You will see that I have said many of these types of personal information will only be held if they are relevant. Data protection legislation requires me to ensure that any personal information I have about you is relevant and adequate for our purposes, whilst also being limited to what is necessary. I will always work to strike that appropriate balance.

If you are working with me as a therapy client, it may be that the issue we work on requires me to have some of the types of information listed above, whilst other types of information will not be relevant. I am sure you can appreciate that this varies from client to client, and the nature of the issues they wish to discuss.

I always strive to ensure that I only use the minimum amount of information that I need in order to provide effective, ethical services to you. I do not collect personal information that is not relevant to our work together.

Depending on how we work together, I may use your personal information for a number of different purposes:

To provide you with therapy or similar services, or to respond to an enquiry from you about such services. Under the GDPR my Lawful Basis for using your information in this manner is that it is necessary for me to comply with a Contract between us for me to provide these services, or to discuss the possibility of us entering into such a Contract.

To comply with insurance or other legal or professional obligations to retain records of any therapy or similar services. After we conclude any therapy, I am required by my professional insurance provider to maintain records of therapy sessions for five years (or, if you are under eighteen at the time we work together, for five years following your eighteenth birthday). My Lawful Basis for retaining these records is Legitimate Interests, the Legitimate Interest being that it is in both our interests to ensure that our work together is covered by a professional insurance policy.

To provide you with other advice and/or consultancy services. Under the GDPR my Lawful Basis for using your information in this manner is that it is necessary for me to comply with a Contract we agree for me to provide these services, or to discuss the possibility of us entering into such a Contract.

To provide you with training – either through an online course or a bespoke, face-to-face training. Under the GDPR my Lawful Basis for using your information in this manner is that it is necessary for me to comply with a Contract between us for me to provide training, or to discuss the possibility of us entering into such a Contract.

To market my goods and services to you, if you have agreed to me doing so. My Lawful Basis for using your personal information for this purpose is that you have given me Consent to do so. You have the absolute right at any time to withdraw your Consent for me to market to you and I will comply with that request. An option to unsubscribe from marketing will be included in any marketing communication I send you, or you can contact me at the details provided above. If you do withdraw Consent for me to market to you, I may retain your details on a 'suppression list' to ensure that you are not accidentally added again to marketing communications. The ICO considers it appropriate to retain a suppression list for this purpose.

To engage with you on a business basis if you are an agent, representative or employee of a company, business or organisation that provides me with goods or services. My Lawful Basis for using your personal information for this purpose is Legitimate Interests, the Legitimate Interest being the fact that I may need to use your personal information to carry out business with the company, business or organisation you represent, and using your information in this manner does not cause you undue harm.

If I have provided therapy or similar services to you, I will keep records of these sessions for five years from the end of therapy or, if you are under eighteen at the time of therapy, for five years from the time you become eighteen. If you have enquired about therapy services, but not become a therapy client, I will keep records of your enquiry for a year.

If I have provided you with services or consultancy other than providing therapy, I will keep records of those services for five years from the time we conclude working together. If you have enquired about such services but have not become a client, I will keep records of your enquiry for a year.

If I use your personal information for marketing purposes, I will retain it for the period during which I engage in relevant marketing activities. If you ask me to stop marketing to you, I will promptly stop marketing and will delete your data from any marketing lists or platforms. In order to ensure that you are not accidentally added again to a marketing list, I will retain your details on a ‘suppression list’ that records your request that I do not market to you. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) considers retaining a suppression list to be good practice.

If I use your personal information to engage with you as an agent, representative or employee of a company, business or organisation supplying me with goods or services, I will retain any of your personal information contained in any communications or transactions with that company, business or organisation for a reasonable period of time required for the retention of such business records.

At the end of any retention period, your personal information will be securely deleted or destroyed.

If I provide therapy services to you I may, as part of a professional supervision arrangement, discuss your therapy with a suitably qualified supervisor. This would be on an anonymous basis and your identity would not be disclosed to the supervisor. Supervision is considered an important part of maintaining standards in the therapy profession.

If I believe you pose an imminent risk of harm to yourself or another person (or I came to believe that someone else posed such a risk to you or another person), I might have to notify appropriate authorities to ensure your safety or that of the other person.

If you told me you had committed, or were planning to commit, a serious criminal offence I might notify appropriate authorities to prevent or detect crime.

I do not share your personal data with any other party for commercial or financial benefit.

My website, email marketing platform and online course platform are provided through servers based in the Republic of Ireland. As the Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union, any of your personal data stored in, or handled through, these platforms remains under the protection of the GDPR.

I am required by data protection legislation to treat your personal information in compliance with the GDPR, but you also have a number of individual rights under that legislation that you can request at any time and that I will consider fairly. They are:

The Right of Access. This gives you the right to ask me for copies of any personal information I hold about you. This is often known as a Subject Access Request or SAR. In some cases, I might be entitled to apply one of the exemptions in the data protection legislation, but I will always consider your request fairly and supply you with all the information I can.

The Right to Rectification. I will take reasonable steps to ensure that any personal information I hold about you is accurate and up to date. However, if you believe information is not accurate and up to date, you have the right to ask me to correct that information to ensure it is accurate.

The Right to Erasure (also known as the ‘right to be forgotten). You have the right to ask me to delete or destroy any information I hold about you. This right is not absolute in all cases, but I will consider any request you make fairly and in accordance with data protection law.

The Right to Restrict Processing. If you have concerns about how I am using your information, its accuracy, or anything else, you can make a request that I restrict how I use your information until that issue is resolved, or for another period of time. This right is usually asserted as a ‘holding measure’, so to speak, until the bigger issue is addressed. It is not an absolute right, but I will listen fairly and consider any such request in line with the legislation.

The Right to Data Portability. This refers to your right to ask for portable copies of your data held in a machine-readable format that can be readily transferred across to someone else you want to have it.

The Right to Object. This gives you the right to object to me using your personal information in a particular way, or at all. It is not an absolute right, but I will consider any such request fairly and in accordance with data protection law.

The Right to Object to Automated Individual Decision Making, including profiling. I do not engage in any such decision making or profiling.

You can assert any of these rights by contacting me using the contact details above. I am happy to discuss any of these rights with you (or any other concern you may have about your personal information), however you can also obtain free, independent advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO is the UK's statutory supervisory authority for data protection law. It could also be described as the 'watchdog' or 'regulator' for data protection. If you are unhappy with how I have handled your personal information, and I have not resolved your concern to your satisfaction, you have the right to take the matter to the ICO for an independent assessment.

Usually, the ICO will ask that, before you go to them, you have given me a chance to sort the matter out, but you can speak to them at any time.

There is no cost to you for the ICO to give you advice or look into your concern. The ICO's contact details are:

Address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Email: ICOcasework@ico.org.uk

Website: ico.org.uk

The ICO also offers a 'Live Chat' service through its website.

I am registered with the ICO as a Data Controller. My registration number is ZB873524

This Privacy Notice was revised on 07/03/2025.