Last updated 10/02/25
Privacy Notice
Introduction
Your privacy is very important to me and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to current data protection legislation.
This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from the point I receive your information through to after your therapy has ended, including:
• Why I am able to process your information and for what purpose I am processing it
• Whether you have to provide it to me
• How long I store it
• Whether there are other recipients of your personal information
• Your data protection rights.
The data controller
This term is used to describe the person or organisation that collects, 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 and my registration number is: ZB654143.
My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information
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.
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 consent initially. I will then retain any counselling records in case of the need to reference them in the future (the official legal basis is to defend against potential legal claims).
How I use your information
Initial phone or email contact
When I receive contact from you with an enquiry about my counselling services I will collect information to help me to satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, contact details, your mental and physical health information and GP details, or if your enquiry relates to your child, their name, health information and GP details. This information is not shared with any third party unless you specifically ask me to share your enquiry. If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within one year. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, please let me know.
During your counselling sessions
While you are accessing counselling be assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if I have a legal or ethical responsibility to share information. 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. These details are kept securely and are not shared with any third party. I will keep written notes of each session, which are kept secure. I hold data in a secure paper filing system. For security reasons text messages are deleted after I have viewed them. If there is relevant information contained in a text message I will transfer the information to your notes. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after it has been actioned usually within 6 months, any information relevant to your counselling will be transferred to your notes.
After counselling has ended
Once counselling has ended your records will be retained for up to 7 years following your last appointment, in line with legal and professional requirements and then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.
If your child /young person accessed therapy with me and during the course of therapy I took action regarding a safeguarding concern I am obliged to hold these records until the child’s 25th birthday.
Your rights
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 it, 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 therapywithsarahjames@gmail.com
Data security
If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. 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.