Privacy Policy

Sheffield Central Counselling is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with transparency and care. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, how long we keep it, and your rights. We follow the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We are registered with the ICO as a data controller as: Sheffield Central Counselling, Courtwood House, Silver Street Head, Sheffield, S1 2DD Email: info@sheffieldcentralcounselling.co.uk

If you have any questions or concerns about our use or storage of data you can contact our Director, Gill Wier. Email: info@sheffieldcentralcounselling.co.uk, Phone 01143260043

Personal Information We Collect

Information you provide when booking therapy - name, contact information (email, phone number), billing and payment information, and information you choose to share regarding the issues bringing you to counselling (special category health data). Collecting this information is necessary for providing therapy services and fulfilling our contract with you. We may collect sensitive information about your mental health, which is processed under the lawful basis of provision of health treatment and contract with a health professional. Your counsellor may make notes to record the key points discussed in sessions. The counsellor is responsible for storing these securely either in a locked filing cabinet or with security measures such as passwords in place if stored electronically.

Device information (cookies and analytics)

When you visit the Site, we may collect: IP address, browser type, time zone, pages viewed, referring website, cookies and analytics data (Google Analytics). This is used for site optimisation and security. You may disable cookies via your browser settings.

Lawful Bases for Processing

Depending on context, we process your information under:

Contract – providing counselling services and managing appointments

Legitimate interests – site security, fraud monitoring

Legal obligation – retaining financial records for HMRC

Special category condition – provision of health treatment by a counselling professional

 How We Use Your Personal Information

We use your information to arrange and manage appointments, process payments, communicate with you about your bookings, provide counsellors with relevant information to support your therapy, improve the performance and security of our website, and detect and prevent fraud. We never use your information for automated decision‑making or marketing without your explicit consent.

Sharing Your Personal Information

We only share your data when necessary and with appropriate safeguards: Payment processors (e.g., Stripe) to manage card payments, website analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) to assess website performance, and regulators, legal auditors, or law enforcement if legally required. We do not sell your data.

As counsellors we have a legal obligation to disclose information you share in sessions regarding terrorism, money laundering, drug trafficking, radicalisation and when requested by a court of law. We also have a professional and an ethical obligation to share concerns with the local safeguarding hub if there is a serious risk of harm to children, young people or adults with care or support needs. 

We may discuss your case anonymously with a clinical supervisor as required by professional ethical practice. During these discussions your identity will not be disclosed.

Data Retention

Therapy‑related records are kept only as long as necessary for clinical and legal purposes – usually 7 years. Financial records are retained for the period required by HMRC – usually 6 years. If deletion is requested, data may be anonymised instead when law requires retention.

 Your Rights

You have rights under UK GDPR, including:

• Access to your personal data
• Correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure (“right to be forgotten”)
• Restriction of processing
• Objection to processing
• Data portability
• Right to be informed about how your data is used

 Accessing your casenotes

If you wish to view your casenotes please inform your counsellor or our Director, Gill Wier via info@sheffieldcentralcounselling.co.uk We will speak to you over the phone to verify that the request has come from you. We will provide you with a printed copy of the notes within 7 working days and may arrange to meet you in person at our offices to discuss these with you. If you have attended counselling with a partner or other family member both of you will need to give consent in order for us to release the casenotes.

Data Protection Complaints Process 

If you have a complaint about how we have used your data you can raise a complaint via:

Email: info@sheffieldcentralcounselling.co.uk

Address: Sheffield Central Counselling Courtwood House, Silver Street Head, Sheffield, S1 2DD

Phone: 0114 326 0043

We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, investigate and update you without undue delay, and provide an outcome within three months unless exceptional circumstances. You may later escalate concerns to the ICO if you feel we have not resolved your complaint satisfactorily.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when required to reflect changes in law, clinical practice, or organisational processes. Updates will be published on our website.