This privacy notice is part of our Counselling Contract and tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended, including: 

• What personal information I collect, how I process it and what purpose I am processing it for 

• How and for how long I store your personal data

• Whether there are other recipients of your personal information

• Your data protection rights.

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me via email or ask me in person during our sessions.

‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects and stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Registration number: ZB871640). My email address is: mahendersoncounselling@gmail.com

The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. There are different lawful bases depending on the stage at which I am processing your data. I have explained these below:

· 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 GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. 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 me and you). 

Initial contact. 

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name and any contact details you provide for example, email address, telephone number. Alternatively, a colleague, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf. 

If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within one month of informing me of your decision not to go ahead. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know. 

While you are accessing counselling. 

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if broken if you tell me something that indicates a child or vulnerable adult may be at risk of harm, or you inform me of any criminal or terrorist activity, which I am required by law to report to the appropriate authorities. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. Your contact details and any forms you complete and sign will be kept securely in a locked filing cabinet, in my home, or securely on my laptop, which is encrypted and password protected. Any session notes will be kept in a different secured locked filing cabinet with any identifying details removed. In order to arrange appointments whether face to face or online, we each will communicate by phone, email or text. This means I will have your contact details stored on my personal mobile, which is encrypted and secure. 

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than 14 days. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after 14 days if it is not important. If a text or email contains relevant information I will transfer it and keep it securely on my laptop.  My email account is password protected and mobile phones and laptops used to respond to your emails are password protected and have anti-virus software.

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.

I sometimes share personal data with third parties, for example, where I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks. In such cases I have carefully selected which partners I work with. I take great care to ensure that I have a contract with the third party that states what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them. I ensure that they do not use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted.

By accessing this website, you agree to the information collection and usage practices outlined in this privacy notice. If you choose to contact me through the contact form, rest assured that none of the data you provide will be stored on the website or shared with third-party data processors. Instead, the information will be compiled into an email and sent to me via the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SMTP servers are secured with TLS (Transport Layer Security), which encrypts the email content before it is transmitted over the internet. The email is then decrypted by local devices and computers.

This website also uses cookies and Google Analytics. Cookies are small files that websites place on your device while you browse. While cookies can store information that might have privacy implications, they are commonly used to improve user experience. Google Analytics is a service provided by Google that collects anonymous data about how visitors use the website, such as page views and engagement metrics. This data helps improve the website’s content and performance.

Additionally, some elements on the site, such as Interactive Maps, are embedded from trusted third-party sources like Google Maps. While these features enhance your experience, they may also use cookies that I do not control. These cookies may gather similar data to Google Analytics. If you opt out of Google Analytics, you will also be opting out of these third-party cookies. For more information or to opt-out of Google Analytics and other Google services, you can visit:

• Google Analytics Opt-Out:
  https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
   
• Google Dashboard:
  https://myaccount.google.com/dashboard

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.

If I do hold information about you I will:

• give you a description of it and where it came from; 

• tell you why I am holding its, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision;

• tell you who it could be disclosed to; 

• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form. 

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you. To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to mahendersoncounselling@gmail.com 

If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures. If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. 

For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously and as such I take every effort to make sure it is kept secure. I use a password protected laptop and mobile phone and keep all written records, contracts and forms securely locked in filing cabinets in my home.

I will never pass on your personal details to any other party without your express wishes and signed consent (subject to Safeguarding). I do not engage in profiling or automated decision making. I will notify you in future of any changes to this privacy notice.