Your key list: where the real names live

At a Glance

TherapyLock holds a client reference. You hold the names. The key list is the link between them, and it lives outside TherapyLock, in your own keeping.

There is no right answer to how you build it, because it has to fit how you work. What follows is a workflow that works in practice, the one mistake worth avoiding, and a worked example you can copy.

Why the two halves are kept apart

Your clinical notes describe someone's inner life, their history and their risk. That is the sensitive material. Kept away from a name, a record on its own says very little about who it belongs to.

Your key list is the reverse — it holds names and nothing clinical. Someone reading it learns who your clients are and nothing about the work.

Held apart, the two halves protect each other. Neither one, on its own, does much damage.

Choosing a code scheme

The reference appears on your calendar, in your client list, and at the top of every note. Start by deciding what you are comfortable seeing on your own screen when somebody else is in the room.

• Sequential numbers — `C001`, `C002`, `C003`. The strongest option, because the code carries no information at all. The cost is that you will not recognise anyone from the calendar alone until you learn them
• Initials and a number — `JS01`, `JS02`. The common compromise. Readable to you, close to meaningless to anyone else. Add the number so that a second J.S. does not collide with the first
• Initials and the year you started — `JS-26`. Useful if you like being able to see at a glance how long someone has been with you
• A first name — what most people start with, and the weakest, because it is the one that still means something to a stranger reading your screen over your shoulder

Pick one scheme and use it for everyone. A mixed list is hard to search and easy to get wrong.

What goes on the key list

Keep it to the minimum that lets you identify someone with confidence:

• The client reference, exactly as it appears in TherapyLock
• Their full name
• One thing that confirms identity if you have two people with similar names — a date of birth or a phone number
• The date you opened the record, and the date you closed it

That is enough. Resist the temptation to let it grow.

Where to keep it

Three options that practitioners actually use. All of them work. Choose on the basis of what you will genuinely keep up to date.

• A secure note in your password manager. The usual recommendation. It is already encrypted, already backed up, already behind your main password, and you already open it most days. Searchable both ways, which matters more than it sounds
• An encrypted file on your own machine, backed up somewhere you control. A spreadsheet is fine. The risk is that one file plus one forgotten password equals a list you can no longer read
• Paper in a locked cabinet. Permitted, traditional, and it survives every technology change. It does not survive fire or flood, you cannot reach it from anywhere else, and a list sorted by code is slow to search by name

What does not work: an unprotected note on your phone, a plain document in a shared cloud folder, or an email to yourself.

The mistake that matters

Lose the key list and your records become genuinely anonymous. Not private — useless.

You could not answer a client who asks for a copy of their own records, because you could not find them. You could not respond to a complaint. You could not tell your clinical executor whose file is whose.

So whatever you choose, make sure it is backed up and that you could still reach it if your laptop were stolen tomorrow. This is the one part of the arrangement with no second chance.

Your key list and your clinical executor

Your executor can open a record and read it. If the record holds only a reference, they have no way of contacting that person.

Decide which route you want and write it into your clinical will in plain words:

• Hold contact details in TherapyLock, so your executor can reach clients directly from the record, or
• Keep your key list separate, and say in your clinical will where it is and who can release it to them

Either is fine. What does not work is leaving it undecided, because the decision then falls to someone else at the worst possible moment.

A worked example

You agree to see a new client, Jane Smith, starting on 4 November.

1. On your key list, add one line: `C014 | Jane Smith | 07700 900123 | opened 4 Nov 2026`
2. In TherapyLock, create the client with the identifier `C014`. Set the therapy start date to 4 November and the retention period as your professional body requires. Leave the contact fields blank if you book by phone and would rather they stayed off the record
3. Your calendar now shows `C014` at 10:00 on Thursdays. Anyone glancing at your screen learns nothing
4. Jane emails asking to move next week. You search your key list for her name, find `C014`, open that record and move the appointment
5. When the work ends, mark the record inactive with the date therapy ended, which starts the retention clock, and add the closing date to your key list line

Related articles

• The thinking behind it — Why there are no name or date of birth fields
• Creating a record — Adding a new client
• Naming your executor — Setting up your clinical will in TherapyLock
• What the record holds — The client record

Still Need Help?

If you have any other questions about TherapyLock, our support team is here to help.

Email us at support@counsellingtutor.com and we will be happy to assist.