Privacy policy
This privacy policy outlines what you can expect to happen with your personal information, from the point of you contacting me through starting and receiving treatment and once therapy finishes.
Your privacy is a top priority. Any personal information you provide will be kept secure and used only for its intended purpose. I comply with current data protection laws, including the GDPR (EU/2016/679), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. I also follow the ethical standards for client confidentiality set by my accrediting body, the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). In line with the requirements of the Information Commissioner’s Office, I confirm below what information is collected, used, and the reasons why.
The following personal information is collected or used in order to provide and improve services for clients:
• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Date of birth
• Third party information (such as family members or other relevant parties)
• Website user information
The following personal information is collected or used to comply with legal requirements:
• Name
• Contact information
• Any other personal information required to comply with legal obligations
The following personal information is collected or used to protect client welfare:
• Names and contact information
• Emergency contact details
Lawful basis for processing your information
The lawful basis for my holding and using your information is in relation to the delivery of a contract to you as a health care professional.
How I use your information
Your personal data will only be used to manage the therapy service I provide—such as arranging, cancelling, or rescheduling sessions—or in situations where there is a concern about potential harm to you or others. I retain your information only as long as necessary, in line with guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office, BABCP and my insurers.
When you agree to begin therapy, I will send you a client intake form requesting your name, address, date of birth, and contact details for your GP and next of kin. Your attendance remains confidential; I will not contact your GP unless necessary for your safety, and I would discuss this with you beforehand wherever possible. Next of kin details are requested solely for use in emergencies.
Your email and/or phone number will be used, with your consent, to confirm appointment times. These contact details will only be used for therapy-related communication unless we agree otherwise.
All information (including personal information and session notes) is held securely within a cloud-based client management software system, which stores the information on servers in a secure data centre. Any paper-based notes I make in sessions – to provide your therapy service – are destroyed once I have transferred the data to the client management system.
Confidentiality Statement
Your confidentiality will be respected and maintained in accordance with professional codes of ethics and legal obligations. However, confidentiality cannot be upheld in situations where doing so would require me, as your therapist, to break the law or violate ethical guidelines.
There may be rare occasions when confidentiality must be breached—such as if I believe there is a significant risk of harm to yourself or others. In such cases, I may need to involve external support to ensure safety. Whenever possible, I will discuss this with you beforehand.
Certain disclosures—such as those involving acts of terrorism, safeguarding concerns regarding children or vulnerable adults, or issues related to drug trafficking—are legally required to be reported immediately to the appropriate authorities. Please be mindful of this before sharing any previously undisclosed criminal activity, as I may be legally obligated to inform the relevant bodies.
If a breach of confidentiality becomes necessary, I will make every effort to inform you in advance, unless doing so would compromise safety or safeguarding responsibilities.
Additionally, all psychotherapists are required to engage in regular supervision. I may discuss aspects of our work with my clinical supervisor to support best practice. These discussions are strictly anonymised, and my supervisor adheres to the confidentiality standards outlined by the BABCP and HCPC ethical codes.
How long your information is kept for - data retention
Your information is kept for the time necessary to provide the therapy service requested, however outside of this I will hold your details and session notes for a period of 7 years following the end of treatment to comply with legal obligations that are placed upon me by my insurers. In the case of a child under 13 then records will be kept 7 years after they reach the age of majority (18). After this date, all data will be securely deleted.
Third party recipients of personal data
I will never pass on your contact details to any third party organisations for the purposes of sales, marketing or research.
If your appointments are paid for or arranged via a third party, for example, your employer or a health insurance company, the only information shared with the third party is your dates of attendance and non-attendance for invoicing and payment purposes. Details about what is discussed in your appointments will remain confidential and can only be shared if you give me your written consent to do so.
Your Rights
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018, you have the right to access the personal information I hold and process about you. You may request corrections to any inaccurate information or ask for your personal data to be deleted. In some cases, you may also request that the processing of your data be restricted or object to its processing altogether.
Further details about your rights can be found at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please submit your request in writing by emailing info@gracefueledgrowth.com.
Please note that in certain circumstances, such as when legally required to retain records by a court order, I may not be able to comply with your request. Additionally, if a request is considered excessive, a fee may be charged for processing it.
Queries
The term ‘data controller’ refers to the individual or organisation responsible for collecting, storing, and managing personal data. In this case, the data controller is Nina Gough-Cooper, who is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZB375070.
If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy or how your personal information is handled, please feel free to contact me at info@gracefueledgrowth.com.
Complaints
If you have any concerns about how your personal data is being managed, please get in touch via email at info@gracefueledgrowth.com.
Should you wish to escalate the matter and make a formal complaint about the processing of your personal information, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent authority for data protection. Further guidance is available at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Changes to privacy notice
This privacy notice may be updated from time to time, so please check occasionally for any updates.
Website Policy
This website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace collects personal data when you visit this website, including:
- Information about your browser, network and device
- Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website
- Web pages you view while on this website
- Your IP address
Squarespace needs the data to run this website, and to protect and improve its platform and services. Squarespace analyses the data in a de-personalised form.
This website collects personal data to power the site analytics, including:
- Information about your browser, network, and device
- Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website
- Your IP address
This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:
- Clicks
- Internal links
- Pages visited
- Scrolling
- Searches
- Timestamps
This information is shared with Squarespace, the website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.
Visitor data for form block submissions:
When you submit information to this website via webform, the data requested is collected in the webform in order to track and respond to your submissions. This information is shared with Squarespace and also with info@gracefueledgrowth.com (via Google Workspace) for storage.
Cookies policy
This website uses cookies and similar technologies, which are small files or pieces of text that download to a device when a visitor accesses a website or app. For information about viewing the cookies dropped on your device, visit The cookies Squarespace uses.
These necessary and required cookies are always used, which allow Squarespace, the hosting platform, to securely serve this website to you.
These analytics and performance cookies are used on this website, only when you acknowledge our cookie banner. This website uses analytics and performance cookies to view site traffic, activity, and other data.