Support | Heal | Thrive

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25th September 2026

Dee W-Jones Therapy is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information fairly, securely and transparently.

This Privacy Policy explains how Dee W-Jones Therapy collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you visit this website, contact me, make an enquiry, or receive counselling services from me.

This policy applies to the website:

https://deew-jonestherapy.co.uk/

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact:

Dee W-Jones Therapy
Email: dee@deew-jonestherapy.co.uk
Telephone: 07368 901015

For the purposes of applicable UK data protection law, Dee W-Jones Therapy is the data controller for the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Data protection law

I process personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection and privacy legislation, including:

the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR);
the Data Protection Act 2018;
the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025; and
the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), where applicable.

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, regulatory guidance, my services or the way in which personal information is processed.

2. What personal information do I collect?

The information I collect depends on how you interact with me and the services you use.

Website enquiries

When you use the contact form on this website, I may collect:

first name;
last name;
email address;
telephone number;
reason for contacting me;
preferred type of counselling;
age of the client where the client is under 18; and
any other information you choose to include in your enquiry.

The website contact form is intended to allow people to make counselling enquiries and referrals.

Please avoid including detailed or highly sensitive information about your mental health, physical health or personal circumstances in the initial website contact form unless it is necessary to make your enquiry.

Information provided during counselling

If you become a client, I may process information that is relevant to providing counselling services. This may include:

your name and contact details;
age and date of birth where relevant;
emergency contact details where appropriate;
appointment and attendance information;
information about your circumstances and wellbeing;
information concerning your physical or mental health;
information discussed during counselling sessions;
information relevant to safeguarding;
correspondence between you and me;
payment and financial information where necessary; and
other information that you choose to provide or that is necessary for the safe and appropriate provision of counselling.

Information concerning a person’s health is classified as special category personal data under the UK GDPR and is subject to additional protection.

Information about children and young people

I provide counselling to young people aged 11 and over.

Where I process information relating to a child or young person, I take particular care to ensure that the information is handled fairly, securely and in a way that is appropriate to their age and understanding.

Children have their own data protection rights. The fact that a person is under 18 does not automatically mean that another person can exercise all of their data protection rights on their behalf. This will depend on the circumstances, the young person’s age and understanding, and applicable law.

Where appropriate, I may provide privacy information in a way that is accessible and understandable to young people.

3. How I use your personal information

I use personal information only where I have a lawful reason to do so.

Depending on the circumstances, I may use your information to:

respond to an enquiry;
arrange an initial telephone consultation;
assess whether counselling services are appropriate;
arrange and manage counselling appointments;
provide counselling services;
communicate with you about your appointments or counselling;
maintain appropriate counselling records;
manage payments and accounts;
comply with legal, regulatory, professional or insurance requirements;
protect the safety and wellbeing of clients and other people;
deal with safeguarding concerns where appropriate;
establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
respond to complaints;
maintain the security of my systems and records; and
operate and maintain this website.

I will not use your personal information for unrelated purposes unless this is permitted by law or I have informed you about the new purpose where required.

4. Lawful bases for processing

The UK GDPR requires me to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, I may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Consent

I may rely on your consent where consent is the appropriate lawful basis.

Where I rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Where special category information is processed on the basis of explicit consent, that consent will be requested separately where required.

Contract or steps before entering into a contract

I may process information where this is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into an agreement with you, or where processing is necessary for the performance of an agreement for counselling services.

Legal obligation

I may process information where this is necessary for me to comply with a legal obligation.

Legitimate interests

I may process personal information where this is necessary for my legitimate interests, or those of another party, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Examples may include managing enquiries, maintaining appropriate business records, protecting the security of my systems and dealing with legal claims.

Vital interests

In limited 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.

5. Special category information

Counselling can involve information about a person’s physical or mental health and wellbeing.

Health information is special category personal data under the UK GDPR and requires additional legal protection.

Where I process special category information, I will identify an appropriate Article 9 condition in addition to an Article 6 lawful basis, as required by data protection law.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include processing that is necessary for the provision of health or social care, processing with explicit consent, or another condition permitted by applicable law.

I will only collect and use special category information where it is necessary and appropriate for the purpose for which it is being processed.

6. Confidentiality

Confidentiality is an important part of counselling.

Information shared during counselling will normally be treated as confidential and will not be disclosed to other people without your knowledge and, where appropriate, your consent.

However, confidentiality is not absolute.

There may be circumstances where I need to share information without your consent, for example:

where there is a serious safeguarding concern;
where I believe there is a serious and significant risk of harm to you or another person;
where disclosure is required by law;
where disclosure is necessary to protect someone’s vital interests;
where information is required in connection with legal proceedings; or
where another lawful basis permits or requires disclosure.

Where it is safe and appropriate to do so, I will discuss any proposed disclosure with you.

Further information about safeguarding and the circumstances in which confidentiality may be limited is provided in my Safeguarding Policy and counselling agreement.

7. Who may receive your personal information?

I do not sell your personal information.

I may share personal information where this is necessary, lawful and proportionate, including with:

service providers who provide essential services to my practice, such as website, email, IT, payment, booking or document-storage services;
professional supervisors, where this is necessary for professional practice and information is handled appropriately;
professional advisers, insurers or legal representatives where necessary;
healthcare or other professionals where this is necessary and lawful;
emergency services or other relevant organisations where necessary to protect life or safety;
safeguarding professionals or relevant authorities where there is a safeguarding concern;
HM Revenue & Customs or other authorities where disclosure is legally required; and
law enforcement or other public authorities where I am legally required or permitted to disclose information.

Where another organisation processes personal information on my behalf, I will take appropriate steps to ensure that it provides appropriate safeguards for that information.

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

8. Confidentiality and supervision

As a therapist, I may use professional supervision as part of maintaining safe and ethical practice.

Where client information is discussed in supervision, I will take appropriate steps to protect your confidentiality and minimise the information shared.

Where possible, information will be anonymised or otherwise limited so that you are not unnecessarily identifiable.

9. Website contact form

The website provides a contact form for counselling enquiries and referrals.

Information submitted through the contact form is used to respond to your enquiry and, where appropriate, arrange an initial conversation or discuss counselling services.

The contact form currently requests your name, email address, telephone number, reason for contacting, preferred type of counselling and, where relevant, the age of a client under 18.

Please do not use the contact form to send information that requires an immediate response or emergency assistance.

If you or somebody else is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services by calling 999 or use an appropriate urgent support service.

10. Email and telephone communication

If you contact me by email or telephone, I may retain information relating to your enquiry where this is necessary to respond to you, arrange an appointment or provide counselling services.

Please be aware that ordinary email and telephone communications are not guaranteed to be completely secure.

I will take reasonable steps to protect personal information received through these channels.

11. Payments

Where you pay for counselling services by bank transfer, I may process information necessary to identify and reconcile payments and maintain appropriate financial records.

Financial records will be retained for as long as necessary to comply with applicable legal, accounting and tax requirements.

12. How long will I keep your information?

I will not keep personal information for longer than is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless I have a legal, professional, insurance or other legitimate reason to retain it for longer.

Counselling records will normally be retained for a defined period in accordance with my professional, insurance and legal requirements and then securely deleted or destroyed.

The exact retention period for counselling records should be confirmed in the practice’s records-management procedure before this policy is published.

Where a specific retention period applies, this will be based on the type of information and the circumstances in which it was collected.

Information relating to financial transactions will be retained for the period required by applicable accounting and tax requirements.

Information submitted through the website for an enquiry that does not become a counselling relationship will normally be deleted when it is no longer reasonably required, subject to any legal or legitimate requirement to retain it.

13. How I protect your information

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

unauthorised access;
accidental loss;
destruction;
alteration;
disclosure; and
other forms of unauthorised or unlawful processing.

These measures may include appropriate passwords, access controls, secure systems, device security, software updates, secure communications and secure storage.

No method of transmitting or storing information can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, I will take reasonable steps to protect the information I hold.

If a personal data breach occurs, I will assess it in accordance with applicable data protection law and take appropriate action, including notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office where legally required and informing affected individuals where required.

14. International transfers

Some third-party service providers used by the website or practice may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, I will ensure that an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism and safeguards are in place where required by UK data protection law.

Further information about specific international transfers can be provided on request.

15. Cookies

This website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies may be necessary for the website to function properly or to remember your privacy preferences.

Non-essential cookies, such as analytics or advertising cookies, will only be used where the required consent has been obtained.

The website currently provides visitors with options to customise, reject or accept categories of cookies.

Under PECR, non-essential cookies and similar technologies generally require appropriate consent before they are placed on or accessed from a user’s device. Consent must involve a clear positive action and must be informed and specific.

You can change or withdraw your cookie preferences using the website’s cookie controls or through your browser settings.

The exact cookies used by the website may change as website functionality and third-party services change. The cookie information displayed through the website’s cookie-consent system should therefore be kept up to date.

16. Your data protection rights

Subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions, you have rights under UK data protection law.

These may include the right to:

be informed about how your personal information is used;
request access to your personal information;
request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
request deletion of personal information in certain circumstances;
request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
object to certain processing;
request portability of certain personal information;
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
make a complaint about the handling of your personal information.

Not every right applies in every circumstance. For example, there are circumstances where information may need to be retained because of legal, professional, safeguarding, insurance or other obligations.

The rights available to you depend on the lawful basis for processing and the circumstances of the processing.

17. How to exercise your rights

If you wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact:

Dee W-Jones Therapy
Email: dee@deew-jonestherapy.co.uk
Telephone: 07368 901015

You do not normally need to use any particular wording when making a data protection request.

I may need to request additional information to confirm your identity before providing personal information or acting on a request.

I will deal with requests within the applicable legal timescales.

18. Data protection complaints

If you have concerns about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me first so that I have the opportunity to investigate and resolve your concern.

I maintain a process for handling data protection complaints.

You also have the right to complain to the UK’s independent data protection regulator.

At the date of this Privacy Policy, this is the:

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Website: https://ico.org.uk/

The ICO provides information about data protection rights and how to raise a complaint.

The ICO generally recommends that individuals raise concerns with the organisation concerned before making a complaint to the regulator.

19. Children’s information

Because I provide counselling to young people aged 11 and over, I recognise that children’s personal information requires particular care.

Children have data protection rights in their own right, and privacy information should be presented in a way that they can understand.

I will take account of a young person’s age, maturity and understanding when handling their information and exercising their data protection rights.

Where information is shared with parents, carers or other third parties, I will consider confidentiality, safeguarding, the young person’s rights and any applicable legal requirements.

Information may be shared without consent where this is necessary and lawful, particularly where there is a safeguarding concern or a serious risk of harm.

20. No automated decision-making

I do not use your personal information to make decisions about you based solely on automated processing or profiling that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

21. Third-party websites

This website may contain links to websites operated by third parties.

Those websites have their own privacy policies and terms. I am not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of third-party websites.

You should review the privacy information of any third-party website before providing it with personal information.

22. Changes to this Privacy Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

Any updated version will be published on this website and will include a revised “Last updated” date.

I recommend checking this page periodically to ensure that you are aware of any changes.

23. Contact