Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice explains how I, Jo Roberts, trading as Jo Roberts Counselling, collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you enquire about or receive counselling from me. I take your privacy and confidentiality seriously and will handle your personal information with care and respect.

Data Controller: Jo Roberts / Jo Roberts Counselling

Website: www.jorobertscounselling.com

Email: jorobertscounselling@outlook.com

Telephone: 07879 598849

ICO registration number: C1866672

• Your name and contact details.
• Information provided when you make an enquiry or arrange an appointment.
• Information relating to appointments, fees and payments.
• Information discussed or recorded as part of our counselling work together.
• Information provided on your Client intake form.
• Relevant information concerning your wellbeing, circumstances or support needs where this is necessary for the counselling relationship.
• Correspondence between us, including emails, text messages or other agreed forms of communication.
• Information required for professional, legal, accounting or regulatory purposes.

I aim to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for providing counselling and managing my practice.

• Respond to enquiries and arrange appointments.
• Provide counselling services.
• Communicate with you about appointments and practical matters.
• Maintain appropriate counselling and administrative records.
• Process payments and maintain financial records.
• Meet my professional, legal and regulatory responsibilities.
• Seek professional supervision where appropriate and necessary for safe and ethical practice.
• Respond to concerns, complaints or legal requirements where necessary.

I keep appropriate records relating to our work together. These records are kept securely and are limited to information that is relevant and necessary for providing safe and effective counselling and meeting my professional responsibilities.

My record keeping follows relevant data protection requirements and the ethical standards of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

Information you share with me during counselling will normally remain confidential. There are circumstances in which confidentiality may need to be limited, including where there is a serious and foreseeable risk of significant harm to you or another person, safeguarding concerns, where disclosure is required by law, or where disclosure is otherwise legally authorised or necessary to protect someone's safety.

I will normally discuss any proposed disclosure with you wherever it is appropriate and safe to do so. As part of my professional practice, I may discuss aspects of my work with you in supervision. Identifying information will be limited wherever possible.

• My professional supervisor, where necessary for ethical and safe practice.
• Professional or legal advisers where necessary.
• Service providers who help me operate my practice, such as secure email, website hosting, booking or payment services.
• Where I am legally required or authorised to disclose information.
• Where disclosure is necessary to help protect you or another person from serious harm, subject to the circumstances and applicable law.

I take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

I may communicate with you by email, telephone, WhatsApp or text message where this has been agreed. Electronic communication cannot always be guaranteed to be completely secure. I will keep communication to the minimum necessary for arranging appointments and other practical matters and will avoid discussing sensitive counselling information by text or email wherever possible.

I will retain counselling and administrative records for the period necessary to meet my professional, legal and insurance requirements.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or destroyed.

• Ask what personal information I hold about you.
• Request a copy of your personal information.
• Ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Ask for certain information to be deleted, where applicable.
• Ask me to restrict how I use your information in certain circumstances.
• Object to certain types of processing.
• Withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis for processing.

Some rights are subject to legal exceptions and may not apply in every situation. If you would like to exercise one of your rights, please contact me using the details above.

If you contact me through www.jorobertscounselling.com or an online enquiry form, I will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and, where appropriate, arrange an initial conversation or appointment. Please do not include detailed or sensitive information about your circumstances in an initial website enquiry.

If you have concerns about the way I have handled your personal information, I encourage you to contact me first so that I can listen to your concerns and try to resolve them.

You also have the right to complain directly to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). ICO complaints information www.ico.org.uk

I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes to my counselling practice, the way I process personal information, or changes in relevant legislation or guidance.

Last reviewed: 01/09/26