Privacy Policy
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, registration number ZB293773
The information I hold
I currently collect and process: client name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, GP details and, should you choose to provide one, a next of kin contact (name, relationship and contact number). I process this information to deliver counselling services.
Your personal information may be provided directly by yourself, during an initial contact, or alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral, or a trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf.
If you decide not to proceed after initial contact, I will ensure that all your personal data is deleted within 20 business days.
How I store client information
Your personal information is stored as a paper client intake record and kept in a locked filing cabinet.
Whilst you are accessing counselling, your phone number and initials is stored on my work phone along with next of kin contact, if you have chosen to provide one.
I also make brief electronic notes after each session. These are anonymised, password protected and stored securely and separately from client intake records. These may include photos of resources we have worked with during sessions.
You will be asked what you would like to happen with any hardcopy work created during our sessions, for example creative drawings and timelines. Any work you would like me to retain will be stored securely between sessions. At the end of our work together, you may wish to take some or all the materials with you. On request, I can convert any hardcopy materials to a digital copy and append to your notes, however all physical copies will be shredded and securely disposed of.
For data security reasons, I retain text messages and email correspondence for no more than 28 business days. If there is relevant information contained in a text message or email, I will append it to the notes held.
After counselling has ended
Once counselling has ended, your records will be kept for 7 years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.
If you restart counselling with me during this 7-year period, your kept notes will be considered part of the active note record and retained for 7 years following the cessation of any subsequent periods of counselling.
Third Party Recipients of personal data
On a limited basis, I share information with third party service providers who are working on my behalf and require access to your information (e.g., to support client administration). These service providers are authorised to use your information only as necessary to provide services. I take great care to ensure that the agreements I have with a third party detail precisely what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them.
I use the SignRequest platform to facilitate a digital signing of the therapeutic counselling agreement. To achieve this I provide SignRequest with your name and email address. After completing a signing process, SignRequest will send a signing log to both the user that initiated the signing process (me) and to any user that has signed the document (you). This signing log may contain names, email addresses, IP addresses and timestamps of all users involved, and may also contain certain additional information, such as location data or domain names.
I use Gmail as my business email platform and to facilitate correspondence with active clients. I create a google contact with your name and email address. When you end your therapy with me, I will delete you as a contact within 20 business days.
Legal basis for processing this information
If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.
If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.
The UK General Data Protection Regulation also makes sure that I appropriately look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me. This type of information is called ‘special category personal information’. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between you and me).
This privacy notice was last reviewed on 21 May 2026 and is designed to be read in conjunction with the Therapeutic Counselling agreement.