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Cookie and 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 to me. 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.

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, including: 

  • – Why I am able to process your information and what purpose I am processing it for
  • – Whether you have to provide it to me 
  • – How long I store it for 
  • – Whether there are other recipients of your personal information 
  • – Whether I intend to transfer it to another country
  • – Whether I do automated decision-making or profiling
  • – Your data protection rights. 

 

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy, you can contact me via megan@mothernurturetherapy.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. 

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, my registration reference is ZB930300.

My postal address is: 26 Tarn Mount, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 7XX. My phone number is: 07353992029. My email address is: megan@mothernurturetherapy.co.uk

 

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

 

The 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 subscribe to my newsletter, I will use consent as my legal 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. 
  • – 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.
  • – The 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 consent initially. I will then retain any counselling records in case of the need to reference them in the future.

 

How I use your information 

 

For emails, I use Google Mail from a password protected laptop and mobile phone. I do not retain emails for more than one month. If there is relevant information contained in an email, I will transfer it to my Google Drive which I access on a password protected laptop. This information will then be stored and deleted using the policies described below. 

For text messages and phone calls, I use a password protected phone. I do not keep phone correspondence for more than one month. If there is relevant information contained in a text message, I will transfer it to my Google Drive which I access on a password protected laptop. This information will then be stored and deleted using the policies described below. 

Subscribing to my newsletter

If you choose to sign up to my newsletter, I will collect your name and email address in order to send you newsletters via email. The information will be captured through my website using google forms. I will securely store this data in my Google Drive and use Google mail merge to send newsletters to you via email. Data will be kept until a user unsubscribes or the service no longer exists. If you wish to unsubscribe from my newsletter, you can use the unsubscribe button at the bottom of any email, or you can email me at megan@mothernurturetherapy.co.uk to request your details be removed from my email list. 

The newsletters sent may contain tracking pixels, embedded in the emails allowing for analysis of online marketing campaigns. This means it’s possible for me to see if and when you open an email and if you click on any links. Also, this means the Website can be adapted to fit the interests of the user. This behaviour will not be passed on to third parties.

Initial contact

If you reach out to me through my website with an inquiry, I will collect information to help me satisfy your inquiry. This will include your name, email address and message. I will collect this information using google forms. I will not store this information in any further locations unless you choose to continue to work with me. 

If you book your initial appointment via my website, I will collect information to ensure your eligibility for my services (your address to ensure UK residency and date of birth to ensure you are aged over 18) and to allow for further communication as described in my privacy policy and contract (I will collect name, phone number, and email address). I also collect your home address and GP surgery name in case I had serious concerns about your safety which could not be resolved without the need to break confidentiality. You can read more about my confidentiality policy below and in my contract. This information is captured through the Google Calendar booking system. After you have booked, I receive an email of your booking details and personal information as well as it appearing in my calendar. I delete emails and calendar information after a maximum of one month. You will also receive an email from Google confirming your booking. Once I have received your booking, I will email you to confirm your appointment has been received and to send you a copy of my contract for you to sign electronically. 

While you’re accessing therapy 

Apart from the few exceptions which I will discuss below, everything we discuss in our sessions remains entirely confidential. The only exceptions to this are: 

  • 1. If I felt that you or somebody else was at risk of harm. Wherever possible, I would attempt to discuss my concerns with you first and aim to ensure safety without the need to break confidentiality.
  • 2. If there is a legal requirement for me to break confidentiality. Situations where this would be required are:
  • – If you disclose involvement in, or information about, acts of terrorism. In these cases, I am legally obliged to inform the authorities without first informing you that I am doing so. 
  1. – If you give me information regarding money laundering or drug-trafficking offences, I will be obliged to pass this information to the police. 
  2. – If a judge or coroner orders the release of your client notes. 

 

As a registered member of the BACP, I am required to have clinical supervision on a monthly basis. This is an opportunity for me to discuss my client work with a suitably qualified therapist to ensure I am practicing ethically and efficiently. As part of my supervision, I may discuss our work but I ensure that only necessary details are disclosed.

I will keep a record of your personal details (which were provided during the booking of your first session) to help the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely using Google Drive on a password protected laptop. As a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), I am required to keep accurate and appropriate notes of our work together. I will keep a record of any attendance or non-attendance, confirmation that payment has been made as well as a note of the session fee, and factual written summary notes of each session. All of these notes are kept on my business Google Drive. 

I use Google Meet for online consultations.

Google Calendar is used to schedule all appointments. 

Payment

I use Stripe for all payments. Payments are either taken by a terminal, via my website booking system, or using a payment link provided by myself. When taking terminal payments, I also use the M&M POS app.

After therapy has ended 

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for 7 years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed.  7 years is the minimum recommended retention period for adult mental health personal data. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.

 

Third party recipients of personal data

 

I sometimes share personal data with third parties, for example, where I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks. In such cases I have carefully selected which partners I work with. I take great care to ensure that I have a contract with the third party that states what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them. I ensure that they do not use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted. Third parties can include: 

  • – Services providers, acting as processors who provide IT and system administration services.
  • – Professional advisers, acting as processors or joint controllers, including lawyers, auditors and insurers.
  • – HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities, acting as processors or joint controllers who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.

 

If the third party is based outside of the UK, this will involve your data being transferred outside of the UK. Whenever this is the case, I ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to your data.

 

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 at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters. 

If I do hold information about you I will: 

  • – Give you a description of it and where it came from
  • – Tell you why I am holding it
  • – Tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision
  • – Tell you who it could be disclosed to
  • – Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form. 

 

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 addressing it to megan@mothernurturetherapy.co.uk. 

If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures. If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

 

Cookie policy

 

Like most websites, this website uses cookies to help the site work more efficiently. I use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information in this way when you visit my website, as this allows me to continually improve my service to you. No user-specific data is collected by me or any third party. You must agree to cookies being stored for them to be stored on your device. The cookie manager on the bottom left-hand side of my webpage provides further information about the cookies used on my website, what they are used for, and why they are used. Should you decide to change your preferences later through your browning session, you can click on the ‘consent preferences’ logo in the bottom left of the screen. This will display the consent notice again and enable you to change your preferences or withdraw your consent entirely. In addition to this, different browsers provide different methods to block and delete cookies used by websites. You can find out more about how to manage and delete cookies at https://allaboutcookies.org/

When someone visits my website, I also use 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, as this allows me to continually improve my service to you. You can read more about Google analytics at https://business.safety.google/privacy/

 

Amendments

 

This is version 2 of my privacy policy which was published on 29/07/2025.

I may update this policy from time to time and will publish any new versions on my website. 

If you are a current client when I update my privacy policy, I will notify you of this via email.