Privacy Notice

ABOUT THIS NOTICE

I take your privacy seriously and am committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Notice explains what information I collect, why I collect it, how it is stored and used, and your rights in relation to your information.

I, Clare Aworth, am the data controller for Clare Aworth Counselling and am responsible for the personal information I hold about you.

INFORMATION I COLLECT

To respond to enquiries, provide counselling and manage my practice, I may collect and hold information including your name and contact details, information you provide in an enquiry, date of birth, GP and emergency contact details, relevant health and medication information, correspondence and appointment information, and brief notes relating to our counselling sessions.

Counselling may involve sensitive personal information, including information about your physical or mental health and other sensitive aspects of your personal life. Most information will be provided directly by you, although occasionally information may be provided by a referral source or another person or service where appropriate.

If you contact me through my website, Squarespace processes the details you enter in the contact form, such as your name, email address and message. Please avoid including more sensitive information than is necessary at the enquiry stage.

HOW I USE YOUR INFORMATION

I use your information to respond to enquiries, consider whether I can offer counselling, communicate with you about appointments and our work together, maintain appropriate professional records, manage payments and meet my professional, legal and safeguarding responsibilities.

Under data-protection law, I process information relating to initial enquiries where necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a counselling agreement, or for my legitimate interests in managing enquiries where appropriate. Once we have agreed to work together, I process personal information where necessary to provide the counselling service. Where counselling or enquiries involve health information or other special-category data, I process it only where an appropriate additional legal condition applies, including where relevant the provision of health or social care, subject to professional confidentiality.

HOW YOUR INFORMATION IS STORED AND SHARED

I take reasonable steps to keep your information secure. Electronic records are stored on password-protected, encrypted devices and in secure, access-controlled cloud storage. Paper records are kept in locked storage.

I use third-party services for some aspects of my practice, including Squarespace to host my website and process contact-form submissions, Microsoft OneDrive for secure cloud storage, as well as email, messaging and online counselling services. These providers may process information outside the UK. Where personal information is transferred internationally, applicable data-protection safeguards are required. I aim to keep sensitive information shared through electronic communication to the minimum necessary.

Your information will not normally be shared with anyone else without your knowledge or permission. There are limited circumstances where I may need to disclose information, for example where there is a serious risk of harm, a safeguarding concern or a legal requirement to do so. These circumstances are explained further in your Counselling Agreement.

I undertake regular clinical supervision as part of my professional practice. I do not use your name or knowingly identifying information when discussing my work in supervision.

I have arrangements in place for the continuity of care if I become unexpectedly unable to practise, for example through serious illness or death. In these circumstances, a designated professional bound by confidentiality may access the information necessary to contact clients, make appropriate arrangements and ensure records are managed securely.

WEBSITE COOKIES AND ANALYTICS

My website is hosted by Squarespace, which may process technical information about website visits and uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the site. Some cookies are necessary for the website to function.

I use Squarespace’s built-in analytics to understand website activity, such as visits, pages viewed and traffic sources. Non-essential cookies are restricted unless a visitor chooses to accept them. Visitors can accept optional cookies or manage their preferences through the cookie banner. I do not currently use a separate Google Analytics integration.

HOW LONG I KEEP YOUR INFORMATION

Your formal counselling record will normally be kept for six years after counselling ends and then securely destroyed or deleted. If you enquire but do not become a client, identifiable enquiry information will normally be deleted 12 months after the enquiry is closed, including relevant emails and website-form submissions where these are retained. Anonymised enquiry statistics may be kept longer. Information relevant to safeguarding concerns, complaints or legal obligations may need to be kept for a different period.

Any separate temporary process notes used to support reflection and supervision are kept only for as long as they are needed and are then securely destroyed. Financial and other business records may be retained for different periods where required by law.

YOUR RIGHTS

You have rights in relation to your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, these can include asking to see the information I hold about you, asking for inaccurate information to be corrected, and asking for information to be erased or its use restricted. You may also have the right to object to particular uses of your information. Not all rights apply in every circumstance.

If you have a question, wish to exercise one of your data-protection rights, or want to complain about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me using the email address below. I will acknowledge a data-protection complaint within five working days, investigate it without undue delay, keep you informed of progress and explain the outcome. If you remain concerned, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Information about making a complaint is available at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

CONTACT

Clare Aworth Counselling
Clare Aworth, Integrative Counsellor
Registered Member MBACP
BACP registration number: 422463
ICO registration reference: ZC199780
Email: clareaworthcounselling@gmail.com