Privacy Policy

Last updated: [DATE]. This policy will be reviewed at least annually and whenever practice changes.

This policy explains how Jill Perry Counselling ("I", "me") collects, uses and protects your personal information when you visit this website, contact me, or become a client. It is written to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, alongside my obligations under the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

Who I am (data controller)

Jill Perry, trading as Jill Perry Counselling, is the data controller for personal information collected through this website and through my counselling practice.

• Email: info@jillperrycounselling.co.uk
• Practice address: [YOUR CONSULTING ROOM ADDRESS, CENTRAL YORK]
• ICO registration number: [YOUR ICO REGISTRATION NUMBER]

What information I collect

Depending on how you interact with me, I may collect:

• Enquiry/contact form data: name, email address, your stated location/session preference and any message you choose to include.
• Client information (if we begin working together): contact details, emergency contact details, GP details where relevant, session notes and information you share during our work, in line with BACP's confidentiality requirements.
• Website usage data: this site does not use analytics or tracking cookies. Netlify, my hosting provider, may process basic server logs (such as IP address and browser type) for security and hosting purposes.

How I use your information

• To respond to enquiries made through the contact form or by email (lawful basis: consent and steps taken at your request prior to a contract).
• To provide counselling services to clients, including scheduling, invoicing and record-keeping (lawful basis: contract and legitimate interest in maintaining safe, professional practice).
• To meet legal and professional obligations, including BACP's Ethical Framework, safeguarding law, and, in rare circumstances, court orders (lawful basis: legal obligation).

I do not use your information for marketing, and I do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for commercial purposes.

Confidentiality and its limits

As a BACP-registered counsellor, I take client confidentiality extremely seriously and work within the BACP Ethical Framework. What you share in sessions is treated as confidential. However, confidentiality is not absolute. I may need to break confidentiality, normally discussing this with you first wherever possible, if:

• I believe you or another person is at risk of serious harm.
• I am made aware of a safeguarding concern involving a child or vulnerable adult.
• I am required to disclose information by law or a court order (for example, under the Terrorism Act 2000 or the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002).

I discuss confidentiality and its limits with every client at the start of our work together, and I receive regular clinical supervision, as required by BACP, in which anonymised aspects of client work may be discussed to support safe and ethical practice.

How long I keep information

• Enquiries that do not become clients: deleted after 12 months, or sooner on request.
• Client records: retained securely for [X years, e.g. 7 years after the end of therapy] in line with professional indemnity insurance requirements and BACP guidance, then securely destroyed.

Who I share information with

I do not routinely share your information with third parties. The following third parties may process data on my behalf strictly to help run this website and practice:

• Netlify (website hosting and contact form submissions). Data may be processed on servers outside the UK; Netlify provides standard contractual safeguards for international transfers.
• [YOUR EMAIL PROVIDER, e.g. Google/Zoho] (practice email).
• My clinical supervisor, on an anonymised basis, as required by BACP's Ethical Framework.
• Relevant authorities, only where I am legally obliged to disclose information (see "Confidentiality and its limits" above).

Cookies

This website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. A small amount of local browser storage is used only to remember that you've seen the cookie notice, so it isn't shown again. Submitting the contact form uses a session cookie provided by Netlify Forms purely to process your submission securely.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data I hold about you.
• Ask me to correct inaccurate data.
• Ask me to delete your data, subject to my professional record-keeping obligations.
• Restrict or object to certain processing.
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the basis for processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact me at info@jillperrycounselling.co.uk. I will respond within one month.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with how your data has been handled, please contact me directly in the first instance. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

If you have a concern about the counselling I provide rather than data handling specifically, you can find guidance on BACP's complaints process at bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/how-to-complain.

Children's data

This website is not directed at children. If you are under 18 and wish to make contact, please do so with the involvement of a parent or guardian, or contact a young person's service such as The Mix.

Changes to this policy

I may update this policy from time to time; the "last updated" date at the top will reflect the most recent version.