.
My work often unfolds through conversation, creativity, reflection, and attention to what emerges. A clear professional frame helps hold that process with care — whether we are meeting for therapy, consulting, research, writing, workshops, or collaboration.
Professional registration
Emilia Burghelea is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
HCPC registration number: AS019588
I work within my professional training, experience, insurance, and scope of practice. If your needs fall outside what I can safely or appropriately offer, I will discuss this with you and, where possible, suggest that another service or form of support may be more suitable.
Initial enquiries
You are welcome to contact me about individual therapy, group therapy, organisational consulting, research, writing, workshops, speaking, or collaboration.
The contact form is for initial enquiries only. Please share only the information needed for me to understand the nature of your enquiry at this stage. You do not need to include detailed personal, clinical, medical, legal, or highly sensitive information in your first message.
Initial enquiries are used only to respond to your message. If we do not go on to work together, they are normally deleted within 30 days of our final decision.
If we agree to work together, relevant information may become part of your client or project record and will be handled in line with the appropriate therapeutic agreement, consulting agreement, privacy requirements, and professional obligations.
Submitting the contact form does not create a therapeutic relationship. If we decide to work together, responsibilities, confidentiality, boundaries, fees, and the most appropriate way of working together will be discussed and agreed before any work begins.
Data controller
Emilia Burghelea is the data controller for personal information submitted through this website and for information processed in relation to her independent practice.
I collect and use personal information only where it is needed to respond to your enquiry, provide a service, manage agreed work, meet professional obligations, or respond to legal or safeguarding requirements.
For initial enquiries, this may include:
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your name
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your email address
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the type of enquiry you are making
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the content of your message
If we begin therapeutic or consulting work together, I may need to collect further information that is relevant and proportionate to the work. This will be discussed with you before the work begins.
I do not sell your information or share it for marketing purposes.
Information is stored securely and accessed only where needed for the purpose it was provided. Where possible, I aim to collect and keep the minimum information necessary.
You have rights in relation to your personal information. These may include the right to access the information held about you, request corrections, request deletion where appropriate, restrict or object to processing, and withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis being relied upon.
If you have a concern about how your personal information is used, you can contact me through the website contact form. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Urgent or crisis support
This website and contact form are not monitored for urgent or crisis support.
If you are in immediate danger or there is a risk to life, please call 999 or go to A&E.
For urgent mental health support in the UK, call 111. In Scotland, this is provided through NHS 24.
You may also contact:
Samaritans: call 116 123, free, any time.
Shout: text SHOUT to 85258 for free, confidential 24/7 text support in the UK.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is central to therapeutic work and to any professional conversation held through my practice.
Information you share with me is treated carefully and respectfully. However, confidentiality is not absolute. There are legal, ethical, and safeguarding circumstances where I may need to share relevant information without your consent.
This may include situations where:
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there is a serious risk of harm to you or another person
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there are safeguarding concerns involving a child or vulnerable adult
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I am required to disclose information by law, court order, or another legal obligation
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information is needed to prevent or respond to serious crime
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I need to seek professional supervision or consultation, while protecting your identity as far as possible
Where possible and appropriate, I would aim to discuss this with you first. However, there may be situations where I need to act without your consent in order to protect safety or meet legal obligations.
Safeguarding
I do not provide an emergency service or statutory safeguarding service. However, as a practitioner, I have professional responsibilities to respond appropriately where there may be a risk of harm.
If safeguarding concerns arise, relevant information may be shared on a need-to-know basis with appropriate services or professionals. Confidentiality does not prevent action where there is a serious risk of harm.
If there is immediate danger, emergency services should be contacted.
Professional boundaries and scope of practice
My work takes place within a clear professional frame. This protects clients, safeguards the practitioner, and supports the integrity of the therapeutic or consulting relationship.
Therapy, consulting, writing, research, and collaboration are distinct forms of work. The boundaries, responsibilities, aims, and fees for each will be discussed and agreed before work begins.
I work within my professional scope of practice. If I believe that your needs require a different form of support, a higher level of care, a specialist service, or a multidisciplinary setting, I will discuss this with you clearly and respectfully.
Working alongside psychiatric or medical care
Some mental health needs may require medical, psychiatric, crisis, or multidisciplinary support.
If you are currently under psychiatric care, receiving specialist mental health treatment, taking prescribed psychiatric medication, or experiencing symptoms that may require medical assessment or risk management, we will discuss whether my practice is appropriate for your needs at this time.
In some circumstances, I may recommend that therapy takes place alongside, or instead through, a GP, psychiatrist, crisis team, specialist mental health service, or multidisciplinary setting.
This is not a judgement about you or your experience. It is about making sure that the support offered is safe, ethical, and within my scope of practice.
Therapy records
If we begin therapeutic work together, brief records may be kept to support a safe, ethical, and professional practice.
These records are stored securely and retained only for as long as necessary in line with professional, legal, regulatory, insurance, and data protection responsibilities.
The retention period for therapy records will be explained in the therapeutic agreement before work begins.
Recording of sessions
Audio, video, or screen recording of therapy sessions is not permitted by clients, family members, organisations, or third parties unless this has been explicitly discussed and agreed in writing in advance.
This protects confidentiality, privacy, and the integrity of the therapeutic space.
I do not record sessions as standard. If recording is ever considered for a specific purpose, this would only take place with prior discussion, explicit consent, and clear agreement about how the recording would be used, stored, and deleted.
Attending individual therapy
Adult individual therapy sessions are attended unaccompanied. This helps protect confidentiality and preserve the therapeutic space.
Exceptions may be discussed in advance where support is needed for accessibility, communication, safety, or legal rights. This may include, for example, an assistance dog, interpreter, advocate, or agreed support person.
If another person needs to be involved in any way, this should be discussed before the session wherever possible.
Personal care, medical care, and physical support
My role does not include personal care, medical care, or specialist physical assistance.
Brief, ordinary, and incidental support may sometimes be appropriate in an in-person setting, such as making the space more accessible. However, I cannot provide sustained or specialist physical support, personal care, medication management, continence support, medical-device support, or clinical intervention.
If you require personal care, medical support, mobility support, or another form of specialist assistance during sessions, this must be discussed before work begins so that appropriate arrangements can be considered.
In a medical emergency, emergency services should be contacted immediately.
Online sessions
Where sessions take place online, you are responsible for attending from a private, safe, and appropriate space where you cannot be overheard or interrupted.
If privacy, safety, or connection quality is compromised, we may need to pause, reschedule, or end the session.
Online therapy may not be suitable for every person or situation. Suitability will be discussed before work begins and reviewed where needed.
Communication between sessions
Email or website communication is used for practical matters, such as scheduling, enquiries, or agreed administrative communication.
It is not suitable for urgent or crisis support, and it is not a substitute for therapy between sessions.
If you need urgent support, please contact emergency services, NHS 111, or an appropriate crisis service.
Fees and initial consultation
Each enquiry is considered individually.
Fees reflect the nature, scope, and length of the work, and are discussed following an initial complimentary consultation. This consultation is an opportunity to understand your needs, clarify the support required, and agree on the most appropriate way of working together.
No therapeutic or consulting work begins until the practical, ethical, and professional frame has been discussed and agreed.
Cancellations and missed sessions
Cancellation terms, missed-session fees, payment arrangements, and any relevant timeframes will be discussed and agreed before therapeutic or consulting work begins.
These arrangements may differ depending on whether the work is individual therapy, group work, organisational consulting, research, workshops, or another form of collaboration.
Therapy during legal proceedings
Therapy can become more complex when someone is involved in active legal or court proceedings, especially where therapy notes may be requested or ordered by a court.
I do not provide court reports, forensic assessments, expert witness reports, legal opinions, or act in a forensic or decision-making role.
If you are involved in active legal proceedings where therapy notes may be requested or ordered by a court, I may not be able to offer or continue therapy. This is not a judgement about you or your situation. It is about what I can safely and responsibly hold within the limits of my practice.
This may include criminal proceedings, family court proceedings involving harm or risk, statutory investigations, or similar legal processes.
If I am not able to offer therapy in these circumstances, I will aim to explain this clearly and, where appropriate, help you find other forms of support. This might include crisis support, safeguarding or protective services, specialist services set up to work alongside legal processes, advocacy, or practical support.
Group therapy, workshops, and shared spaces
Group therapy, workshops, and reflective spaces can offer meaningful opportunities for learning, expression, and connection.
However, group spaces are different from individual therapy. While confidentiality and respect will be expected from all participants, I cannot guarantee that other participants will hold confidentiality in the same way that a therapist is professionally required to do.
Group boundaries, expectations, confidentiality, suitability, fees, and cancellation arrangements will be explained before the group begins.
Organisational consulting
Organisational consulting is not individual therapy for employees and does not create a therapeutic relationship with individual staff members unless this is explicitly agreed through a separate therapeutic agreement.
Consulting work may involve reflective practice, training, workshops, supervision-informed thinking, mental health strategy, organisational development, or human-centred systems work.
It does not replace HR expertise, legal advice, occupational health assessment, safeguarding investigation, clinical treatment, or crisis intervention.
Where organisational work raises concerns about safety, wellbeing, safeguarding, or risk, I may need to discuss appropriate next steps with the relevant person or organisation, within the boundaries agreed for that work.
Human Designs publication
The writing, interviews, artwork, and other materials published through Human Designs are provided for reflective, informational, educational, and editorial purposes only.
They are not therapy, clinical advice, medical advice, diagnosis, or a substitute for individual professional support.
Reading, subscribing to, sharing, or responding to Human Designs does not create a therapeutic relationship with Emilia Burghelea.
Intellectual property
Unless otherwise stated, all writing, artwork, images, designs, concepts, and original materials published on this website or through Human Designs are the intellectual property of Emilia Burghelea.
They may not be copied, reproduced, adapted, republished, or used commercially without prior written permission, except where permitted by law.
Where work is created by or in collaboration with another writer, artist, practitioner, interviewee, or contributor, that person will be credited. Rights in contributor work remain with the relevant creator unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Short quotations may be used with clear attribution where legally permitted, but full reproduction or substantial copying is not allowed without permission.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion
I am committed to offering a respectful, inclusive, and anti-discriminatory practice.
I welcome people across backgrounds, identities, cultures, abilities, neurotypes, bodies, relationships, and lived experiences.
Visual Talks is grounded in dignity, respect, and the understanding that people are shaped by different histories, communities, systems, and contexts.
Discrimination, harassment, degrading behaviour, or abuse has no place in this work.
Practitioner illness or exceptional circumstances
In the event of illness, emergency, bereavement leave, incapacity, or other exceptional circumstances, I may need to pause, reschedule, or end therapeutic or consulting work.
Where possible, I will give as much notice as I reasonably can and discuss appropriate next steps with you.
Where ongoing support is needed and I am unable to continue, I will aim to signpost or help you consider alternative support options where appropriate.
In rare or urgent circumstances, advance notice may not always be possible.
Concerns or complaints
If you have a concern about my work, I encourage you to raise it with me where you feel able to do so. I will take concerns seriously and respond respectfully.
If your concern relates to professional conduct or competence, you may also contact the Health and Care Professions Council.
Professional body: Health and Care Professions Council
Registration number: AS019588
Updates to this page
This page may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in my practice, legal requirements, professional guidance, or organisational arrangements.