Privacy Policy and Privacy Notice

Laura Willis Counselling

Last updated: 13 October 2026
Next review date: 30 August 2027 or when my practice changes
ICO registration number: ZC196561

1. About this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you enquire about or receive counselling from me.

I take your privacy and confidentiality seriously. As a counsellor, I recognise the importance of creating a safe and confidential environment in which you can talk openly about your circumstances.

This Privacy Policy should be read alongside my counselling agreement, which explains the terms and conditions of our counselling relationship, including the limits of confidentiality.

I process personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Who is responsible for your information?

I am the data controller for the personal information I collect and process in connection with my counselling practice.

Name: Laura Willis
Business name: Laura Willis Counselling
Email: laurawillis84@protonmail.com
Telephone: 07369 224643
ICO registration number: ZC196561
Website: www.laurawilliscounselling.com

As a sole-trader counselling practice, I am responsible for ensuring that your personal information is processed fairly, lawfully, securely and only for appropriate purposes.

3. What information do I collect?

Depending on the circumstances, I may collect and process the following information.

Contact and identification information

This may include:

Your name
Email address
Telephone number
Age or date of birth, where relevant
Emergency contact details, where appropriate
Information needed to arrange and administer appointments

Information relating to counselling

During an initial assessment and counselling sessions, you may choose to share information relating to:

Your mental and emotional wellbeing
Your physical health
Personal and family circumstances
Relationships
Previous experiences
Current difficulties and concerns
Personal history
Other matters that you consider relevant to your counselling

I may also make brief professional notes relating to our work together.

Information concerning your health is classed as special category personal data under UK data protection law and is therefore subject to additional legal requirements and safeguards.

I aim to collect and retain only information that is relevant and necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.

Administrative and financial information

I may also process:

Records of appointments
Cancellation information
Payment and invoicing information
Correspondence between us
Information relating to complaints or concerns
Information necessary to comply with legal, professional or insurance requirements

At present, counselling payments are made directly by BACS bank transfer. I do not currently use an online payment processor for counselling payments.

4. How is your information collected?

I may collect information:

Directly from you during an enquiry or counselling assessment
During counselling sessions
Through email or telephone communication
Through the contact form on my website
When arranging or changing appointments
Through payment and invoicing arrangements
From another professional or organisation where this is appropriate and lawful

Where information is obtained from someone other than you, I will provide appropriate information about the source of that information where required by law.

5. Why do I use your information?

I use your personal information where necessary to:

Respond to enquiries
Assess whether counselling is appropriate for you
Arrange and provide counselling sessions
Communicate with you about appointments
Maintain appropriate counselling records
Provide a safe and professionally responsible counselling service
Manage payments and administration
Meet my professional, legal and insurance obligations
Participate in professional supervision
Deal with complaints or concerns
Protect you or another person where there is a serious risk of harm
Comply with a legal obligation or lawful request
Establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary

I will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those described above without a lawful basis for doing so.

6. My lawful basis for processing your information

Data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, I may rely on the following lawful bases.

Contract

I may process information where this is necessary to enter into or perform the counselling agreement between us, including arranging and providing counselling sessions and communicating with you about the counselling service.

Legitimate interests

I may process limited information where this is necessary for the legitimate interests of running my counselling practice, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

This may include appropriate business administration, maintaining professional records, managing enquiries and protecting the practice from legal claims.

Legal obligation

I may process information where I am legally required to do so.

Vital interests

In exceptional circumstances, information may be processed where this is necessary to protect someone's vital interests and it is not possible to obtain consent in time.

Special category data

Counselling may involve processing information concerning your physical or mental health. This is special category data and requires an additional legal condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.

Where appropriate, I rely on the relevant condition for processing special category data for counselling, together with the applicable safeguards under the Data Protection Act 2018.

I will only collect and process special category information where it is necessary and appropriate for the purposes of providing and managing counselling.

7. Confidentiality

Confidentiality is an essential part of the counselling relationship.

Information you share with me will normally remain confidential and will not ordinarily be disclosed to your GP, family, friends, employer or other third parties without your knowledge and, where appropriate, your consent.

There are, however, circumstances in which confidentiality may need to be limited.

These may include:

Where I believe there is a serious and significant risk of harm to you or another person
Where there are safeguarding concerns
Where disclosure is required by law
Where disclosure is authorised by law
Where disclosure is necessary in response to a court order or other lawful requirement
Where disclosure is necessary to prevent or detect serious crime
Where disclosure is necessary to obtain appropriate professional advice in relation to a legal or professional matter

Where possible and appropriate, I will discuss any proposed disclosure with you beforehand. However, there may be circumstances in which I cannot do so.

The limits of confidentiality will also be discussed with you as part of our counselling agreement.

8. Professional supervision

As a counsellor, I undertake professional supervision as part of my professional practice.

I have supervision approximately once a month. I may discuss aspects of my counselling work with my supervisor for the purposes of professional support, ethical practice, safeguarding and maintaining appropriate standards of care.

I take care to anonymise information discussed in supervision so that you cannot readily be identified.

My supervisor is also expected to maintain appropriate professional confidentiality.

9. When might I share your information?

I will not routinely share your personal information with other organisations or individuals.

Information may be shared where this is necessary and lawful, for example with:

My professional supervisor
Professional advisers, such as an accountant or solicitor, where necessary
Relevant service providers who process information on my behalf
Emergency services or other appropriate authorities where necessary to protect someone from serious harm
Another healthcare or support professional where you have requested or authorised this, or where there is another lawful basis for disclosure
A relevant authority where I am legally required to provide information

I will only share information that is relevant and necessary for the particular purpose.

I will not sell your personal information or use confidential counselling information for advertising or marketing purposes.

10. Online counselling and Zoom

I currently provide counselling online via Zoom.

I do not routinely record counselling sessions, either by audio or video.

You should take reasonable steps to protect your own privacy when attending an online session, including choosing a private location and using a secure internet connection where possible.

Zoom processes personal data in connection with its services. You can read Zoom's current Privacy Statement using the link provided in the service-provider information below.

I will keep my use of Zoom under review and will update this Privacy Policy if my arrangements change in a way that materially affects how your information is processed.

I may offer face-to-face counselling in the future. If I do so, this Privacy Policy will be reviewed and updated where necessary to reflect any changes to the way personal information is collected, stored or processed.

11. Email and electronic communications

I use Proton Mail for email communication with clients and prospective clients.

I may use email to:

Respond to enquiries
Arrange appointments
Communicate administrative information
Communicate about counselling arrangements

Please be aware that no method of electronic communication can be guaranteed to be completely secure while information is being transmitted.

I ask clients not to send detailed or sensitive counselling information by email unless this is necessary.

Proton Mail processes personal data in connection with its services. You can read Proton Mail's current Privacy Policy using the link provided in the service-provider information below.

12. Counselling records and notes

I maintain appropriate records of my counselling work.

Records may include:

Your contact details
Initial assessment information
Dates of sessions
Brief professional notes
Relevant information concerning the counselling work
Information concerning risk or safeguarding where applicable
Administrative information

My counselling notes are created and stored digitally using Apple Pages on my Mac computer.

I aim to keep records factual, relevant, proportionate and limited to what is necessary.

I will not keep unnecessary information simply because it has been provided.

My Mac computer is password protected and individual client note documents are also password protected. Access to these counselling records is restricted to me.

13. How I protect your information

I take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against:

Unauthorised access
Accidental loss
Destruction
Damage
Unauthorised disclosure
Unlawful processing

The security measures I currently use include:

A password-protected Mac computer
Password-protected individual client note documents
Strong passwords
Restricted access to client records
Secure electronic storage
Secure email services
Appropriate security settings on the devices and services I use
Secure deletion of information when it is no longer required

Because counselling records may contain sensitive health information, I take particular care with their security.

I will review my security arrangements periodically and make improvements where appropriate.

14. Website and contact form

My website, www.laurawilliscounselling.com, is hosted by Wix and provides information about my counselling practice.

If you contact me through the website's contact form, I will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry. Please avoid including sensitive personal information in your initial message.

Wix may process information and use cookies necessary for the operation and security of the website. Further information about how Wix processes personal data is available in its Privacy Policy.

15. Service providers and their privacy policies

The technology and service providers currently used, or intended to be used, by my practice include:

Video conferencing: Zoom
Email: Proton Mail
Website hosting: Wix.com
Counselling notes: Apple Pages, stored locally on my password-protected Mac
Payments: Direct BACS bank transfer

You can find the current privacy policies for the relevant online service providers here:

I will review these arrangements if I introduce additional services or change the way in which existing services are used.

16. How long will I keep your information?

I will not retain personal information for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, taking account of my professional, legal, insurance and regulatory responsibilities.

My current retention periods are:

Enquiry/contact information:
1 year from the date of the enquiry or last contact.

Counselling records:
7 years after the final counselling session.

Financial and accounting records:
6 years after the end of the relevant financial year, or for such longer period as may be required by law.

Retention periods will be reviewed periodically.

At the end of the relevant retention period, information will be securely deleted, destroyed or anonymised where appropriate.

17. Your data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

The right to be informed about how your information is used
The right of access to personal information I hold about you
The right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete information
The right to erasure, in certain circumstances
The right to restrict processing, in certain circumstances
The right to object to certain types of processing
The right to data portability, in certain circumstances
Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling, where applicable

These rights are not absolute and there are circumstances where the law allows or requires information to be retained or prevents particular rights from applying.

For example, I may need to retain certain information where it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

18. Accessing your personal information

You have the right to request access to the personal information I hold about you, subject to applicable legal exemptions.

A request to access your information is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR).

If you would like to make a Subject Access Request, please contact me using the details at the end of this Privacy Policy.

I may need to verify your identity before providing information.

I will normally respond to a valid request within the period required by data protection law.

Where appropriate, I may discuss your request with you to make sure I understand what information you are seeking.

19. Correcting your information

If you believe that information I hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, please contact me and I will consider your request for correction

20. Deleting or restricting your information

You may ask me to delete or restrict the processing of your personal information in circumstances where the law gives you that right.

However, the right to erasure is not absolute.

For example, I may need to retain certain information where there is a legal, professional, insurance or other legitimate reason to do so.

21. Data breaches

If I become aware of a personal data breach, I will assess the breach and take appropriate action in accordance with applicable data protection law.

Where required by law, I will notify the Information Commissioner's Office and/or affected individuals.

22. International transfers

Some of the technology and service providers used by my practice may process or store information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, I will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable data protection law.

The privacy policies of the relevant service providers provide further information about their own data-processing arrangements.

23. Cookies and website use

This website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies are essential for the website to function securely and correctly. Others are used for purposes such as analytics and improving how the site works.

Where consent is legally required for non‑essential cookies, I will obtain your consent before using them.

You can find more information about the cookies used on this website, and manage your preferences, in the website’s cookie banner or cookie settings, or by adjusting your browser settings.

24. Marketing

I will not use confidential counselling information for marketing purposes.

If I send any marketing communications in the future, I will do so in accordance with applicable data protection and electronic communications law.

You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time.

25. Complaints

If you have any concerns about how I have handled your personal information, I would encourage you to contact me in the first instance so that I can try to resolve your concern.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe that your personal information has been handled unlawfully.

Further information about making a complaint is available from the ICO.

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

26. Changes to this Privacy Policy

I will review this Privacy Policy at least annually, with the next scheduled review taking place on 30 August 2027.

I may also update this Privacy Policy sooner if there are changes to my counselling practice, technology, legal requirements or the way in which personal information is processed.

The most recent version will be available on my website and will show the date it was last updated.

27. Contact me

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise one of your data protection rights, or have concerns about how your personal information is being handled, please contact me:

Laura Willis
Laura Willis Counselling
Email: laurawillis84@protonmail.com
Telephone: 07369 224643
ICO registration number: ZC196561

Summary

In providing counselling, I may need to process sensitive personal information, including information concerning your mental or physical health.

I will only use this information where there is a lawful basis to do so. I will take appropriate measures to keep it secure, respect the confidentiality of our counselling relationship and retain it only for as long as necessary.

Your privacy and confidentiality are important parts of the counselling relationship.