Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026 

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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 UK data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

Introduction

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended.

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy, you can contact me via jo@ivyhousecounselling.co.uk 

‘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, Joanne Fear. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

The UK 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 UK GDPR also requires me to 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).

Disclaimer: Your role in protecting your privacy

Links to other websites: My website includes links to other websites. Clicking on those links may allow the owners to collect or share data about you. I do not control those third-party websites and am not responsible for their compliance with data protection laws.

I make every effort to ensure that my clients' personal information is held securely and to safeguard against unauthorised access, whether I receive it via my website, emails, text, via Teams, phone or in person. At the same time, in agreeing to my privacy policy:

• You acknowledge that the privacy of your communications and personal information can never be completely guaranteed when it is being transmitted over the internet. 
• You acknowledge and agree that you share information via the internet at your own risk.
• You agree to take responsibility for your own role in safeguarding your data privacy in the email address you choose to use and whether or not you choose to password protect information you send to me.

How I use your information

Your information does not get shared with anyone else within my private practice, as I manage my practice myself, and operate my counselling business as an independent ''sole trader''.

I will not share your information with any third party - unless you have explicitly told me that you would like me to, i.e.. in order to help you get additional support or healthcare.

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

If you make an enquiry either via email, phone, text message or by or filling out the enquiry form, you are passing on your contact information to me so that we can communicate with each other in regard to working together.  

Where consent has been provided, I may contact you by telephone, text message or voicemail regarding appointments and counselling-related administration.

If you make an initial telephone appointment, I will ask for a brief description of what brings you to counselling. This allows us to decide whether I am the right counsellor for you. 

If we decide to work together, I will collect the following information as I would be reasonably expected to have this in case of an emergency: 

• your name, address, telephone numbers & date of birth
• Contact details for someone who knows you are having counselling in case of emergency (e.g. next of kin)
• GP surgery name & address
• Any relevant medical diagnosis, prescribed medication and known allergies. This, alongside making me aware of any pre-existing conditions which may need support during our sessions, ensures client safety and wellbeing.

While you are accessing counselling.

All members of the BACP are required to have regular supervision. My work continues to be supervised. Aspects of our work may be discussed during my supervision sessions, but no full name will be used, and identifiable details removed. My supervisor is also a member of the BACP and as such they are bound by the same confidentiality rules as myself.

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if I think you have become danger to yourself, a child or a vulnerable adult, or for legal and ethical reasons such as: if instructed by the courts to provide information or if in good faith I feel that I can assist in the prevention or detection of a serious crime, this includes safeguarding issues regarding children, vulnerable adults, crimes such as money laundering, drug trafficking, and acts of terrorism. I will attempt to discuss this with you and my supervisor first, but this may not always be possible.  

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely via an encrypted notes service and are not shared with any third party. I do not keep any paper records. 

Online Counselling:  Where counselling is provided online, I use Microsoft Teams to facilitate sessions. Microsoft may process limited personal information in order to provide this service.

I take reasonable steps to ensure that online sessions are conducted securely and confidentially. However, as with any online communication, there are limits to what can be guaranteed when information is transmitted over the internet.

Further information about how Microsoft processes personal data can be found in Microsoft's Privacy Statement:  Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft privacy 

All confidential information is held in accordance with UK-GDPR, 2018 using the secure and encrypted Kiku system (please see their Privacy Policy for more information here - Privacy policy for our practice management system | We Are Kiku

As a member of the BACP I am required to keep accurate and appropriate notes of our work together. I keep brief, factual session notes only. These are anonymised and stored securely in a password protected file within the Kiku system. Notes are for my use only and help me keep track of our work together. In line with industry standards, these notes must be kept securely for up to 7 years after your therapy comes to an end, after which they will be confidentially destroyed.

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than 1 month. If there is relevant information contained in a text message I will record the information securely in my notes system. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after 1 month if it is not important. If necessary I will record the information securely in my notes system.

After counselling has ended.

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for 7 years from the end of our contract with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.

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 here - For the public | ICO

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 to: jo@ivyhousecounselling.co.uk 

 Data Protection Complaints

If you have any questions or concerns about how I have handled your personal information, please do get in touch in the first instance so that I can understand and address your concerns. Please contact me in writing at:  jo@ivyhousecounselling.co.uk

If you make a data protection complaint, I will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 days. I will take appropriate steps to investigate your concerns, keep you informed of progress where appropriate and provide you with the outcome of my investigation.

If you remain dissatisfied following my response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent authority responsible for upholding information rights.

Website: www.ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Data security

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 device that only I access, and the encrypted notes service as previously outlined.

Visitors to my website

When someone visits my website, I use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. I do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. I use Google Analytics so that I can continually improve my service to you. You can read Google Analytics privacy notice here - Privacy Policy – Privacy & Terms – Google

I use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information in this way when you visit my website.

I use Go Daddy for the hosting of my website - Privacy Agreement - GoDaddy UK

Cookies: Like most websites, this website uses cookies to help it function effectively and to understand how visitors use the site.

When you first visit the website, you may be presented with a cookie banner that allows you to manage your cookie preferences. You can choose whether to accept or reject certain cookies and can amend your preferences at any time through your browser settings.

I use Google Analytics to help me understand how visitors use my website and to identify ways in which I can improve the information and services I provide. Google Analytics collects information in an anonymised form and does not identify individual visitors.

For further information about how GoDaddy uses cookies and processes data, please refer to GoDaddy's Privacy Notice and Cookie Policy here -  Privacy Agreement - GoDaddy UK 

Contact Form: If you choose to contact me via the contact form on my website, the information you provide, including your name, telephone number, email address and any information you include in your message, will be used to respond to your enquiry.

I request both an email address and telephone number so that I can contact you regarding your enquiry. This also helps ensure that I have an alternative means of contact should an email address be entered incorrectly or a response be undeliverable.

Information submitted through the contact form may be temporarily processed and stored by my website hosting provider, GoDaddy, before being securely transmitted to me.

I will only use the information you provide for the purpose of responding to your enquiry and, where appropriate, discussing counselling services with you.