This Privacy Notice applies to therapy enquiries, current and former clients, and website visitors.
Key points
- I collect and hold information that is relevant and necessary for providing therapy.
- Therapy is confidential, but there are important limits to confidentiality.
- I do not share therapy notes or information with third parties, even if you request this.
- I use clinical supervision, where aspects of client work may be discussed while protecting your identity as far as possible.
Information I collect.
When you contact me, I may collect:
- your name
- your email address
- your phone number
- information you choose to share in your enquiry.
- contact, availability or therapy format preferences.
If we begin therapy, I will also collect:
- your address
- your date of birth
- your GP details
- a telephone number
- brief clinical notes
- attendance, payment and appointment information
- correspondence between us
I only collect information needed to provide therapy that is relevant and appropriate, ethical and professional.
Confidentiality
Therapy is confidential, but not absolute. I will only share information where there is a lawful, ethical or safeguarding reason, and will limit this to what is necessary.
I may need to share information if:
- there is a serious risk of harm to you or someone else.
- there is a safeguarding concern involving a child, vulnerable adult or person at risk.
- I am required to do so by law, court order or legal process.
- I need to consult my clinical supervisor, while protecting your identity as far as possible.
Where possible, I will discuss this with you first, unless doing so would increase risk, affect safeguarding action, undermine the disclosure, or not be possible.
Supervision
I use clinical supervision to support safe and effective practice.
In supervision, I may discuss aspects of client work to support safe and effective practice. I aim to minimise identifying detail where possible and appropriate, and my supervisor is also bound by confidentiality and professional standards.
Clinical notes
I keep brief, factual and relevant clinical notes to support safe, ethical therapy.
These may include:
- session dates.
- brief themes discussed.
- relevant risk, safeguarding or clinical information if appropriate.
- contact and administrative information
I do not keep a full transcript of sessions.
I do not share clinical notes with insurers, employers, GPs or others seeking counselling details, even if these are requested by you. Please discuss with me before sharing my contact details with third parties and seek my agreement to do so.
How I use your information
I use your personal information to:
- respond to your enquiries and contact from you.
- arrange initial calls and appointments.
- provide therapy.
- keep appropriate notes.
- manage payments, invoices and appointments.
- communicate with you about sessions.
- meet legal, professional and ethical responsibilities.
- manage risk, safeguarding or emergency situations where necessary.
- maintain insurance, tax and accounting records.
- respond to data protection requests or complaints.
I do not sell your personal information.
Lawful basis for using your information.
Under UK GDPR, I must have a lawful basis for using personal information including:
- contract: to arrange and provide therapy.
- legitimate interests: to run my practice safely, respond to enquiries, keep records and protect us both.
- legal obligation: to keep or share information where required by law.
For special category data, such as health or mental health information, I must also identify an Article 9 condition and meet any relevant Data Protection Act 2018 safeguards.
If I ask for consent, I will explain what it covers and whether it can be withdrawn. I will only rely on consent where appropriate.
How long I keep information.
I keep information only for as long as needed for the reason it was collected. Retention periods may vary by record type, the nature of the work, legal and professional requirements, and whether a child or young person was involved. As a guide:
- enquiry information is usually deleted promptly if therapy does not begin.
- most records may be kept for 7 years after therapy ends, in line with retention requirements.
- emails and messages are reviewed periodically and deleted when no longer needed.
Where your information is stored
I may store your information in these systems:
- Website/contact form: provided by WebHealer and sent directly to my email address.
- Email: provided by Gmail and accessed only by me.
- Payments/invoicing: stored securely on a password-protected computer.
- Phone/messages: calls are not recorded, and text messages are not saved.
I use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect information, including password protection, device security, two-factor authentication, restricted access and secure storage.
AI tools transcription and recording
I do not record, transcribe or use AI tools to process therapy sessions. You may not record sessions, as this could compromise security and confidentiality.
Website visitors and cookies
When you visit kathy-ellis.com, technical information such as your IP address, device, browser, pages visited and visit time may be collected automatically through hosting, security, analytics or cookie tools.
My website is hosted by WebHealer and may use cookies or similar technologies to run the site, improve performance, understand visitor behaviour or support security.
You can usually manage cookies in your browser. If non-essential cookies or similar technologies are used, the website will provide any notice, choice or consent required by law. I do not intentionally collect or use cookie information, through Kathy-Ellis.com but WebHealer may.
Sharing your information
I will only share personal information where there is a clear, necessary, proportionate and lawful reason. This may include limited sharing with:
- my clinical supervisor
- professional advisers, such as an accountant, insurer or legal adviser, about a complaint or ethical matter.
- my professional body, if required for a complaint or ethical matter.
- safeguarding services, emergency services or your GP, where there is serious risk or safeguarding concern.
- a court or legal authority, if required by law.
- an appointed clinical executor if I die or cannot contact clients myself.
I do not share clinical notes with insurers, employers, GPs or others seeking counselling details, even if these are requested by you. Please discuss with me before sharing my contact details with third parties and seek my agreement to do so.
Clinical Will
I aim to have arrangements so clients can be contacted if I die or become seriously incapacitated.
A trusted professional colleague or clinical executor may access only the minimum information needed to contact current clients and manage records. They would be bound by confidentiality, access information only if necessary, and would not provide ongoing therapy unless separately agreed and appropriate.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights over your personal information, including to:
- be told how your data is used.
- access your personal information.
- correct inaccurate information.
- request deletion in some circumstances.
- restrict or object to certain processing.
- complain about how your information is handled.
These rights are not always absolute and depend on the circumstances. I may need to keep some information for legal, professional, safeguarding, insurance or complaint reasons, and disclosure may be limited if third-party data or an exemption applies.
Changes to this privacy notice
I may update this privacy notice from time to time to reflect changes in my practice, legal requirements, professional guidance or the systems I use.
Kathy Ellis Counselling
MBACP (Accredited)
0757 691 1726
Gosport, Hampshire
Kathy-Ellis.com
