Privacy Statement

In providing counselling, psychotherapy, and EMDR services Orange Blossom Counselling Services has a legitimate interest in gathering, processing, and securing your personal data. In doing so, Orange Blossom Counselling Services adheres to current data protection legislation including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations (2003) and the Data (Use and Access) Act (2025).  

 

1.   BACKGROUND

Your privacy is very important to Orange Blossom Counselling Services 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. 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.

‘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 (ZB040724). My phone number is 07389 062 831 and my email address is frizzell65@outlook.com. Orange Blossom Counselling Services is happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy by contacting me at frizzell65@outlook.com.

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2.   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. 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. Or, 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.

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 (the official legal basis is to defend against potential legal claims).

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3.   How I use your information Initial contact.

When you contact me with an enquiry about my therapy services, I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, email address, mobile number, and a brief description of why you are considering therapy. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral. Or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf. If you decide not to proceed with therapy, your personal data will be deleted immediately.

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4.   While you are accessing counselling.

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken under certain circumstances, but I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this. Your details will not be shared with any other person or organisation without your knowledge and permission, unless there is a legal requirement e.g., if there is a child or adult safeguarding issue or an emergency/perceived risk of harm or preventing a serious crime. In these rare circumstances, I am not required to perform a balancing test between your privacy rights and the public interest, as the law now pre-approves these as legitimate reasons for data use. A breach of confidentiality is when a person shares information with another in circumstances where it is reasonable to expect that the information will be kept confidential.

A record of your personal details will be kept helping the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely and are not shared with any third party. Once you have engaged with counselling, your case will be given a unique reference number. This means that any ongoing notes, drawings, or other work you may do as part of the therapy process are kept separate from your personal information. Although brief written notes will be made after each session, these are kept safely in a secure cabinet and are separate from your personal information, being only identified from your unique reference number. Any text messages or email correspondence will be deleted immediately.

 

5.   After counselling has ended.

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for seven years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed.

 

6.   Your rights

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving clients 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 frizzell65@outlook.com

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7.   Visitors to my website

When someone visits my website, I use a third-party service, WIX.com 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 WIX, to make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting my website. You can read WIX privacy notice at About Privacy | WIX. Like most websites we use cookies to help the site work more efficiently and you can find out about their use of cookies at About Privacy | WIX. No user-specific data is collected by me or any third party. If you fill in a form on my website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to me.

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8.   Data security

Orange Blossom Counselling Services will take all reasonable precautions to prevent the loss, misuse, or alteration of information you provide. Communications in connection with this service may be sent by text message or e-mail. For ease of use and compatibility, communications will not be sent in an encrypted form unless you need it and give me permission to communicate with you in that way. E-mail, unless encrypted, is not a fully secure means of communication. Whilst I endeavour to keep my systems and communications protected against viruses and other harmful effects, I cannot bear responsibility for all communications being virus-free.

Online sessions are conducted via Zoom, which uses end-to-end encryption to protect your privacy. No sessions are recorded without your prior written consent. It is recommended you make use of a private, secure internet connection and a quiet space for your sessions to ensure your confidentiality is maintained at your end.

 

9.   Complaints

 If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data, please get in touch with me by emailing to the contact details given above. Any complaint will be acknowledged within 30 days and an outcome provided without undue delay.

If, after that outcome, you remain dissatisfied, you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (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 or  Contact us - public | ICO.