Privacy Notice

Your privacy is very important to me 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 explains what I do with your personal information from your initial contact with me through to after your therapy has ended.

I am Hannah Mackenzie, an independent psychotherapist in private practice. I am the data controller for the personal information I hold about you.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). My registration number is currently pending.

Practice address:

39a Regent Street

Leamington Spa

CV32 5EE

Email: hannahrachaeltherapy@gmail.com

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

Data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for processing your personal information.

If you are currently having therapy with me, or are in contact with me to consider therapy, I process your personal information where it is necessary to provide my services to you.

After therapy has ended, I have a legitimate interest in retaining appropriate records relating to the therapy I have provided.

Therapy may involve you sharing sensitive information with me, including information about your physical or mental health. This is known as special category data. I process this information where necessary for the provision of health treatment.

How I use your information

Initial contact

When you contact me with an enquiry about psychotherapy, I will collect information necessary to respond to your enquiry. This may include your name, email address and any information you choose to provide about yourself and your reasons for seeking therapy.

If you decide not to proceed with therapy, I will delete your personal information within six months of our last contact, unless there is a particular reason for retaining it for longer.

If you would like me to delete this information sooner, you can contact me.

While you are having therapy

Everything you discuss with me is treated as confidential.

There are limited circumstances in which confidentiality may need to be broken, for example where I believe there is a serious risk of harm to you or another person, where there is a safeguarding concern, or where I am legally required to disclose information. Where possible and appropriate, I will try to discuss this with you first.

I attend regular individual and group clinical supervision as part of my professional practice. I may discuss my clinical work in supervision, but I protect clients' identities and avoid sharing unnecessary identifying information.

I keep electronic notes relating to my work with clients. These are stored securely on a password-protected computer.

I use Gmail for email correspondence with clients.

I use FreeAgent for invoicing and accounting. Your name and email address may be stored within FreeAgent for the purpose of providing invoices and maintaining appropriate financial records.

Payment is made by bank transfer. Your bank and my bank will therefore process information associated with these transactions.

Where therapy takes place online, I may use Google Meet to provide the video call.

After therapy has ended

I will keep your clinical records for seven years after our work together ends. After this period they will be securely deleted, unless there is a legal or professional reason why I need to retain them for longer.

Financial records may need to be retained separately for the period required by tax and accounting law.

Third parties

I do not sell your personal information.

In order to run my practice, I use third-party services that may process some personal information on my behalf. These include:

Google/Gmail – email communication and, where applicable, Google Meet;

FreeAgent – invoicing and accounting;

Squarespace – hosting and operating my website; and

my banking provider – processing payments.

I may also be required to provide information to relevant authorities where there is a legal obligation to do so.

Visitors to my website

My website, www.hannahmackenzie.co.uk, is hosted using Squarespace.

Like most websites, Squarespace may use cookies and collect certain technical information when you visit the website.

If you complete my website enquiry form, the information you provide is processed through Squarespace so that your enquiry can be sent to me.

You can find further information about cookies and the use of your information through the cookie/privacy information available on my website.

Your rights

You have rights in relation to the personal information I hold about you. Depending on the circumstances, these include the right to ask me:

for a copy of the personal information I hold about you;

to correct inaccurate information;

to delete your personal information;

to limit how I use your personal information; or

to stop processing your personal information.

Some of these rights may be limited in particular circumstances.

To make a request about personal information I hold about you, please email hannahrachaeltherapy@gmail.com.

If you have a concern about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me using the details above.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator responsible for data protection.

Data security

I take the security of your personal information seriously and take reasonable steps to keep it secure.

Clinical notes are stored electronically on a password-protected computer. I take care to protect confidential client information and only share it where necessary and appropriate, as described in this notice.