Privacy Notice

The information I collect depends on how you engage with my practice

If you contact me to make an enquiry
If you contact me by telephone, email, or through the contact form on my website, I will collect the information you choose to provide. This may include your name, contact details and a brief description of the reason you are seeking counselling.

I use this information to respond to your enquiry, answer any questions you may have and, if appropriate, arrange an initial appointment.

If you become a counselling client
If we begin working together, I will collect the information needed to provide counselling safely and professionally. This may include:

• your name, address, date of birth and contact details

• emergency contact information

• relevant health or medical information where appropriate

• information you choose to share during counselling

• correspondence

• brief handwritten session notes

• appointment and attendance records, and

• payment records relating to your counselling sessions

I only collect and use your personal information where it is necessary to provide my counselling services or to meet my legal, ethical and professional obligations.

Depending on your circumstances, I may use your information to:

• respond to your enquiry;

• arrange and manage counselling appointments;

• provide counselling safely and effectively;

• maintain brief records of our work together;

• communicate with you about your appointments or counselling;

• receive, record and manage payments;

• fulfil my professional, legal and regulatory responsibilities; and

• establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

Lawful bases for processing your information.
Under UK data protection law, I rely on the following lawful bases for processing your personal information:

• Contract - where processing is necessary to provide the counselling services you have requested.

• Legitimate interests - where processing is necessary to manage and operate my counselling practice.

• Legal obligation - where I am required to process or retain information to comply with the law.

• Special category data - Counselling involves processing special category personal information, including information about your health and wellbeing. I process this information where it is necessary for the provision of counselling and to fulfil our counselling contract, in accordance with the UK GDPR.

Confidentiality is an important part of the counselling relationship, and I will treat the information you share with me with respect and care.

As part of my professional practice, I attend regular clinical supervision. This is a professional requirement that helps me provide safe, ethical and effective counselling. During supervision, I discuss client work in an anonymised form wherever possible. My clinical supervisor is also bound by professional and ethical duties of confidentiality.

I use carefully selected service providers to support my practice, including website hosting, email communication and online counselling. Where these providers process your personal information on my behalf, they do so only where necessary for them to provide their services.

There are some circumstances where I may need to share information without your consent. These situations are rare but may include:

• where there is a serious risk of harm to you or another person;

• where I am required to do so by law or a court order;

• where disclosure is necessary to prevent or detect a serious crime; or

• where there is a safeguarding concern involving a child or an adult at risk.

Where it is appropriate and safe to do so, I will aim to discuss this with you before sharing information.

I take appropriate steps to keep your personal information secure and confidential.

Paper records, including handwritten session notes, are stored securely in locked storage with appropriate physical safeguards.

Electronic information, such as emails and appointment information, is stored using secure password-protected systems. I use Proton Mail for email communication and Proton Meet for online counselling sessions because I have chosen services that are designed with privacy and security in mind.

I only keep the information necessary to provide my counselling service and to meet my legal, ethical and professional responsibilities.

I regularly review the information I hold, along with my systems and working practices, to help ensure that your personal information continues to be protected. Records that are no longer required are securely destroyed.

I will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet my legal, ethical and professional responsibilities.

Enquiry information: If you contact me but decide not to proceed with counselling, I will normally retain your enquiry information for up to six months before securely deleting it, unless there is a legitimate reason to retain it for longer.

Client records: If you become a counselling client, I will retain your records for seven years after our work together has ended, after which they will be securely destroyed.

Financial records: Information relating to payments will normally be retained for seven years to meet legal, accounting and professional record-keeping requirements.

When personal information is no longer required, it will be securely destroyed or permanently deleted.

Under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. These include the right to:

• request access to the personal information I hold about you;

• request that inaccurate or incomplete information is corrected;

• request that your personal information is erased in certain circumstances;

• request that I restrict the way I process your information in certain circumstances;

• object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances; and

• request a copy of the information you have provided to me in a portable format where applicable.

Please note that some of these rights are subject to legal and professional limitations. If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact me using the details provided in this Privacy Notice.

My website is hosted by Squarespace.

If you contact me using the contact form on my website, the information you provide will be processed by Squarespace and sent to my Proton Mail email account. A copy of your enquiry will also be stored within my Squarespace account until it is securely deleted in accordance with my retention policy.

My website also uses cookies and, where you consent, analytics to help understand how visitors use the website. Where non-essential cookies, such as analytics cookies, are used, you will be asked for your consent through the website’s cookie banner. You can change your cookie preferences at any time.

For further information about how Squarespace processes personal information, please refer to Squarespace’s Privacy Policy.

I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in my practice, legal requirements or the services I use. The most recent version will always be available on my website.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how I process your personal information, please contact me:

Email: contact@rebeccapricecounselling.co.uk

Telephone: 07761 035 812

Website: www.rebeccapricecounselling.co.uk

If you are unhappy with how I have handled your personal information, I would welcome the opportunity to address your concerns in the first instance. I welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures.

If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).