1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how Sam Barker Counselling (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses and protects your personal data when you visit sambarkercounselling.co.uk at https://sambarkercounselling.co.uk, contact us, or use our counselling services.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data fairly and transparently in line with the UK GDPR and other relevant data protection laws.
2. Who is responsible for your data
The data controller for your personal data is:
Sam Barker Counselling
Oak Cottage
Llanyblodwel
Oswestry
Shropshire
SY10 8NB
Email: info@sambarkercounselling.co.uk
Telephone: 07377 902449
3. Personal data we collect
We may collect and process the following types of personal data:
- Contact details such as your name, email address, telephone number and postal address
- Enquiry details such as information you choose to share in the contact form, by email or by phone when enquiring about counselling
- Therapy records such as brief notes needed to provide counselling safely and effectively
- Administrative and billing information such as appointment dates and payment records
- Technical and usage data such as IP address, browser type, pages visited and the date and time of visits, collected through cookies and similar technologies
Because counselling can involve information about your mental and physical health, some of the information you provide may be considered special category data. This information is treated with particular care and confidentiality.
We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16 without appropriate consent.
4. How we use your personal data
We may use your personal data to:
- Respond to enquiries and provide information about counselling
- Arrange and deliver counselling sessions
- Keep basic records of sessions for clinical and ethical reasons
- Manage appointments, cancellations and payments
- Communicate with you about important practical matters, such as changes to appointments or services
- Improve our website and understand how it is used
- Meet legal, ethical and professional obligations
We do not use your counselling notes for marketing and we do not sell your data.
5. Legal bases for processing
We process your personal data based on one or more of the following legal bases:
- Contract: to respond to your enquiry and provide counselling services where you choose to work with us
- Explicit consent: particularly in relation to special category data about your health that you choose to share for the purposes of counselling
- Legitimate interests: to run and improve the practice, keep basic administrative records, maintain website security and respond to general enquiries
- Legal or ethical obligation: to meet our professional duties and comply with applicable laws and regulations
You can withdraw your consent at any time where processing is based on consent, although this may affect our ability to continue providing counselling.
6. Cookies and similar technologies
Our website, sambarkercounselling.co.uk, uses cookies and similar technologies to provide core functionality, understand how the site is used and improve your experience.
A cookie is a small text file stored on your device when you visit a website.
We use the following types of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies
Required for the website to function correctly. For example, to remember basic settings or maintain security. These cannot usually be disabled through our site. - Preference cookies
Used to remember your choices, such as cookie preferences. - Analytics cookies
Used to collect information on how visitors use the site, for example which pages are visited most often. This helps us improve our content and layout. Data is usually collected in an aggregated form.
Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before placing non essential cookies on your device. You can change or withdraw your consent at any time using our cookie banner or settings tool (where available).
Managing cookies
You can also control cookies through your browser settings. You can:
- Block all cookies
- Block cookies from specific sites
- Delete existing cookies
If you block or delete cookies, some parts of the website may not function properly.
For more information on cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org or the help section of your browser.
7. Analytics
We may use privacy friendly analytics tools, or services such as Google Analytics, to help us understand how visitors use the website. These services use cookies and similar technologies to collect information such as pages visited, time spent on pages and links clicked.
Where required, we will obtain your consent before enabling analytics cookies. You can disable these cookies at any time via our cookie settings or your browser.
8. Sharing your personal data
We may share your personal data with:
- IT and website service providers who help us run and secure the website and email systems
- Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary
- Regulators, professional bodies or authorities where we are required to do so by law or professional standards
In very rare circumstances, counselling confidentiality may be broken if there is a serious and immediate risk of harm to you or others, or where we are legally required to disclose information. Wherever possible, this would be discussed with you first.
All third parties who process your data on our behalf are required to keep it secure and to process it only according to our instructions.
We do not sell your personal data.
9. International transfers
Some of our service providers or their servers may be located outside the UK. Where this is the case, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses, to protect your personal data.
10. How long we keep your data
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to meet any legal, ethical or accounting requirements.
Therapy records are normally kept for a limited period set by professional guidance or insurance conditions, after which they are securely deleted or destroyed. Administrative and contact information may be kept for longer where needed for legal or tax reasons.
When data is no longer required, we will delete or anonymise it securely.
11. Your rights
Subject to certain conditions, you have the following rights over your personal data:
- Right of access to a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data
- Right to erasure in certain circumstances
- Right to restrict processing in certain circumstances
- Right to data portability, where technically possible
- Right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing
- Right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how your data is handled.
12. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact:
Sam Barker Counselling
Oak Cottage
Llanyblodwel
Oswestry
Shropshire
SY10 8NB
Email: info@sambarkercounselling.co.uk
Telephone: 07377 902449
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. We encourage you to review this page regularly to stay informed.