Privacy Policy

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

GDPR is a legal protection for personal information which came into Law in May 2018. It requires me to set out the basis on which I will process your data and the purpose of keeping it. This document is to provide some clarity on this issue and to obtain your explicit consent.

The lawful basis for holding and using client information

I process personal information to enable me to provide a professional counselling service to my clients (under the lawful basis of ‘contract’), and to enable me to keep in contact with clients and maintain records. The information I process will include both personal and sensitive data.

What I do with your information

What you say in counselling will be treated with the utmost respect for your privacy and confidentiality. No information will be passed to third parties without your express permission. The only exceptions might be if I was seriously concerned about your immediate safety, or that of another person. If that were the case, I would hope to discuss it with you in the first instance. The only other exception would be if I was required to disclose information by Law. Also I am required by my professional body to have regular supervision of my work which is bound by the same strict code of confidentiality as outlined above.

How long will your records be kept

I keep brief records of our sessions. All records will be kept for a maximum of 7 years after the final counselling appointment (to comply with my insurers’ policies) and then securely destroyed.

Your rights

You have rights under Data Protection Law including the right to request to see your records, and to have them corrected or erased in certain circumstances.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, you can check the register and find a detailed description of your rights on https://ico.org.uk/