General information

This page contains details on fees for sessions, an overview of general terms and conditions and my privacy policy. Please scroll down to read. You can get in contact to ask any further questions and to arrange meeting.

£95 per weekly session – each lasting 50 minutes.

Invoices will include all information regarding making payment, including payment reference numbers and bank details for BACS transfers.

​Fees are subject to change but any changes will be discussed with you in advance.

Fees for professional consultancy, facilitation and other specific projects are open to negotiation depending on requirements and contract terms.

This section outlines terms and conditions around payments, cancellations and missed appointments.

Payments

Payment for the first appointment is due at least 48 hours beforehand, on receipt of invoice. If payment is not received in time, the appointment will be cancelled.

Payment for ongoing sessions will be payable at the end of each week’s meeting, using bank or credit card or using a digital wallet. In the event of late or non-payment, future appointments may be cancelled.

For longer-term work, monthly invoicing and payments may be negotiated.

Overdue payments may incur additional fees if action to recover debts is required.

Cancellations and missed appointments

If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, please let me know as soon as possible. If we are able to reschedule, no additional fee is payable. If rescheduling is not possible, fees will still be due for any cancelled sessions.

Appointments cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice or non-attendance will always be chargeable.

When I have a break, or in the event that I need to cancel an appointment, payment will not be due for that session. I will always endeavour to give prior notice for upcoming breaks.

Terms and conditions

Privacy Policy

Introduction

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.  This privacy policy explains why I collect personal information, how I use it and keep it secure, and your rights. If you have any questions about this notice, please raise it in our next session as a first step.

Legal information

In order to fulfil my role as a counsellor, it is necessary for me to collect and hold personal data. I am unable to provide a counselling service without your consent for me to hold private information about you.

I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

The UK GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data at each stage in the process. The lawful basis for me to hold your information is as follows:

  • 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 makes sure that I 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/psychotherapy) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between me and you).

  • 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.

‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects, stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Registration reference: ZB670677).

How I use your information

First contact

When you contact me with an enquiry about my services, I will need to collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include: name, email address, telephone number, living arrangements and an outline of the reason why you are seeking counselling/psychotherapy. Alternatively, your General Practitioner (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 decide not to proceed, I will ensure that all your personal data is deleted once you inform me of your decision.

While you are accessing counselling/therapy.

Before your first appointment, I will email you a ‘Contract for Therapy’ outlining my terms of service, together with the link for you to complete a registration form online. This form will request your explicit consent for holding your data, including ‘special category data’ (such as the details of your GP and other relevant healthcare practitioners involved in your care, and details of any relevant medication that you might be taking).

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the efficient running of the counselling/psychotherapy services that I provide. These details include:

  • Personal and contact details which include your first and last name, date of birth, home address, e-mail address and telephone numbers.

  • Brief session notes.

  • Financial information regarding sessions attended and paid. Depositor names may appear on my bank statements where electronic payments have been made.

  • A record of any letters, e-mails, text messages and other communications between us. If there is relevant information contained in an e-mail that needs to be retained for therapeutic or safeguarding reasons, I will scan it into the secure Writeupp system and then delete the original e-mail.

  • Please note that I cannot guarantee the security of e-mail or text message communications. Please do not use these for any confidential communication.

Notes held by me for the purposes of our work together do not constitute part of your official medical record.

Confidentiality

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if I have reason to be concerned about the possibility of harm being caused to yourself or another or if I have concerns about the safeguarding of a child or vulnerable adult. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are risk and safeguarding issues that prevent this.

You will be the primary source of the information I receive about you.

How I protect your personal data

I treat your data with the utmost care and have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. Access to your personal data is restricted so that it can only be retrieved by me.

The majority of data is accessed using a locked personal computer (password and fingerprint-protected) and iPad (password and fingerprint protected). Telephone numbers may also be stored on my locked personal mobile phone (password and fingerprint protected). Please be aware that I use secure Microsoft 365 and Apple iCloud Services to backup all my computer and iPad data. Only I can access these devices.

Wherever possible all client records are kept electronically, with two-factor authentication and stored using a cloud-based system called WriteUpp. WrtiteUpp is a cloud-based medical software platform, encrypted to NHS standards and ISO27001 certified. I have chosen to use WriteUpp because of the high levels of security provided. WriteUpp’s Privacy policy is available here: https://help.writeupp.com/en/article/privacy-data-security-faqs-hmy8mm/

Brief session notes are taken using an application called Notability, before being uploaded to WriteUpp. The application is accessible only via locked devices (as above). All files are scored securely and temporarily on my iPad before being transferred to WriteUpp. 

In the rare event that any physical records are kept, these are anonymised, and kept in a locked storage unit temporarily, only for as long as is necessary and then immediately shredded.

All website interaction is secured using ‘https’ technology.

Zoom is used for online meetings (where applicable, and only with your consent). Details of their privacy policy can be found here: https://explore.zoom.us/en/privacy/

In the unlikely event of a breach, I will notify you and any applicable regulator, where I am legally required to do so.

How long will I keep your personal data?

I keep personal and special category data for the duration of our work together and thereafter as required by statutory, legal, regulatory, government (e.g. HMRC), contractual (e.g. insurance) and governing professional bodies (e.g. BACP). I do not retain personal data for longer than is necessary. On completion of our work, electronic records are archived and then deleted as soon as possible. Any physical records are scanned into the WriteUpp system and then shredded immediately.

Who do I share your personal data with?

I will not share, transfer or sell your personal data to any third parties for marketing purposes. I may need to communicate your personal data to a health professional, for example, your GP. However, I will not disclose personal data about you without your agreement except in situations where there is a significant concern about harm to yourself or to others. Where possible, I will discuss this with you first.

Under certain circumstances I am legally obliged to share personal data (e.g. a court order).

Clinical Supervision

I am required, as part of adhering to the BACP ethical framework, to consult on casework with senior colleagues. This helps ensure that I am working to the highest professional standards and for my continuing professional development. In all such cases, any identifying details are disguised, anonymised or withheld. My professional colleagues are all bound by the same ethical responsibilities as I am to ensure your privacy and confidentiality.

Your rights

The UK GDPR gives you certain rights in relation to the data I hold about you. If you wish to exercise these rights, please let me know in the session or contact me as indicated above. Under the UK GDPR you can:

  • Find out what information I hold about you

  • Access a copy of the information I hold about you

  • Rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data

  • Object to me processing your personal information

  • Ask me to delete or restrict how I use your personal information

  • Have your personal data sent to another data controller

  • Complain to a regulator if you think I have not complied with data protection laws. You can lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/ or by telephoning 0303 123 1113.

Review of this Privacy Policy

I keep this Privacy Policy under regular review. It was last updated in August 2024.

Visitors to my website

When someone visits my website, I may 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. This information is only processed in a way that does not identify anyone. I do not make, and do not allow Google Analytics to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting my website.

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 Google so that I can continually improve my service to you. You can read Google’s privacy notice here.

I use SquareSpace as the content management system for my website – find out about Squarespace’s privacy policy here: https://www.squarespace.com/privacy.

Like most websites, cookies help the site work more efficiently. No user-specific data is collected by me or any third party. If you fill in a form on my website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to me.